THE WAIPOUA BRIDGE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10412, 5 September 1911, Page 5

THE WAIPOUA BRIDGE.

[ CONFERENCE OF THE COUNCILS. ■A SERIOUS POSITION. A special meeting of tine Maaterton Borougjh Council was held last night, to comaider .tine position'that has a risen in regard to the leveJis in coiunection with Queen: Street land the bridge at morthiorn approach to the town. There weave present,— Hig Worship the Mayor (Mr J. M. Coradine), Crs H. J. O'Leary, J. .Elliott, F. W. Temple, T. G. Hoar, W. Candy, W. Prague)!, J. C. Ewiaigjton, J. P. Prentice, and A. Donald. The Mayor explained that since the Council bad viewed the bridge, it had been found necessary to deal with Hue matter promptly. He said he hlad iuviited ,the Chairman of tine Goainity Council to attend with hn.9 Engineer, and as many County Councillors a;s .passible. At present be Was taking itihte attitude of not blaming anybody until the County Engineer .should isbow how he intended to connect the bridge with Queen Street. He had' told Mr MioLaohlam that the Council would require (to know (hiiis proposals in connection with the work, after which the mia/t----ter could be fully discmi&sed, to- see whlat wias the best course to take. Tihe question' dated back for a oan•sideiraible time, 'and isince tihe position llilad arisen 'liie (the speaker) had gone into llhe proceedings and correspondence oai the matter, and he had found (that tfhe arrangement of tine Counicil was- purely a. financial one. He did mot itihliinik the Council had mudh power. ' Tttxe agreement wias purely financial with the exception of macadamising the road, and. one or two small matters. The Counoil must remember that they had fully considered tihe piiatnis and' adopted tl»m, and agreed to pay half t'h-e cost. Th«y would he faced witlli .tJie foot thiait ithey itad CJldy discovered the trouble at this date. It was a ireaniarkaible tilling , that nothing was shown on, tihie pOiams with regard ,to the connecting' with Queein -Street. Or .Elliott said the Borough Enginieer 'had been instructed to inspect tine pilaws, and tihe Counoil had been given' to understand that hie had done .so, and agreed with tlie plans. / The Mayor said the first time it' lhad come under notice was when he was opening tihe tenders. He then pointed the matter out to- Mir MeLaidhilain, who said that the bridge had been put on the side rim. order th'at Ihe old bridge .mcght be kept standing ibr .tihe purposes of traffic, i Or "Prentice said tihat tihe Ooutmcdl had distinctly understood -that the bridge wloulid ,be a continiuatioii of Queen Street up to thle .cutting. The Mayor pointed out that itlhe error wa® tfhlait no aitegniment hlad bee,n itaJkeni iirom Queen, Street. T!hie witole work had beein done from the other j side of, tihie .bridge. | Or Temple said that wheal' an, tihie Conumitltee which ibanfeiTed witih tihe County Council tihe question was i /asked if the bridge was going to ibe 1 in itihe .same position a® the old bridge and he had been given' to understand lujat ifc was. There wias mover amy j otlher idea in the minds of tihie Gommrifttee. There was no need to keep j tihe (bridge open, and tlhiey were ail under the impression thlat the raver would have to be ftxrded. Cr Ewiington bare out tlie statements of Cr. Temple. One pUJami proposed! raisiinig the -bridge nine inches, and -thiiis was strongly objieoted to. Tlie other bridge wais being reduced by about ia foot. Cr Ewington oondudied ,by saying tihait itihieire was 'Something wrong, and it was to be renroediect. Messrs W. J. .Wieldi, D. J. Cameron, I>. W. Foreman, and H. Miller, j members of (the Opuinty Council, and j Mr D. MoLacMan, (County Engineer) entered Itlhe room ,at this sitiage. The Mayor isaid he had explained tlie position, to his Courocil. He added tihiat it seemed to him thiait a liot of wowey wais being spent for ail improvement, but it looked a;& if there was going ,to be no improvement whatever. Tlie footpath wouild have to ibe raised four feet, throwing the Oouncil open to acition. by private »winiej*s. He recognised that both 'bodies haid agreed to the plans, Tvfliioh did not show tihe connection! with Queeai Street. The question- was Ihiow (to make a job of it, without doing damage to private propea-ty. 'Mi- Weloh said tliat Mr McLiachlan Quad a saliteme to submit to the Counoil. Mr MoLadlilan said he (had taken, lewis, and. found that "he oould get a grade of one ini tweaiity-two, sta-rt-iaig 66 feet 'firo-nj .tihe beginning of tihie bridge. He added thiait w'hien. .tihe work was completed it would not look as bad as was anttciipatbed. The Mayor: Hiow will you get over the footpath difficulty P Mr McLaohlan replied that it would lilave to be risen 3ft lOin. The Mayor added that andier those

