MASTERTON HIGHWAY BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 915, 2 November 1881, Page 2

MASTERTON HIGHWAY BOARD.

engineer's report.

The following report was presented to the Board'at the last meeting :-

Sir—l hare the honor to lay before before you my monthly report upon the works in the Distriot.

Nu. 1 Ward-Eketahuna and Alfredton line.—The Inspector has, in accordance with his instructions, vißited and set off ■ the works required (from the termination of the County work) to open up :the Alfredton end of this line, and the Warden has undertaken to have them proceeded with without delay. It is to be hoped the West County Council will reopen their portion of the line, formed last season, as at present I believe it to be much out of repair. " No, 2 Ward—Upper Taueru Road Contract.—The bush sections of this line are being vigorously pushed forward with, and traffic has already been resumed, several dray-leads of Mr Hawkins' wool having arrived in Masterton' via this route. I hope that, weather permitting, tho works may be as punctually completed as they have commenced. Upon the Lower Taueru Road it is desirable that as much money as may be available should be expended in metalling such aecliona of the line as were omitted in last season's contract; and as the proper time for this work is now at hand, I should like if it could be undertaken as soon as possible. Of the minor works in this Ward, the construction and earthing in, £o.| of a culvert on the Upper Plain branch road, ia finished ; and the Manaia toad drains, cleansing, and formation repairs, are being proceeded with. I have given permission to the Contractor for the latter to suspend his operations for a week or so- in order that he may ereot a fence for'Mr R,' GoGkbiirn, which will protect the drains from the inroads of his and others straying cattle.' The removal of the stones from the Manaia road, near Mr Walter Morrison's farm, iB being onrriedout at the instance of Mr Andrew Cookburn, so that I hope, by this, that litigation may bi avoided. ' I would again desire to call attention to the much-worn state of the planking of the Te Ore Ore and Waingawa Bridges; and in order that the necessity of having to re-plank them may be obviated, would suggest, if possible, that they should be sheeted with diagonal planking, before it becomes too late.

The Ruamahanga River still continues to threaten the Te Ore Ore road, and during the last heavy flood, washed across the main road, and removed a considerable quantity of gravel, This river, as I have upon a previous occasion reported, is also making encroachment upon the reserve, near Messrs Burnett and Pike's, and must ultimately seriously damage it,, if not entirely wash the right of the road away. No. 3 Ward—Opaki to Camp Road.— My remarks on this line will be found-at the end of my report, Drainage Contraot on Opaki Branch Line.—This work is in the hands of two thoroughly practical men, and I feel sure will be executed with credit to them. Mauriceville Road.—l visited the settlement, with the Warden, on the 17th nit,, and examined the portions of the, road where the metal requires replenishing. I concur in the opinion expressed by Mr Chamberlain, that a sutn ol JSOranbe judiciously expended in this direction, Waipoua River, everflow at Pairau.— The river still continues to have a very menacing aspect, and must inevitably, during next winter, cause destruction to the main road. It will a pity if a permanent injury is allowed to establish itself through the short sighted.policy of the West County Council. No. 4 Ward-Kaumingi Deviation Contract.—The works in connection with this contract |)aye been executed in a most unsatisfactory manner, The Contractor, who latterly has been working aloiio on the contract,does not, from all appearanoe, understand this sort of work, and having become tired of constantly revising his blunders, has decided to give it up, which I think is the most sensiblg thing ho can do, I will therefore recommend that £lO be retained to defray tho post of completion, which can be executed by the party to whom the next section may be let.

Wainuioru Boad Work's Contract. — This contract, which has been executed by Mr Price Girdwood, gives every satisfaction. The works have been carried out with accuracy and expedition. One of the Bridges on the Kaumingi Road, I have discovered to be in an unsafe Btate, and request permission to have it removed and replaced by some new work.

No. 5 Ward—Wainuioru Bridle Track. —I have placed two good men on this traok to widen the portions on the more precipitous sidlings, and hope to have it ready for woolpacking in a, week or two. Wairarapa and East Coast Boad, Bush Felling Contract.—Messrs Kitohingham and Palmer, the Contractors, reported tbo completion of the bush felling on the 18th ult., and I proceeded to examine it on the 25th. I went right through the line and carefully elucked the contract, and have to regret that it was necessary to defer .the passing of the work until the requirements of the spscificationa hare been more accurately complied with, I will, however, request payment of the balance of the contract price, to pay over when the work ia completed, which will be in about a fortninht hence.

