MASTERTON COUNTY COUNCIL

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10717, 11 September 1912, Page 6

MASTERTON COUNTY COUNCIL

KXG INKER'S REPORT. I The following report of the Masterton County engineer was presented at the monthly meeting of tho Council, held .yesterday Sir, —• . I havo tlio honour to submit to you a renort on the road woiks within the County for the past month. •Ooaki Hiding.—Matahiwi and bran, cli roads. Contract No. 282. Tlio above contract is reported by the con- i traetor completed. Tho north ecu end of tlio Mataihiwi Road being in a very weak condition tho chairman lias authorised tho expenditure of a portion of the. allocation in metal repairs. 1 havo ai'i'auged with the contractor, who i'i now on tho ground, to proceed with tho work. ' Mr Falconer's application ro Imaging Black I ibave visits) tco groxuid with tho chairman, and estimate that 50 feet of bridge is required near the ford, tho cost of winch would bo approximately £3OO. J'ho ford, I may ;ay. is in letter condition than I ;havo seen it for somo years. An improvement on the westtern side outlet might bo effected with two or threo days'.labour to ease the grade. , The renewal of a culvert and some watertab'.e work lias been made on the western end of this length. Fernridge Road. The weaker parts of tho metal surface on the Fernridge Road have been mended. Miki Miki Road (thirds account). A 3ft Gin bv .'Jft culvert, and filling; at the north end of the Miki Miki was reported finished on Saturday last. I have as yet boon unable to inspect it. Northern Approach." I have expended about tho amount allotted me by the Council in crowning and consolidating the metal layer. Rangitumau Riding. ; —l beg to dir-" ect the Council's Attention to tlio necessity of having a wharo built in tho vicinity of tho Ruamahanga bridge and tlio Bluff Road. Thir, if; absolutely necessary for the economical working of the ridings. There is small grazing and acommodation for horses and in the event of the Council carrying out its contemplated gehemo such camping places will bo required. Te Whiti Riding.—Masterton-Glad-stone Bond. With the councillor for tho riding I inspected the road frontage that Mr McKenzie complained of .

and I fail to see where any foreign water has been brought on to Mr Mc-

Keiizie's land, and practically the wliole of the mad along the terrace lias a fall soutliwards and the water must, finally How in that direction. The defining of the outer edge of the formation and the levelling of the same would, in my opinion, only hasten the drainage from the road surface. Or Percy and I also visited the Makora creeks in the vicinity of Messrs Cross, D'Arcy, and IJume's property, where complaints were made to the Council of flooding. Along the frontage of Messrs Cross and Hume the

large willows greatly impede the.discharge of .water. Along Mr D'Arcy's frontage, wiiicli is fairly free from willows, tlicre is other native growth, in the shape of fax, .<jdm6.rha.fc obstructing the free [low of water. The willow nuisance is to be found at intervals along the stream to tho Borough boundary, and if each and all would co-operate in cleaning the stream and destroying tho willows a freer waterway would bo obtained, and Hoods in oonsequenco would be minimised. I would, 'however, point out that dur-

ing the recent floods the ground was quito waterlogged, and tho creeks in most oases wero fully charged. Weraiti Road. Tho widening of tho roadway where a slip carried the mad away on mile 7 is towards completion. Wainuioru Biding.—li.iversda.lo Ed.

Contract No.' 284. The contractor took out tho timber for tho culverts last week, and expects to finish his work witihin the next woek or so. •During the last floods and overflow of the Waikaraka, Creek ran down tho formation on a grade, scouring away the road formation and metal to a considerable extent. It will bo necessary to stop recurrence of this by constructing a small embankment from a .higher terrace on the upper sido of the :road, constructing same across the formation so as to divert tho water across tho road reserve, which finds a

natural course again on tho lower side of tho road clear of tho formation. This will involve an expenditure of about £lO or £l2 as it will necessitate raising tho formation and remetalling

a couple of elm-ins of road. A good deal of metal lias been washed off the Ngapulcuturu flats by the recent floods. There has also l>cen a small' scour on the Uruti Road, say a couple ox/ weeks' carting with two teams would, repair flood damage. Blairlogio .Road. Thero are many weak portions 011 thir. section which require some metal carting. A similar condition prevails on the MastertonWaimata. Road at intervals between tlio Taueru and Carswells. Should , weather conditions permit I will have somo metal carted to the weaker por- 1 tions. Alfred-ton Riding.—Alf rcdton-Weber ■ Road. Contract No 278. Buildim;; Te Hoe Bridge. Tilie contractor is making fair progress with the work —-the main- trusses -aro swung and tho contractor expects, with favourable weather, to have the bridge open for traf- • fie by tlio Kith inst. _ j On the district roads tho slips havo ! been sufficiently removed to admit of wheel traffic. Saunders.Road pjrants. The Roads Department has g; von tho necessary authority for proceeding with tho Sounders R-oa-d bridle track. With tho Council's sanction T propose calling tenders for 0110 contract, from the Puketoi Road junction to track near Morris Bros.'s old homestead. I Black Greek Road. T was una-blo.to detect any threatened encroachment of the Black Creek on the roadway. Gorso and other growth. Notices Jiave been sent out to some of the most prominent offenders, and I have takyn notes of other offenders.