Waimate County Council. ENGINEER'S MONTHLY REPORT.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 40, 1 September 1900, Page 3

Waimate County Council. ENGINEER'S MONTHLY REPORT.

Sir, — I have the honour to submit to you the following report on works that have been in progress in, -the' county during the past month :-=- Upper* Pareora Biding : A 'toar of* inspection was ruade of this district last week, and some fresh works ur ranged for to repair damages and restore the Pareora river fords which were washed out daring the recent wet weather. Labour will also be employed to coniplote work which ihe ! council's man had in hand when he was withdrawn to superintend metalling operation in other parts o£ the riding, (xordon's Valley and other lines : Contract 843 a: Sections of this 1 contract have been successfully finished and it is hoped to complete the remainder of the work in the course of a few days. D. Nicholsons application is for forming about 8£ chains of. road, and funds oermitting, metalling 11 chains to his section boundary, also lowering and reinstalling a ford on the road i"i erf ting his property. The estimated cost of those works is attached hereto. Elder's Roa& : Oppor , tunity was taken while in this district, to interview Mr Elder about iiis road, and With him r,o inspect the moM -suit able gravel deposits available for tho work. Tlio rsea*t proposals and fret>h estimates are now given for expending the balance of the thirds accrued to date, and if desired a contract can bo advertised inviting tenders for the work. Lowor Pareora Riding : Materials have been prepared for making alterations to the Deep Creek bridge which will be undertaken as soon as the earthwork approaches have been com p'.eted bp the council's teams, probably in the course of a week or ten day*' tii&e. Coitracb No. 351 : Fair progress has been made with this contract Foul' hundred cubic yards of gravel have been laid down on the trelpgraph line, and a start undo on TarubuH'g frontage on the North OfcaiO Vatic y load. The stone-breakers hwo sue oessfully finished their work on Wil liams and Carswell's contract, and a fresh agreemeM has beei entered into for blinding a sffc width along tha centre of the new gravel. The Council's teams are still employed on the Paroora Valley roal upon completing wiiiji 1 ! they will return to the back Tine,, Upper Pareoia, to make repairs before' ailuded to. Otaio Riding. Contract No. 344, Pigeon's Road : This contract has been satisfactorily performed, and can be* taken off the contractor's hands. Extras 'to the value of £17 13s 3d weie incurred with the sanction of the councillor for the -Riding, in making certain extensions to the original coutract. Tenders for contracts No. 355 and 359 will bo laid before the council during its present sitting, Mr Copeland's application of Juna 2V: As directed by the council, I visited this locality on the 23rd inst., and made a cursory examination of the road line and the watercourses affecting tha drainage of lands in the vicinity of the sandy ford, i also interviewed Messrs Smith and Copelaud, and elicited from each a considerable amount of information bearing on the history of the road and drainage trouble. B 9 for 3 making any report on the matter contained in Mr Copeland's letter, it' will I be necessary for me to make a careful survey of the levels of the ground | which I will endeavour to do in time tor next meeting. Makikihi Riding 1 : Swamp (application of College Governors and others) The length of road embraced in this application is ISO chains, including a platform bridge, situated in low lying marsh land, and could be best undertaken in dry summer vpather. In it* present state much of it is unfit to travel on, except with very , light traffic. 'An effort should be made t6 improve the drainage and remove the stagnant water which saturates the subsoil and would prevent a solid road being obtained. Au estimate of one work is attached. Teams are employed re-forming and repairing some of the lines about Makikihi which Will be patched and then rolled by the county metal roller. Deep Creek Riding : Hayes application : A special report on this matter was made and submitted to a committee of the council on Saturday, 14th inst., and it was decided to obtain information from the Survey Office to enable the proper road reserve to be located before making any further expenditure. This is ikj«v available and the survey will b e reinstated so soon as Mr Baxter's services are available. Camerons Road : In company with Mr Douglas I visited this road line, which it is proposed . to canstrucfc in , the spring. The length was examined

throughout, with special reference to the deviations. The country is rough and the expensive. The limited a mount- of money available renders it necessary that the road be as short as possible and -deviations otherwise desirable to reduee'the. grade, will need to be dispensed with. [ Whituey's Creek : Levels taken show that the clam about a mile below the • ford'is not tho eauso of the flooding of\ the roadway and adjifenS lands, anc!{ if 'the strcMn were Jjioperl^ cleared oi laupo and othei v^yifcation, rhe watei ; v^O'i l^ he eiirily oariied off T'U cut Liu^ .A . eha 1 ) kjlk j 1 83 chams dow f stream from she ford would let off th s water from the latter, and probab. -. also from the flats. i