Survey Operations.—l hare, during last month, completed the following formation surveys, and prepared plans, &c, for contraot:—Kaumingi Deviation, 82.24 chains; Tupurupuru, Contract No. 1, 68 chains; Contract No. 2, 77 chains; Ahiaruhe Road, 33.25 chains. In addition to these I have laid oat—chains of formation on the Kaikouta Road, and await further instructions from the Board before advertising for tenders. I have also carefully exnmined the various routes suggested as rights of road into Dr Hosking's property, and have, arrived at the conclusion that it is advisable to abandon the lin«s proposed by Mr Bennett and Dr Husking, aud adopt one of two lines (either of which oanbe converted into a fair road), Of the' two I am strongly in favor of one tinted red as the moat suitable line from every point of view, and will therefore recommend its adoption, My reason for selooting a direct line from the corner of O'Mally's section to the main road, in preference to following along the boundary line (tinted blue), is that the ground there is considerably elevated, and will make the soundest road-bed, while that along the fence runs through a natural depression in the fiat, and receives a large proportion of the drainage from the higher surrounding ground, If thiß will meet Dr Hoskings' views, and he expresses his willingness to fence and purchase (if necessary) the length through the freehold land, there iB no reason why the line should not be marked off and the matter settled at once. '

Opaki to Masterton road,—ln connection with this line of road a somewhat serious oharge has been indirectly laid against me by the Wairarapa West County Council, founded upon a misrepresentation contained in the last report of their ;Bngineer to that body, whioh, I.consider calls for some explanation upon my part. The charge of riegleoV, against m? to attend to the requirements of'the road is limited by the County Engineer to one section of the line alone; i.e., from the Opaki to the' Camp, '.fhe'.Counoil, however, hare enlarged upon, this by express-

ng general dissatisfaction with the manner in whioh the money voted to the Board by them has been expended along the whole line. I will first of all deal with the. Engineer's oharge, whioh it em- j bodied in the attached paragraph of his report to the Council, and in which he stated " That the road lately formed and _ metalled has been neglected since its, i completion, and, aB a consequence, is .1 very much out of repair." One ignorant : of the truth in connection herewith is apt , 'to infit from this that a heavy traffic over this road has brought about this moat ; undesirable state of affairs; but such is not the case. It is a characteristic feature, • peculiar to road works lately transferred over on to the Board's shoulders by the ] Council, that they invariably are in an j incomplete state in some reaped or other. , In this case the gravel has been laid \ down of such coarse quality that drivers i of vehicles have evidently assiduously avoided going on the metal as much as : possible; so that their traffic cannot but I in a small degree account for the delapidated state of the road this gentleman complains of. The truth appears to me to be this :-The work has been taken over, regardless as to how it ought to have been finished, and the Engineer having subsequently become alive to the fact that it is noither creditable to himself or the Council, has decided to endeavor to cast off any responsibility in conneetion with the matter by laying the blame at my door, in the hope that I might be compelled to complete the contract, and thereby expedite the obliteration of what must be an eyesore to everyone who knows what a properly executed contract ought to be. This section of the road is, with the exception of the two ruts hollowed out by the passage of, say, one dozen vehioles, in as good a state of repair as the day upon which it wbb (and ought not to have been) taken over by the Council. I will suggest as a remedy for the recurrence of this sort of thing that the Board inspect and approve of Council works before being compelled to take them over. In making this comment upon Council works in general, I do not wißh to include their bridges, which I consider are substantial and handsome specimens, aud answer the purpose equally well that less expensive structures would. Beferring to the general dissatißiacton expressed by the Council as to the manner 1 in whioh I have considered it advisable to lay out a portion of the money voted by them for this line, I am rather at a loss 1 to quite comprehend what they meaH. It ■ is stated in the letter from that body that 1 the monoy voted for maintenance of the '. road to the Camp haß not been expended ■ by the Masterton Highway Board as re--1 quired. If lam not much mistaken the 1 money was voted without any further stipulation than that it should bo expen- [■ dad j and if otherwise, I received no ' special instructions from the Board when authorised to proceed with the necessary ; repairs, I must naturally infer that the '' Councillors base this expression of disapproval upon the testimony of their Engineer, and this for two reasons, firstly, 1 that Ido not think that any Councillor 1 is sufficiently well acquainted with the requirements of the line to venture such a ' statement of himself, and secondly, that > Ido not think that Councillor would hold ' this opinion, did he know the truth of the case. The money was voted early in April, or in other words, in the beginning 1 of winter,'and the expenditure commenced by employing two men on the approaches ' to the Ruamahunga bridge in raking in, ' breaking, and blinding the metal (which i was dean water washed river-bed gravel), 1 and woulf} not otherwise have set. From ; here one man was dispensed with, and the other was shifted to where the traffic ! was heaviest, and where the road had been recently patched, by aid of a County ' vote, supplemented by a Board contribu--1 tion. From here this man has steadily ' worked his way to within about 1| miles i of the end of the Board road, and will 1 finish the whole in about ttvo months, i With the exception of the 1| miles length, > the road is in ! very fair owtyr. I regret 1 that the Ouuncil should have been misled 1 as to the actual state of affairs, and that 1 the Boards judicious economy in having ' curtailed the expenditure during the ' winter months should lead to their funds > being crippled by the Council, now that > the time has come when tljo mqney can be laid out to some advantage. I must " offer an apology to the members of the ' Board if, in making this statement, they ' may consider I have overstepped the 1 bounds of what was absolutely necessary. For my part, I think I have not. 1 I have, Ac, fi. E. Bremner. j " „_—_■■■«_«