H.—4B

6

Additional cost of consolidating and completing the works, — Western pier— To 460 lineal feet of pier, Ato B ... ... 3,680 0 0 To 280 „ BtoC ... ... 672 0 0 To 120 „ CtoD... ... 240 0 0 —■ ■ 4,592 0 0 Eastern pier— To 800 lineal feet of pier, Gto H... ... 4,800 0 0 To 120 „ Htol ... ... 580 0 0 ■ —— 5,380 0 0 9,972 0 0 To contingencies, 10 per cent, on £9,972 ... ... 997 4 0 Additional cost of completion of works ... £10,969 4 0 The total approximate cost of the completed works is therefore £58,740, but to this there is to be added the cost of construction of 230 chains of canal, as marked upon the general plan (Drawing No. 1), which I estimate roughly from £95,000 to £300,000 at least; and this would bring the total cost of draining Lake Ellesmere through Lake Forsyth in round numbers to £160,000 — i.e., £72,000 over what it would cost to drain the lake more effectually at Taumutu. In concluding this important subject, I may be excused if I mention a fact to prove the beneficial effect that is certain to arise in most similar cases by propagating the tidal wave into such estuaries of rivers and lakes on the coast that possess even a limited discharge of land-drainage compared to that of Lake Ellesmere, and in doing this I have only to state that at Kakanui, where the harbour-works are very incomplete owing to a want of funds, and the piers only extend as yet to low water-line on the seashore of the shingle-bank through which they have been carried, a channel has been scoured out and maintained to a depth of 16ft. But this is not all: in the lower compartment of the lagoon a deep deposit of offensive mud to the depth of a couple of feet at least has been scoured out, and the shores and that part of the bed of the lagoon left bare at low tide is now as pure and wholesome as any part of the sea-coast. Besides this, the whole of the lower part of the Township of Kakanui, to the extent of some 250 acres, had even been subjected to be inundated during every flood in the river to the depth of 2ft. or 3ft. previous to the mouth being opened, but now it is high and dry for all time to come, and the land has been greatly enhanced in value in consequence. * * * * * * * * * I have, &c, J. M. Hardy Johnston, M.lnst.C.E. The Chairman, Lakes Ellesmere and Forsyth Eeclamation and Akaroa Eailway Trust. Approximate Cost of Paper.— Preparation, 10s.; printing (1,100 copies), £3 125. 6d..

By Authority: Geobgb Didsbury, Government Printer, Wellington. —1892. Price, 6d.]