MASTERTON ROAD BOARD.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 6, Issue 1801, 30 September 1884, Page 3

MASTERTON ROAD BOARD.

o Tiik following report was road at the meeting of the Board on Saturday : Nik,—l hive the honor to submit to you my report for the pns-t two months on the works of tin l . Alfredtoi and illastertoii road district as follows ; Alfredton K»ad Board Works.-Of the several contracts let in that district ou the Altr-nlton district road line, Nos. 1 ami 2, hive been completeil and passed. No li, oinsistiug of bridgo construction, still remains untouched, owing to the impassable suite of the raids over wlvch the timber has to lie conveyod to the sites of the works, Mr Girdwood's contract, No, 4, is in a forwtrd state of progress, the greater poition of the earthwork is eomnletcd, and the timber is being prepaid! for the construction of the culverts. Gontract No, (i has been reported by Mr .Stevens as finished, and it is my intention at as (ariy a date nsposMle to make a final examination of the work. Masterton District, War 1 No. 2.—Opaki to llangitumau Hoad,—Good progress lias been made with this work since the 2nd of August, The heaviest sections of the formation have been carried through leaving only a length of about 15 chains still uiii'ioken, The upper sections of the line which were formed in the early Dart of the winter have sulfered considerably from the oveiflow of the Knpiiaranga river, The embankments in many places lnue been washed and considerably danneed, and logs and other rubbish deposited over the surf ice of the road. I have had an estimate prepared of the cost of repairing these damages amounting to £ls: and I bilievo it is the intention of the contractor to make a'iplica. tioii to the Board for assistance towards the work, The piers for the Bridge on this line have been carefully built, and the timber for the superstructure cut and de-ivered on the site, The construction of the bridge is well advanced, and it is expected it will be completed within a day or two, Masterton to Gladstone road,-The fencing, ro.id formation, and draining on the sections of the line which ma through the properties of Mows Cockbum and Wunleli, and which constituted this contract have been finished in a substantial and satisfactory manner by Mr Jas. Colwav. In a'dition, however, to the original contract an extra outlay of 4,'G 10s has had to be incurred owing to the ravages of the flood of 2nd of September, which swept down many chains of tnc newly erected fences along the lower level* of the grotuid, This has now been re elected, and the deed of transfer to the Board of the portions of the line acquired through the Mauaia property signed by Mr It Cockburn. Tenders have been invited and close this day for Works upon whi' h it is proposed to spend the small balance "till available out of the grant for this line. Akura road.—A great poition of this road has been subjected to inundation during the rectiit heavy llnod in the Waiooua, a<id although the format on h id escaped wHi b'lt trilling harm, the piers of one of the platform bridges were soured out, and lb' bridge iloited bodily two or three lnins powu sue mi. The Uailio ol the Upper Opaki with Mast mon w-s in crnsiqnonce 1 of this casually icmpnuri y sn»p,-nded for i all but light vehicle-fa'seve. a! days. Ktms ■ wci'ti immediately tdi.n i.n Inve the bridge reconstructed an 1 trdlie was resumed 'hii'iighout the line by the 17th ultimo, The bush felling on the line of road leading into I Mr Watts' propelty at Waingawa has bjou ' inspected and approved of, the work having . been carried out in a satisfactory manner. No, 3 Wa v d.—Tie damages to the works ■ in Shis Ward from the effects of the recent ' floods have been greater than in any other , subdivision of the district. Commencing at , the Mikimiki, where the eastern approach to fie bridge has ben catire'y annihilate 1 and the Waiooua River bed widened by 40 feet, 1 the overflow has swept down over the Pirau ! Swamp road, paitially destroying the ; embankment along that line and flooding the road, which still remains under water for many chains, Further south the Mata- ' hiwi road has been submerged, and although ' uo severe injify has bifall«n the works, the gravel lias been partially washed oil' the formation in several placos and the earthworks also slkditly damaged, The dcstriie--1 tion of the approach to the Mikimiki bridge I and widening of the river bed at that \«\>H . is so serious a calamity and must involve so large an expenditure in its repair that I am disposed to believe the settlers interested 5 in the work will be unable to heir tiie cost of reconstruction. This being the case the [ only recommendation I can suggest, will be , to dismantle the bridge, and transfer it to tlie imposed site of the Wangaehu Kiver crossing on the Wangaehu Valley Koad; recoup tiro settlers in the Mikimiki Valley out of the monies applied for towards the cunstvuct'oM of tho Waugaohti road, should tint application bo entertained by the Government, which I have every reason to believe it will. By this means the debentures for the Mikimiki loan can be reduce 1 by the amount realised by the sale of tin bridge, and traffic into the Mikimiki Valley musl then be tern orarily accommodated by fordi ig the river at the best costing to he ' obtained. Nothing can be dme towards '' repairing the Pirau Swamp road until tac 1, Waipona is diverted into its former channel, and until the waters have subsided it will be impossible to acoinately estimate tin t injuries the line has already sustained. II miy be remembered by some or the present v members of this Board that after the floor of 18*50 I frequently brough. under tin ( ' notice of the Bo ml and U'airarapa West " County Council the dingers to which tin y line must be exposed frnn the storm water: , r of the Waipoua, if onco opened ut», the banks of the rivor at. Pairaii wore pre served by strong protective work, lam stii of opinion that unless these are now under B taken the greater portion of the river wil . permanently 'adopt a course th'oughjthi :wa'mp lo the utter demolition of -tbi*. roar >' as wHas to tho oornunent m\ irreparable ! - injury of all properties lying in the line of iti 1 new encroachment, The Mauriceville roat s has also suffered severely from the heav; rains, Large landslips have oeeurea wluol e b'ock the line in many places, for anythim 0 but foot and bi lie trJic. Bj ides thes )« tin in-ta! uiilK.! o.d>t)'u r.hnn ..pe h , la ge ruts have w> r\ed up to 'he dang r ut u,l vehicles .iavu'jn;' to the aciessiV ' portions of the settlement T! ion It recell ie iiHpection 1 have estimttrd that a sum t. M j .i'fii \Vi i \>- I'eq'ib'e'l "I tihvo-e t"rs.i sn> lb'. r'tiinvsiii mi vtJtti. iiii'.i 'i ; i-"vw op'ii |i 1( | litiA wM&fy I 1; Iil ; l, v n 1 «HW' hm .. h<-i»"•■""■,.,, ""•"'"■■v. .

if course of the Waimiiom river by winch tho ,j current has ben directed below tho centro ' |of tho bridge has been carried out with successful rcjults by tho permanent roadman y assisted by nnot'-or man. These two men e are now ongagod in preparing nemukufaßcines for the protection of the by washes of the Wcstmero road dams, which work I hope may be undertaken within the next fortnight y Upon tho Waipawa Valley road the land slips are sufficiently dry iiml consolidated to render their removal advisable, if the lines arc to be openo I for this reasons wool traffic. I will, therefore ask the authority of the Board to aframje for tlw execution of this i work, and also for tho completion of that section of tho unfinished contract holdover since last autumn, fn conclusion I will recommend that temleia bo invited, to close ,i by next sitting of the Hoard, for the metalling of the Opiiki to Hangitum.au roa d ,f the formation of which, under favourable circumstances, ought to bo out of hand by 0 that date. I have, etc., s 0. E. Brejinkb.