THE RECEST FLOOD IN NELSON.

THE CITY SURVEYOR'S REPORT OF DAMAGE. ACTION 13 V THE COUNCIL. At the meeting of the City Councii_ last evening the Survov' urs njort. in a<<dii ion to" or s roj.nrt, in addition to o! i-.-r matters thus dealt wjtn i!,n damage by flood in the --ity ;— l" That permit to connect with" sower had been granted Mr Spencer Wai-mea-strect. 2. Owing to heavy flood on the 19th considerable damage had been done to many o f the streets. A big wash out had taken place in Brook-street, near its junction with Nile-street. Tlvs required immediate attention, and should be repaired in a substantial manner, as owing to the s <>t of the stream square on to the bank thft lull force of floods, or even fresh, s were felt at this point. To make this secure would require i,:i expenditure of about /CW). ;j. lioth the fords in Brook-.virr-Vc haJ beta damaged ; the weir ;,t the fir.st one near Smith's, was nearly all wash od away, and the weir at Newport s was also very much damaged, lo reinstate these would cost about £70 and £2:>. 4. Considerable damage done to road noav Howard's and Stone's, but repairs had nearly been completed. When funds were available stone causeways should be fixed wherever water crossed the roa:lw;<v, those b-eing more satisfactory than }-.ip"S or even culverts, when thc.-o was only light or casual traffic pa.spiog over a roadway. 5. The new dam was completely fille.l, uj.-J a very large head of water passed < -«>r the top of the new o.ni'-.-.v.i.'j will, but no damage v. as done by the flood to the wall, and -w was ;>].'asud there was no sign of any leakage through the wall, thus proving that the work had been faith:. il ! y cairied out by the contractor, and also proved that the wa'l had been laid on a firm and sound fo:r dation. and that his design had proved of the required stabilnv. 'J\>vve had been a large body of shingle deposited in the new" dam, .vhieh should be removed before the vail was carried any higher, fi. lie vvas sorry to say that the upper dam, from which the I own supply .vas at present drawn, was conipiotely filled with shingle, which should ba\ removed at an early date as possible to avoid a total stoppage of

tho water snpplv. He estimated I hat there, was close upon 2)00 yards of gravel, etc.. to be removed from this and the new <Lun. He wan getting n fluming made to L-nrfy the wat^r from a distance, above the overflow of (1)'! upper dam to carry the water to the wall This would enable them to get water into the mains whilst the gravel, etc., was being removed, without sending dirty water to town. He estimated that before the Iwo dams were cleared about £.360 would require to be expended 7. Considerable damage had been 1 sone to the Normanby bridge, which must be attended to as soon as the water lowers in the river. He estimated that to protect the piers and form a weir on the lower side of fame would cost about ,€l2O. 8. P»vious damage had been caused to the roadway leading to Mr Hockey's, Brook-street. To reinsialo would cost £30. A further expenditure of about £flO would ijo required to repair the banks, fords, and bridges from Nile-street to Mr Hockey's-. liopairs ' would rvlfco have, to be done at Clouston's bridge, on the Maitai. 9. There was a large quantity of debris (in the ■Roeks'road, and a slight washout on the footpath, but. on the whole, considering the storm, very little damage had been d,ono in this part of the city. 10. Considerhib.i'e i! o able, had been caused chrou&h silt, etc., getting into the water main, and which had choked a large number of the service i>ipes ; those were being cleared as quickly as possible by the staff. The 7-inch mam was broken at Bashford's — that is the main that supplies the upper levels. At first it was only believed to be a leaky joint, and efforts were? made to caulk this on Sunday, but it burst out again, and it was finally found that t he pipe was broken in the socket. He had the pipe cut out, and replaced. Meanwhile, the supply was partly kept up by opening the valves in Van biemen-street and Waiinearoatl, but as there were only three, inch mains the higher levels were without water for a' time. A statement appeared in the evening paper I that there were two breaks in the ' main, and that the valves-mention-ed above were not opened. K-jlh those statements were incorrect. 11. Twelve months ago the system of lighting the lamps by the Corporation men was initiated, and there was no doubt that the light- • ing was carried out in a much more satisfactory manner than it was done by contract. The extinguishing was also more regular, and money was saved to the Council, as the lamps were put out at a specified time. The lamps were i clean and tidy. He certainly re-! commended that the system be continued. 12. He reported that the cost of extending the y-iuch water main from Mr Tasker's residence to Mr Kirkpatrick's new house would be about £25. Mr Kirkpatrick had an ordinary service at present, but wished an extension of the ca:>t i'or. main for fire purposes there, and other houses would be protected as well. Tin 1 Mayor .said the Council would have to do the. work of repairing at once and leave all other works alone. It would cost a considerable amount of inon-y, but tho work would have to be done. He referred to the damage done juid more particularly at t l o Br<>'»k, He mentioned that tho dam from which the town water B.:pply Mas drawn had been onii-li'l.^y Mocked but a channel Had lien d'«< tin- ugh the silt so as to ;i'lo.w i ;;•; water to enter the well. The estimate of damage according to i lie, i-^ifveyor was £925.. The Surveyor co'iSMicn.-d t'::it the willows had cau.-s -d l he damage, and said that M lie. !i;ul hia way they would all be: rut down. Cr I'iper moved that the, ivj<;iii\s of Brook-street be vut :u :iand ut once. Cr Fairey seconded the motion. Alter further discussion Cr Orsman moved an amendment ihal the work !)e tendered for. Cr Hudson seconded the amendment, which was carried on a division by 0 votes to o, ;h- voting being, Ayes : Crs Lightband, Hudson, Mercer, -Orsnian, Webl-vy and Pettit. Noes, Crs Nealc, Harrison, Fairey. Piper, and the Ala;, or. • The Mayor remarked thai tendeis would be called on Monday. , Cr Lightband moved that ihe > Works Committee have power to deal with the tenders ; but after ; further discussion it was resolved to hold a special meeting of the ■ Council on Thursday evening next ; for the purpose of receiving leiickTS ; Resolved that the Engi:.i.!e..r pro : pare aji estimate of a cart bridge t at the first ford in Brook-st., and ; the matter of repairing the j-econd '] ford was left in the hands of the i Surveyor. • 2 The Surveyor reported that the j concrete blocks at Xoriuanoy bridge were broken, and the matter | was referred to the Works C'onui'it \ tee. . It was decided to lay a waier mute for lire j>urposes in Alotini- 'i street, at a cost of £25, prosided 1 Mr Kirkj)a.trick provided . ha'i the $ cost. 3