ci/roiimstamoos iany building erected on .the property would have to he on three foort foundations. ■Mr McLadhlau isiaid that tihu.t would litvve to he done in any oa>sie. The Trust Lands Trustees could not (have looked into the position, closely, if fthoy .objected Ito it. Tlhe Mayor and Mr Welch both lagneed tihiat an. error had been, made, iand it was .best mat ito exaggerate it. Mr Cameron siaid the responsibility [rested with both bodiies, amd they mustt endeavour ito get out of it. Or Ewiaiigjtoni agreed with Mi- Cameron. He suggested that the two Engineers oouusruit as to the position, ■and report. In, 1 answer ito a, question by Or Temple, Mir MeLachlan said- it via® quite possible toi sihii't the bridge .up tlhe river to .the centre of Queen. Street, but the cost would be heavy. Or Temple then, siadd that rif the Council was f'aoe to face with an action by itjlie Trust Lands Tirasit, they nu'ghlt as well spend: the money in remedying tha mistake. Mir .Welch, .suggested widening the bridge to the full width of the road. Or Hoar suggested tlie lowering of the south end of the. bridge. He tasked Mr MoLacMan, if lie would recommend the addition, of another stringer instead of shifting the bridge, to which Mr MoLaehdian replied in the affirmative. The Mayor: lit appears to me that our end has been entirely .neglected, iand that inOre attention, has been ■paid to tthe shadow than to tlie substance. Mr .Welch, in answer to Or Ewiington, said he. could not commit his Council ais regards a conference between. the Engineer,s. Cr Hoar said that Ci' Temple had istated that tlie Oommittee wia.& given ito understand (that tlie .stroiature was to he iin the centre of Queen Street, iand hie could not understand how it Quad got oin to tlhe side. ; He added that Ihe had opposed the thiing tooth and nail right from the beginning. It biad 1 been an immense, bungle. He wias sorry for both sides. Mr Foreman said he favoured leaving the bridge a® it was. It appeared tlhlat the Borough Council was trying to ,put i!he wihole blame on the ishtoulders of Mr Mcl/aicihiLan. It was not Mr McLaohlan'is fault. Both tlhe Borough Council and their Engineer (Mr MaaidieM') hiad fully, considered the pilaws. Thte Mayor siaid ithey were not lay-, i'ng any charge yet against anybody. They had not discovered whose mistake it was. Messrs Welch and Qaimeron. started tlhlat tihey did not consider tihe Borouglh] Council was Ma.ming Mr MeLadMan. iMr .Cameron thought Or Ewington's suggestion that the Engineers confer migfoft result in .some good. Mr Archer said that he and Mr Mc- I LachlDan could agree to a grade, but the question wiae the height of the concrete wall that would be necessary to protect the property. Mr RnagneH thought tihe contra cltor might be asked to proceed witih tihe wisrk o,n- ,the far bridge until somie decision was arrived at. Hhe members. of the. County Council aindi ,t»he County Engimeer then retired from the .room. Or Hoar said that the footpath .might not be up to the proper level on the eiaisitern. .side of Queen Street., tand if so the rise would not be great. He asikfed the Borough Engineer whether it wiouM make ia good job to lower this end of the bridge, df tihe waiter course was not interfered with. Mr Archer replied ia the affirmative. ' Or Temple persisted that the best scheme was to shift the bridge. to , the middle of tihe road, and l thus dear ,u.p the. whole matter. Or Etwmgton said that lowering or shortening the bridge, ought not to encroach on itlhe .water way, because at one time iboth the sttreams a"an. in the same course. T3ie Mayor said that if the footpath was brought below the traffic htnidige., as on tile old bridge, the position would be improved; All such suggestions could be carried out, bulfc it was just a question of cost. He Wanted to have the miatter rectified in am ajmiidabtlie way. . Mr Archier said the grade ousghlt to hie one in twenty-five at least. It wias eventually decided that a letter be sent to the County Council, is/feting .that the Borough' Council dh'd nKJit approve of Mr MdjacMaa's proposail, and suggesftang the suspending of the work on the bridge until some decision; is - arrived at regarding the oomstruatjiion. of the roadway conmeatdng wo'itfli tihe bridgie, and tdila/f? the Ctountfcy Bngkueer he asked if he oonr /sidered it advisable ftio lower the ibridge or to lower tihe footpath. It was also decided to ask tlhe County Council to consider the matter as. •argent. The Engineer wais instructed to submit an esftimate of the cost of isihifting the ibridge-, amid also tlhie cost of widening the ibridgß to the full wfidlth of Queen Street.