PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VII, Issue 2078, 26 August 1885, Page 2

PUBLIC WORKS STATEMENT.

The J-lon. E.' "Richardson, Minister of Public Works, made his 1 Public Works Statement in the House last night.' It wiis 'Of unusual length, containing 16,000 words, . We make the following extractsßegarding railways opened he said: It will be remembered that on the 1 31 st March, 1884, the colony had 1404 miles of railway open for traffic, which had'cost L11,251,G33, and on the 31st i March, 1880, we had, 1477 miles open for traffic, being within three miles of the length which was estimated last year and these 1477 miles ham cost Lll,8l0,l!)4, There was also on the 31st March last, a length of 155 miles of railway in course of construction. Honorable members will recollect that on the 30th October last a resolution of this House was passed authorising the Government to make' arrangements tor purchasing the various distriot railways constituted under " The District Railways Act, 1877," and itr amendments, As soon as possible aftet the end of last session, I placed myself in communication with the following diatricfc and otheuailway companies The Cambridge and Rotorua, the Wellington and Manawatu, _the Rakaia and Ashburton iorks, the Waimate,' the Duntroon&nd Hakateramea, and the Waitsea Plains railway. The correspondence between these railway companies and the Govern." ment is all printed, and- in the hands of' honorable members, It will be seen that agreement? have'been come to for the purchase of the Cambridge and Rotorua, the Rakaia and'Ashburton Forks', theDuntroori and Hakatarairiea, and the Waimate railways, Bubjeot, of' course.,

to. the 'ratification by Parliament,. ... Railways iri course of oonstruetion-and pltypo'sed'including additions to 'openedrailways,—Several branch lines at Auck-, land were in course of construction, and it was pruposed-to extend the rraain line iNovth to Helensville. -<

.' Immediately .after the route of the North ■ Island trunk railway was determined upon by Parliament, I gaveinstructions to have the contract surveys put in hand, and the Engineer in Chief employed a lanje'staff of surveyors to permanently locate the line, with the result that the Department was able to call for tendeis in February last for about IB miles at the northern end, and about 13 miles at the Southern end. The section tracts wore let in April last, and the works have been commenced at both ends. About six miles of the formation works of the Northern section were retained to be performed by the • Maori population resident in the district, and it most bo must satisfactory to lion, members to hear that the whole nf this work has been taken up in small contracts by these men, and that the works are well in hand; and not only this, but- the Natives are pressing the Department to let them have contract for further works on tha extensiun. of this line. It will be my endeavor to comply with their wishes. The heaviest work on this line is j the Purotarau tunnel, between the water sheds of the Mokau and Wanganiii rivers, about 48 niilessout-hofTeAwamutu, and it was considered desirable that this | work should be undertaken at .an early | stage of the .proceedings, in order that there may be no delay in continuing the ' line- when the other lighter works are completed up to the tunnel. Tenders were therefore called for the work some months since, and a contract for its completion has recently been let at satisfactory prices. . Tenders have also recently been called for two sections of this line, that at the northern end being' about 12 miles in length, and that at the southern end about eight miles, and of these, the tenders for the southern section have been received, and are now being dealt with, . We have already let contracts for three station-masters houses along tho Hue, to be used in the meantime as engineers' offices. On the road from Kihikihi, a contract has been let for a bridge to cross the Puniu river, and boyond this a road is now being constructed to give approach to the various works along the northern end of the railway. Some fifty Maories are at work upon this road by contract. A survoy has been made for a road about 15 miles long to connect the Puro-tarau tunnel tvith the head of the navigation of the Ongaruhe and Wanganui rivers, and this ifork is now being carried out bv small contracts. It will be very beneficial in ■ illowing, the contractors access to the railway works, and will also be invaluable after the line is complete as a means of opening lip the country, -\nother road is being laid off out from Banana, on the Wanganui river, to the railway line, where it traverses the. Muriniotu plains. There is also a road from Napier which it may be found advisable to continue inland till it strikes the railway. A careful survey has been made of tho Wanganui river, with the result that by the expenditure of a comparatively small sum, the river will be available for oteam navigation, and thus' -ensure easy communication with the railway, A private company has been established to build steamers to work on this river, so that there is every probability that by the time the heavier stores are required for the railway, the Government will be able to get them up at a moderate cost. The railway will strike the river about 140 miles from the sea, and it is estimated that the necessary work to render the whole length navigable, can be done quickly and at a moderate cost, This work has been put in hand. Independently of the great value this means of communication will be in reducing the cost of carriage of railway material, there can be no doubt that there will be a very large passenger traffic along this river to view the urand scenery through which it traverses, Tho permanent way materials required for the works now under contract at-both ends of the line, have been

I,'eady contracted for. Tho location of the rest of the line is being rapidly proceeded with, and it will rest with the House by its votes to determine at what rate of progress this line shall be continued.

