THE HUTT ROAD

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 109, 4 November 1939, Page 14

THE HUTT ROAD

HIGHWAY REMADE

MINISTER'S SURVEY

MEANS TO SAFETY

Addressing the large gathering which attended the official opening of the new Ngahauranga Gorge Road today, the Hon. R. Semple gave an interesting review of the now almost complete reconstruction of the Hutt Road between Ngahauranga and Petone.

. "As Minister of Transport I am deeply concerned with the number of accidents that have happened throughout New Zealand, and. during my' term of office I have attempted, by every possible means, to help remove the causes of these accidents," said Mr. Semple.

! "As most of you are aware, the Hutt Road has been responsible for many accidents, and during the two years prior to the improvement work being undertaken the records show that 26 accidents occurred, involving five deaths and 53 injured. This state of affairs could not be allowed to continue, and it was essential from: a safety viewpoint that the road be reconstructed to modern highway standards. "The original surface of asphaltic concrete five inches thick was laid down in 1924, and while a considerable part of it was still structurally sound, the surface characteristics in riding quality, width, superelevation of curves, etc., obviously did not cater for the increase in vehicle size and the great increase in 'speed of the modern j motor vehicle- The northern section, however, was far from sound structurally, and early failure could have been expected from any ~type of retreatment. INCREASING TRAFFIC. "Recent traffic tallies showed an j average of 8500 vehicles per day usingj the road, and the approach of the Centennial Exhibition, with the consequent influx of visiting traffic, demanded that some improvement should be made without delay. Several avenues | of approach were explored to deal with the problem, primarily with the j idea of salvaging as much of the old j pavement as possible; all these investi-1 gations .were open to several main objections. "Firstly, the uncertainty of bonding | new asphaltic mix to old work, of which the bitumen content had hardened to such an extent that any failure of the old work would also cause failure of new work. Secondly, the Wellington City Council, which possesses the only mixing plant in this area, was deeply committed itself, for Exhibition requirements. Furthermore, to arrange supply of metal for the quantity of asphaltic mix required would interfere with the normal supplies required for. other jobs. Lastly, owing to the large quantities-of mix which would have been required to true up the old surface the costs would have been prohibitive. TOTAL RECONSTRUCTION. "Accordingly it 'was decided to totally reconstruct the three miles involved, according to modern technique in road construction. All curves were to be transitioned, and opposing traffic lanes separated by some form of physical barrier." The design finally adopted allows for 23ft 6in of sealed carriage-way on; either side of a 4ft dividing strip of pre-cast concrete blocks, the central space to be formed as a grass strip. Wire cable and netting safety fences are installed on all curves and where otherwise required. • "The work was commenced at the beginning of May, 1939, and while it could not be classed as a spectacular job in comparison with adjacent works, nevertheless/the short time available and the conditions obtaining placed a heavy responsibility on the workmen and staff entrusted with the execution of the work. While thorough, organisation of plant was being undertaken a start was made in running out rock 'to widen the haunches, and the rock rooter began the task of removing the old bitumen. At this juncture the point must be stressed that in contradiction to the other, major jobs the normal traffic had still to be carried on the road, and to pass over 8000 vehicles per day with peak densities of 12,000 per day with the minimum delay required considerable planning and working to schedule. At the same time temporary electric power wires were run and floodlighting installed, and two shifts were arranged; the main work of the shifts consisted in ripping and disposing of the old bitumen which was made possible at a fast rate by the use of modern plant; indeed to. have attempted this by hand methods would have been a heartbreaking job; also the replacement of a large number of old timber culverts with concrete pipes, and latterly in excavation of trenches for the subdrainage system. The replacement of culverts was in itself a major work. CHECKS DUE TO WEATHER. "For the first three months continual wet weather prevailed but work continued steadily in spite of adverse conditions. The motoring public had. by this time invaded the correspondence columns of. the Press with very caustic comment about the state of the road, or perhaps I should say the state of their cars, but most complaints came from a few inconsiderate motorists who as a matter of fact in many cases showed very little consideration to workmen carrying on under very adverse conditions. In face of all criticism about starting such a work in the middle of the winter, events have justified the action. To have reconstructed the road in dry weather would have resulted in a far greater danger to traffic in the form of dust nuisance which, at times, was observed to completely obscure visibility. "As, the corners were brought up to correct level intense grading completed the shaping and stabilised the surface. The application of running chip at this stage allowed the carrying of traffic with little or no discomfort in inclement weather and the length of surface in such condition steadilj increased. Sub-drainage for the whole length was steadily pushed forward so as to keep ahead of preparation as much as possible, and a commencement made on laying the blocks forming the central parting strip. PROVISION FOR PARKING. "On' the seaward side of the road the cycle track has'been reduced to a width of ten feet, and the area between this and the road is being prepared for parking. The parking area is separated from the cycle track by terra cotta brick, kerb and. channel blocks and as the parking strip is broken into alternate grass sections and asphalt paved areas to be surfaced with white limestone chips the brick .kerbs are well in keeping with' their surround-| ings. • , . . "It is interesting to remark here that only two skilled tradesmen were available for fenqing, and laying kerbing. It fell to the supervisory staff to carry out this work with the ordinary labour available, and in* a very