TARANAKI COUNTY.

Taranaki Daily News, 7 February 1922, Page 7

TARANAKI COUNTY.

MEETING OF. THE COUNCIL. PAST MONTH’S WORK. The Taranaki County Council met yesterday. Present: Crs. J. S. Connett (chairman), J. Andrews, A. Morton, J. Wooldridge, O. Penwarden, and S. Vickers. OVERSEER’S REPORT. The work during January was dealt with in the following report from the overseer (Mr. S. Meredith) : Plant and General.—During ike imonth the erusher has worked 15 days, crushing 1540 cubic yards of metal, which have been distributed as follows; Junction Road re-inetai-ling 1388 yards. Lower Mangorei Road, laying down new road 64 yards, delivered to Mr. Hale 88 yards. There were 8 yards of metal from the prison quarry to Frankley Road. The lorries and (crushing staff have also been engaged, carting shingle, tar. bitumen blinding for the Junction Road. We have carted 60 yards of shingle from the bead: dump, Waiwakaiho. From the dump on Kaihiho Road 92 yards have been delivered on the Main Road between Bett’s Hill and Okato township. Teams.—Foreman Jury has been engaged hauling 1400 yards of boulders for the Aim Ahu Road.

Contracts. —The wet weather during tl:e month has been vtfry much against all earthwork jobs. The re-grading of the Timaru Hill is nearing completion. Upper Carrington Road: Messrs. Moratti and Martelletti have completed their contract, and Mr. W. B. Card is progressing well with his work. Mr. Baker is pushing on with his Kirihau Road contract-,; but still has a considerable amount of work to do. Messrs. Green and Pentilow have almost completed their contract quarrying and breaking stone in the Plymouth Road pit. Mangorei Riding.—The, foremen in this riding have been engaged most of their time with the metalling on Junction Road, and assisting at the crusher. The metalling on Castle Hill is now completed, a total of 272 cubid yards (18 chains) have been laid down. The ‘ large roller is engaged in this riding rolling and scarifying on Junction Road.

Waitara Riding.—General maintenance work has been carried ou x tn this riding, Foremen Mullon, Holmes, and Panner assisting with the re-decking of the Waiongona bridge. The metal portion of the Brown and Willis Roads is breaking up and requires re-coatlng in places. Approximately 200 yards of metal will .put both these roads in fair order. I would recommend carrying out these repairs while the crusher is -in the Waiwakaiho depot. The Henwood Road also requires a considerable amount of re-coating.

Omata Riding.—Foreman Seamark has been engaged with the usual repairs and is at present engaged' regrading the Hurford Road Hill. Most of Foreman Eva’s time has been taken up assisting with the metalling work on Junction Road.

Okato Riding.—The foremen of this riding have been engaged with the usual miscellaneous repairs. A considerable amount of Foreman Sefton's time has been taken up on the Timaru Hill laying down new metal and repairing same. Foreman Hayes has been engaged most of the month with the tar work. Th.e ford across the Momona Stream on the Upper Carrington Road is in a very rough state, and will cost approximately £5 to put in reasonable order. I would like authority to have this work carried out as soon as possible.

Asphalt Work.—The tar employees are now engaged in the Okato Riding in Foreman Haye’s length. One mile of road between Bett’s Hill and Okato has been tar-sealed, one coat only, and three miles (laid down last season between the Okato school and the Puniho boundary have been re-coated with bitumen. The second coat has still to be put on the first mile, which should be completed in about- a week’s time providing the weather Is fine. The plant will then be shifted to Oakura, where it is proposed to tar-seal from thtf Oakura bridge to the top of Tapuae Hill on ’ the south side, a distance of about one mile. Fifty yards of shingle is still required to enable this to be done.

In accordance with the recommendations of his report, the engineer was authorised to secure the metal required in the Waitara Riding, and it was also decided to supply pipes for work on the Carrington and Saunders roads. PROGRESS OF THE WORKS. Owing toi the broken weather up to the present date, several of the contracts and also the general work-has been somewhat delayed. The season is now well advanced, and we still have several large works to complete, the most urget being a further 300 yards of metal for the Timnru Hill, 1000 yards for Pitau Hill, 1600 yards for Ahu Ahu Road, 2420 yards fot Kirihau Road, and approximately 2000 yards at Waiwakaiho depot for the Devon and side roads in the Waitara Riding, a total of 7320 yards, approximately 5 months work. This will run well into the winter months, and we still have 350 yards to crush at the Mangorei depot before any of this work can be started. I would recommend taking the crusher to Ahu Ahu Road first, then to Oakura depot to crush for Pitone Hill. By that time the Kirihau Road should be ready for metalling. This would leave the metalling in the Waitara Riding till late in the j’ear, and the tar-sealing between Bell Block and the Mangamahau bridge could not be carried out this season. A portion of the Devon Road between the Waiongona bridge and Big Jim’s Hill, which is in very good order, can be tar-sealed this season, providing the shingle can be got' out in time. This would save re-coating this portion of the road, and be a great advantage.

The above recommendations were adopted, and tenders for shingle for the Waitara and Mangorei ridings were accepted by the council. REPORT ON BRIDGES. Mr. V. W. Ardern presented the following report after having made an inspection of bridges in the country: A'aitara Riding. Mangaoraka Main Road.—Decking on this bridge is very loose, and cannot be kept, tight owing to the old decking underneath being very uneven. I. think it should be taken off and redecked lengthways. Waiongona, Main Road.—Both old dockings have been taken off and redecked lengthways and is in very good order. Y’ork Road Bridge.—Pier posts badly rotted on bottom sill and must be strapped. Cross Road Bridge.—A few old decking planks to keep approach l from giving away otherwise the bridge is in fair order. Steel Bridge.—'Rusting very badly and should be tarred after well chipping. Te Arei Road Bridge.—Very old, but could be strengthened for a time. Mutton Track Culvert.—Scouring badly, and must have attention. Corbett Road Bridge.—lt is in a very bad condition and almost past repair.Cross l(oad, Manganaia.—ln very fair condition. Richmond Road.—New hand rail required, otherwise in good order. Manutahi Road Awal Bridge.—Good concrete piers and hardwood top. Waiongona Bridge, Leppterton.—This bridge is past repair, there seems to be no good part about it. The notice boards have been up so long that they have also rotted away and must be replaced.

