COUNTY COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 50, Issue 124, 7 March 1930, Page 5

COUNTY COUNCIL

ROADS AND BRIDGES. _ i THE ENGINEER’S REPORT. ■J DECISIONS AT MONTHLY MEETING. The Ashburton County Council met this morning, when there were present Messrs J. Carr (chairman), \\. i. Lill, R Houston, J. Moore, J. Lamhie, A. Horsey, p. Frampton, C. E. Jepep, H J Crothers, I>. J. Morrow, H. C. B.' Withell and W. G. Gallagher The engineer (Mr A. A. books,, submitted his monthly report as follow: Water Supply.—The request that farmers cut away the vegetable growth in the water races, with the exception of a few cases had not been met uitn a general response. Harvest operations might he the reason why, m all cases, the notice had not been observed. but now harvesting was practically'finished, it was probable attention would be given to this important Ashburton-Rakaia. —The intake for the auxiliary main race was providing a full supply for all branch races At the Pudding Hill intake, the hea\y run of shingle had caused temporary blockages at the gate, and consequently the supply was intermittent, otneiwise a regular flow had. been maintained. The gate at the by-wash was decaying fast and a new one was being made and would ''shortly be installed. It was supposed that the remaining portion of the old concrete dam at the southern end, which was washed away by the flood on Januaiy 15 rested on a rock foundation, but there appealed to he some doubt as to whether this was a fact. After taking preliminary soundings to a depth from seven to eight feet no rock was found. It was proposed to make a more extensive inspection ac an early date and if it was definitely found that the bottom were unsubstantial, it. would then be j necessary to continue the present steel structure to the southern end. The Acton intakes for both the main .races had provided .regular supplies. The dam at the new race had been strengthened and during the late floods it acted satisfactorily. The supplies from the hills had been quite sufficient, with the exceptions when the flow was weak. The Winchmore and Mill intakes had given ample supplies and for many years hack there had not been such a constant supply at this season of the year. The auxiliary supply from the South Branch of the Ashburton River via O’Shea's Creek had not been required this year. Ashburton-Rangitata.—A good supply had been obtained for the Ashburton main race. * The main channel at the intake, where it was damaged by tire heavy flood last month, had been put in good order. The weeds in. tins race were getting very thick, but teams would be put on to harrow the race at once. Full supplies had been running from the Hinds Gorge intakes. The land slip at the Terrace I?ace had been cleared, and was .now in good order. The intake at Mount Somers during ■ the heavy rains was blocked with stones which, cut off the water supply for a short period, hut repairs had been effected and the intake was now clear. All other sources of supply in this district were quite sufficient'. In the lower part of the County there had been no difficulty so far as the quality available was concerned, hut after the "ales, the races were blocked with rubbish and fallen trees, hut many of -the races were also in a bad state and required cleaning. Roads and Bridges.—Good progress had been made toward re-establishing' the bridges over the Hinds River which were affected by the last flood. Urgent repairs to the deck arid structure of the Ashburton traffic bridge had been carried out during the last month. The deck planks of the bridge over the Winchmore main race on Pole Road collapsed and the bridge had tc he re-decked with new planks. Barker’s Road Bridge.—Authority having been received to proceed with the work, tenders had been invited for the construction of a concrete bridge over the channel on Barker’s Road. The metal crushing outfit had been utilised in metalling the newly-formed portion of Bell’s Road and was now engaged in surfacing portion of the MayfieldRangitata Highway. ■ The concrete pipes across the highway opposite the Spr.ingburn School grounds were quite inadequate to take the flood waters which accumulated at _ the school corner. To obtain sufficient relief, a concrete bridge with at least a sevenfeet waterway was required. The motor graders had been operating on all the highways and on several roads in the Rangitata district. In a supplementary report the engineer stated: He had surveyed the position of the storm-water channel on the Chertsey road from its junction with the Cairn brae Road, to the swing gates, a distance of about 104... chains, and taken levels shewing the contour of the bottom and measurements of the channel. The heaviest quantity of water apparently collected at the intersection of this road with the Cairnbrae Road. The survey revealed that when heavy rainstorms occurred, the water was backed up at the approaches to the gateways crossing the channel and the water'was dvierted on to the road, causing a heavy scour of the road in several places. The average fall of the channel was nearly 40 feet to the mile. If this channel were reformed it would be advisable to reduce the grade bv placing concrete falls at suitable distances. Bridges would he required to he built across the channel in three places. He estimated the cost ■of carrying out the work at > about £960. ' He had considered a suitable type and design of plant for increasing the supply of crushed metal, more particularly for surfacing the roads with material to meet present-day traffic requirements. The cost of the plant would he £1650. During February, the crusher was working on 22 days, 1868 yards being crushed. The average output was 85 vards per day. Work was_ suspended for two days owing to repairs and wet weather. It was decided that the purchase of the crusher be deferred until the next estimates were announced. The reports were adopted. .