Napier to Woodville andPalmeraton.— During the last fhancial year a further length of nearly 12 miles was opened to Tahoraite, being 81 miles, from Napier. A oontract has been let for 13J miles further, .ooming within 1| miles from Woodville, ana it is proposed to let another oontract shortly, to embrace some necessary . "Works to complete the line, to Woodville, and the station works there,- A very careful survey has been made for the line through - the Manawatu Gorge, and the Engineer-in-Chief has been able to locate it in such a' manner as to havo no steep prades or very sharp curves,' The contract plans for this length are in a veiy forward state, and as i-won'as they are ready, it is proposed to | call for tenders for the work. The lino between the Gorge and Palmerston is of the easiest description, and the surveys of this length are now in hand. Wellington-Woodville.-The works on the extension of this line from Masterton to Mauriceville, 17 miles, which have been considerably retarded by floods and bad weather, are now approaohiug completion, and a portion of this section | reaching from Mastßrton to Opaki, is expected to be ready for traffic about December next, Beyond Mauriceville the only work done has been the com- | pletion of the Awapurua bridge, whioh is to be used in the meantime for. road traffic. No further extension of this 'railway at the Masterton end is at present proposed, but a section of about 14 miles from Woodville southwards to Paliiatua will shortly be surveyed for contract, and some of the works along it may be put in hand during tho current year, .With' regard' to tho East and West Coast and Nelson Railway, tho Minister regretted that the House had not referred the proposed contract to a committee. It was now proposed 'to proceed gradually with the work, and LIoO.OOO had been placed on the estimates for that purpose. Creosoted sleepers. - After several attempts extending over some years, a contract has recently been let for the supply of 150,000 creosoted railway sleepers, with a view of utilizing white pine, riinu, and other timbers, which, without some sort of preserving process, are not fitted for such a purpose, The rate per Bleeper is 4s, and, should the Contractor prove successful in producing them at this price, of which tliere seems now to be little doubt, a great iidvantago to the coluny will have been gained, Once a creosoting apparatus, On a scale required by the terms of this contract, is obtained, it will be possible to use white pine, not only for all bridge work on railways, but also for harbor works, and for the works of local bodies throughout the colony, thus doing away with the necessity of importing so large an amount of timber from abroad as is now done, as well as making our timber works kat muoh longer,

.Working Railways.—The receipts for the past year from all sources amounted to L 1,046,712, and the expenditure was L 690,016, leaving a net profit of L 355.686, .whioh-is equal to L 3 Os 3d per bent on the outlay. I think hon members will agree with me that, this result is very favorable; It is 10s Id per. oent more than, that earned during ■ the previous

.year. The rates*of ijirdflt-were highest on the'Brtirtfief and 1 Napier lines, amounting' in those cases to 14 l'Bs and.L4Qssd respectively .; .while on the flurun'ui-Bluff line, with all its branches, the profit was L 3 13s 14, on the Auckland line-L2l2s, on the Wellington-Masterton line L2 2s, on Foxton-New Plymouth line 18s 6d. The rates for the other railways vary considerably,''and descend in one case to 3s 6d. per cent (oil the Picton line), which was the lowest for the year. A very large number of alterations have beenmade in the tariff of charges, as also in the classification, the object kept- in view having been to assist local production by lowering the churttes on all goods which ■it has been found would help the of the. country, I have not been able to inspect all the railways, but those I have travelled over have been kept up in a good state of efficiency, and the rolling stock on the whole is in a better condition than last' year. '

Tenders were called in the colony for a large number of.axles to supply the place of those condemned, but with little response, and it therefore became abso-: lutely necessary for the Department to oommence making thoin, and the "result has been that we are now making not only axles, but wheels also, and at a price not exceeding that of those which were being Imported, These wheels and axles on being tested are also found superior to many, and equal to tho best. Bent out from England, thus proving that we need import no more nf this • class. The manufacture ,of tlieso items alone is providing a great amount of work for a very large number of worknien, and is also keeping fully employed tho veiy expensive machinery at Hillside and Addington, which had not previously been infull work. .The work is as fairly divided between these shops asit can be with due regard tri economy, and the other railway workshops throughout the colony will be ongaged in fitting up the new stook as fast as the wheels, etc., are sent to them. The whole of the new stock will, I hope,- bo made in New Zealand, excepting, perhaps, certain of the heavier class of locomotives. Main roads.—Onc-fouith of cost of work to bo provided, or repaid in ten years, by the local body, and the balance to be found by the Government,—Under this heading the total amount of the applications received on the 30th June, 1834, when reduced in accordance with the Act of of 1883 came to L 250.484. Of those applications, those which wero for bridges were granted in full, while as regards those which were for road works, exclusive of bridges, the available fund only admitte d of their being granted tothe extentof3o percent, of the amounts applied for. The total amount thus distributed for bridges and road works together amounted to L103,2!M. In addition to these ordinary applications, there were also applications for repairs of extraordinary damages by floods amounting to L 13,577, and grants were made on these to the extent of L 9005. The total applied for altogether on account of main roads was, therefore, L264,06t, and the total granted L 112.299, of which L 60,975 was for bridges and L 51.324 for other works.