Mangorei Riding. UppervKent Road Bridge.—The under struts are badly rotted at. bottom and must be strapped. This must be done as soon as possible and some decking required. Korito Road Bridge.—in fair order. Hill Road Bridge No. I.—One end decking joist badly decayed apd allowing approach to give way, stringers getting bad.

Hill Road Bridge.—Concrete pier and wingwalls badly cracked; the under strutting is of very light timber, and should be replaced with heavier. The pier and wingwalls would require strengthening it heavier under-strut-ting is done. Alfred Road Bridge.—ln fair order. The under struts of this bridge are very light timber, and set at a very flat angle to be of much use. Waiwakaiho Chain Bridge.—Some of the decking joists are very bad. and will require renewing, as the new decking is totara and requires good joistr on a bridge that has not a cantre stringer.

Lepper Carrington Road.—Very- lightly built, but in fair order.

Okato Riding. Kaihihi Bridge Main Road.—ln very good Stony River, Main Road Bridge.—ln very good order. Stony River Carrington Road.—W’est end main stay giving away under the strain. Ti:e timber is there and will be attended to as soon as possible as it Is in a bad state. Kirihau Road Bridge.—ln good order. Saunders Road.—Steel girder bridge. The concrete wall buiP to keep scour from pier undermining very badly. The girders should be chipped and tarred. Hand rails and guard rails are required. Tapuae Plymouth Road Bridge.—Old timber built, but in fair order for light traffic. KiiT' Bridge, Carrington' Road. —New cord leaf wanted and one t<\> main strut on east end. There are still a few small bridges 1 have not yet seen.

The chairman said it would be seen that, generally speaking, the bridges were in fair order, or could be repaired with little expense, with the exception of two or three which the council hoped to rebuild when financial conditions were more favorable. TJIE EGMONT MERGER. The Egmont County Council wrote acknowledging receipt of the information that a petition had been presented to the Taranaki County Council praying for the alteration of boundaries. In reply they stated that they could not agree to the proposal. The chairman stated that three months must elapse after thq petition was received before further steps could be taken, and the matter would have to remain in abeyance. LIMITING HEAVY TRAFFIC. In response to a request from the council, the county solicitors—Messrs. GoVett, Qullliam and Hutchen, wrote outlining the powers of the council to limit the load on a vehicle to a specified weight. Cr. Wooldridge remarked that the council would have to supplement the present by-laws with something to meet present-day traffic. Cr. Penwarden said there was no doubt that if the traffic was not stopped the roads the council were putting down would be ruined. Eventually the chairman and Crs. Wooldridge and Vickers were appointed - a subcommittee to confer with the county solicitors on the question of framing a by-law to deal with heavy traffic. THE TIMARU HILL. A complaint was received fro/n the secretary to the Rahotu Co-op. Dairy. Company, Mr. Hugh Bally, as to the manner in wtilch the council were now carrying on the alterations on the Main South Road at the- Tipiaru Hill. It was contended that serious expense and worry as well as delay had been caused to the company ajid others, by reason of the failure bn the part of the cotincil to keep the main road open for motor lorries, on which tolls and license fees were collected by the council. The chairman said he thought that everyone had been treated exceedingly well in connection with the work at this site.

The council decided that the letter be acknowledged, and to inform the Rahotu Company that while It was regretted anyone, had been caused Inconvenience the council and contractor had taken every reasonable means of keeping the road open for traffic. They could not admit any responsibility for the very unfavorable weather conditions wlrtch had prevailed during the progress of the work, and which- had entailed on the part of the council a large increase in the cost of the work, as well as proving a. heavy loss to the quarry. UPPER CARRINGTON ROAD. Regarding the Upper Carrington Road, the Public Works resident engineer (Mr. T. ! M. Ball) wrote stating that there was a sum of £2O available for clearing slips and making passable I’A miles of bridle track from the Momona stream to Mr. Morattl's section. As the council were doing some work in the vicinity he suggested some expense would be saved if they undertook the work. The engineer concluded: I may say that in all probability no further Government money will be forthcoming for the maintenance of this track. My department holds that such work Is properlj’ the function of local authorities and sees no good reason why the Government should continue to assist them in this district when it does not do so in similar cases elsewhere. The council decided to carry out the work. MISCELLANEOUS. It was decided to procure 25 tons of bitumen for the purposes of recoatlng in the Mangorei riding. The matter .of accepting tenders for the delivery of boulders on the Upper Saunders Road was left in the hands of the chairman. Mr. J. Thomason was granted a lease of a county reserve on the Junction Road for a period of 21 years at an annual rental of £6, provided all weeds are kept clear and fences maintained in good order. The council approved of a plan forwarded showing a proposed deviation on the Atkinson Road at Ratanul. The State Advances Office in reply to a communication from the council notified that the Hempton and Saunders road loans would reach the council shortly. The Public Works Department notified that the application by the council that certain land should be taken for the purposes of a quarry at Mangorei had been approved. Tenders are to be called for 400 yards of boulders on the upper portion o£~the Pitone Road. 4‘A tender for the delivery of bouiaers on the Upper Carrington Road will be submitted to the Public Works Department for approval.