WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 1966, 16 April 1885, Page 2

WAIRARAPA EAST COUNTY COUNCIL.

;'. engineer's estimates, The following report was laid before the Wairarapa East County Council at its last meeting:— ■ Sis,—l have the honor to lay before; you my estimates for the ensuing twelve-' months, and a Bhort report of the maintenance of the main roads of the Colony.. It will be observed that theße estimates in all oases exceed by over 100 per cent,, the estimates of previous years, and in their details embrace works which hitherto have not been provided for under the heading of maintenance, In explanation of this I would submit, that the main and district! roads out the County have never as yet been adequately maintained, but on the contrary, have from year to year been steadily deteorating on our hands through insufficient caring for, The line 3, whon metalled, have invariably been treated as finished and permanent works, and-have been neglected in the matter of maintenance until the gravel has become worn through, or so torn about as to demand fresh metalling, or the alternative of closing the roads entirely to. vehicle traffic. This refers' equally "to the iunmetalled roads, where long lengths of line' haVe been opened up through bush and open country, and have afterwards been bo neglected as to be of little or no use to the settlers living, along;them, from the fact of thejr being closed excepting for a few months'in the summer, by land slips, which lie on the road bed throughout the winter, closing the water channels and diverting the drainage across the formation, to its serious injury. The jtraffic upon the main 'roads has been greatjy' atjgmonted of late, through the increased ''aptiyityin'''Bej|!ement.'upon the lands along them aud tlje' district" lines, No corresponding provision however, has been made to meet the • Increased wear and* jt.ear. ppcasipne.d by this additional traffic; anil,as a' sequence the lines generally nave fallen into, a very disreputable condition, It is to )je anticipated that as these lands are d.eyelppcid, so the traffic on the lines wjl) jaFgply increase, and unless the means of pgmm'unicatlon wiiji the market centres by tjie main lines can be preserved in a fit State, du'rjng all seasons of the year, for the carting of the different classes of goods which each season requires, the settlement of the back country must necessarily become retarded, and the district generally must< suffer, by it,,. If facilities for personal travelling are introduced, the lands will become settled much i %#e ffipidly, and the expense of main- ' tenange wipe riwte generally distribut- ' ed over a larger area of ijbun'fcry prpp'prL tionately enhanced in value by -improved 1 means of regular communication', ' ' Theforejgn matter which I'have introduce'd itito ! my estimate for the current year's maintenance' consist of bush felling 1 along'the road Juiesy' new metalling, fresh 1 draining and constfuetion \il fiulverts to 'drain 'the : 'Bu'rn!ce rfaK7»'oin-tjie road 1 beds on such section'B-bf'thb'iincs, where the present provisions in this respect are 1 totally''inadequate.' * " '"Maintenance on'tho County main roads ' has'hitherto been Rflnfined almost solely 1 to the appointment oralinglo roadman to a length of about twelve miles of road, The result has'been iihsatisfactury to the 1 man, and doubly so to the road, With 1 tliese additions to what has been considered 'as ordinary maintenance, the 1 standard <jf utility pj;tho'-lines'will be ': raised, '" ' '■' ' '' jt would further wish to cajl jthe atfcen.tj,op of .Oojjiicjiiora t.b one or'twei' matters which, m hvy opjiiioh, do materially affect ' : the ec'onolnical of the roads at present; and toVugg'eat that action be ' taken to ensure a discontinuance' jjf these evils in the future," ' " ' % begin with, the use of heavily laden builqck drays q'n' narrow tiers ranks first - in the list of rpaji jdesjtrpyoiia. These twp.-wheejed dpays are' - - f|rpq|ieptly lpaded up to two' and a half 1 tons mill ' are vitii difficulty. drjyen along the narrow widths to which the baok country roads are formed, Tho" consoquoncee are most disastrous to the roads, either metalled or unmctalled, The great weights upon the narrow wheels plough through the metal and formation, when tho formation is soft in winter, and traversing in and out of the water channels, tear doop ruts in the formation, and divert the drainage into the centre of the road, converting tho road fpp miles into an almost impassable quagmjre, Tp ffiinedy thkevil, I wouldstrongly recommend that''ijieajmnis. b.e tftkon to pompo! owners of j>nl}oc]£- drays to'adopt Din, broad tires on all their 'drays, and jf poaslbls to limit the maximum load to be carried by them to a ton and a half, Secondly, I would point out the great benefits aooruing to reads whioh pasß through forest country by foiling the bush, whioh deprives the road bed from the benefits of the sun, 1 would Buggesfc that, as the Government are at present letting, and will probably continue to let, considerable lengths of' bushfellifig'along surveyed road lines, opening'up fresh country, that instead of felling a uniform Width; fif hajf a chain on each Bide of the, centre \of tjie' surveyed road/, a much, greater'ben'efij; tfjlj'be derived- if'the" l p'ar--ticular aspect; qf each" 'carefully considered, and such pprtp's qf i)}e bjislf jfejled as wpuld permit of tljo road receiving the full benefits qf tfte pun dp ipg the day. The tragi?, or fprniefl road, as the case may be, would be kept in better order, and would afterwards be less expensive to maintain, and prove of much more use tu those in whose jnterests tbe works have been exoguiwl, In the event of tho requisite foiling proving of any great extent, the cost of the improvement could be added to the price of the section when sold, and if well burnt and grassed, would probably be a great benefit to the purchaser, affording him a small grassed paddock on his section to iiiake a start upon. • : Thirdly, I am of the opinion that. it. would be advantageous, in some instances, to. have the light to close unmetalled roads against wheel traffic during certain months m midwinter as the'holding of; &■, right of this sort would ensure tho heavy traffic'to the back country being earned out during the summer and autumn-; season's, when the lines.are: better lit to carry it. Again, no provision has been made along the main road lines of the district ill respect qf gravel reserves. The effect of this is that, i?hen'cpn|r&ts are lei for

metalling lengths of these lines, contract- . f ora have frequently to drive bargains., with the land owners for the right to procure the material required to execute the work. It is true that as a rule iUs given, for the asking,' but there when; compensation is demanaeu, andwith natives'ifc is invariably so, and the compensation lias to be provided for in each whon an estimate'iH drawn up for work, the gra\ el for which has to be procured '.ffpni. unwilling property holders either-' European or native. I would recomnieiid tlwt'suitable gravel reserves be acquired by;t)ie Council along all[th'eina{^lines,Qi^he ; . district at distances not feeding two miles apart, if ■ Therfita'feijiiany. other, matters of importance;tcr."::tlie. economical construction andjnaiiitenanceofthe roads of the districts'such as'tho employment of glazed earthenware piping under heavy fillings, • in lieu of the wooden box culverting at present in use, the careful selection of the routes of new lines of road, th<r construction of a special class- 'of waggon or other contrivance, for metalling at long 'distances from the pits, the regularperiodical attention te the truss and other bridges, and the use of corrugated rollers on clay road gradients, for purposes of surface draining, all of which '.l ' consjjj|L would tend to meet the rapidlyj inqrelmg demand for a higher standard .of efficiency in the matter of maintenance of the ' rpads than has hitherto prevailed. Time wiU'not permit of my dealing even briefly with each line in respect to its special requirements, as the notice given by the Council for these estimates has been so short, I will, however,, be able to give verbally any information regarding the attached estimates whioh Councillors may desire, MASTERTQS TO WAIMATAROAD, ss£• WaimatatoWhakataki ..„ 3J4 JB^W*'"' Whakataki to Tjnui •'•... 503 G 6 Tinnitoftihpiingi. „. qfa JO 0 Kahuiningi tu Masteyton ,„ UG4 JO 0 Superintendence 150 ■ 0 0 £280? 2 0 EKETAHUNA TO TINUI KOA.D, Eketahuna to Tiraumea ... 523 0 0 Tiraumea to Tinui 0 0 •Superintendence 0 0 £lll2~fTO To render Manawa station available for trai throughout the year, including road diversion at Black Swamp, L 3220. This is inclusive of the sum of L4C9 estimated ordinary maintenance. In drawing up estimates for the main lines of road, I have inadvertently omitted the suotion of line from Waingawa to Opaki, supposing it to belong to the Opaki-JJfo'nawafji line., As tin's.}s not tho case it will be necessary to make t)io if)}; lowing addijioii'td f)ie'ostiin'a{es:—' ' Opaki'road'" £lO2 §O, Grand Total £4019 10 0, Or, including the Manawa section ajjgyo. mentioned, £G7(jl %'