THE PAVING OF QUEENSTREET.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIII, Issue 115, 16 May 1902, Page 8

THE PAVING OF QUEENSTREET.

EXPRESSIONS OF CONDEMNATION.

EXTENSION OF TSME GRAFTED,

At the meeting of the City Council last evening Mr A. B. Woolf, on behalf of the Neuchatel Asphalte Company, Limited, wrote asking for two months' extension of time to allow them to finish the Queei>-street contract, in. consequence of the delay caused by the wet weather. Had they had ordinary conditions of fine weather, such as he understood was usual during the months of April and May they had sufficient staff employed to enable them to complete within the specified time.' They had suffered considerable loss owing to their men having to handle material saturated with water, besides suffering inconvenience due to. the ground being unfit to work upon for some days after the rain had ceased. He could faithfully promise, given fine weather, to complete the work within the extended time, and no effort on his part would be spared to that end. The Mayor moved that the request be granted. The Mayor said the contractors had been greatly hampered by the weather, and that they were very earnest about the matter. Mr Hannan thought that by granting the request the Council would be doing an injury to business people by blocking them. They should consider the ratepayers before the contractors. If the contractors had a larger staff of men the work would be done much quicker.

Mr Grey asked if the city engineer supervised the asphalt laying. The Mayor said the city had a foreman of works attending to the matter.

Mr Grey said the road was laid very badly in Holes and hollows. - The Mayor said he believed the unsatisfactory work Mt Grey referred to was due to an attempt to do the work at night, which had to be abandoned.

Mr Glover advocated the granting of the request. Mr McLeos said he would be glad to accede to the request if the work was done properly, but the work, he considered, wa^ not being properly done.

Mr Masefield thought the work was not being done properly. The work was a most unmitigated mistake from beginning to end. He did not blame the Asphalt Company, he did not blame anybody, but he thought Hhe engineer should see that the work was carried out properly. Mr Hewson hoped the Council would represent to the Ashphalt Company that they were not satisfied with tile finish of the paving, if the present condition was the finish.

Mr Patterson said the Asphalt would have to be smoothed before he was satisfied with it.

Mr Kosser supported the granting of the request as a matter of common decency., Thfe extension of time was granted on ttie voices. ----- The following letter was received from Messrs J. Wilson and Co-, manufacturers of Portland cement, Cus-toms-street West, Auckland: —

"We beg to respectfully bring the following under your notice. In the concrete which is how being- laid as a foundation for the asphalt in Queen-street imported Portland cement is being used. We have reason; to believe the public . consider thai; the use of imported Portland cement | is attributable to some, ascertained! unfitness of- colonial Portland cement. Such an impression is calculated'"to damage an important local industry. Allow us to state that when the Council called for tenders j for the Queen-street work we guaranteed that Wilson's Portland cement would pass the city engineers standard for the work referred to. Your experience of Wilson's Portland cement Jn the Titirahgu reservoir, coupled" with the attached testimonials showing that works done from 1886 till now are in a satisfactory condition, should, we beg to suggest, leave no doubt in your minds of the suitability of Wilson's Portland cement for any work. The testimonials show it has stood the. action of the sea for 16 years, that the Napier Harbour Board used about 7000 tons; that local bodies, engineers, and architects have used it in and out of water. In addition the Public Works have used large quantities for many years, and our tender has been accepted this year for the railway stores' contracts, Auckland and Wellington, and public, works, Auckland and Christchurch. Over 1000 tons have been used by the Waihi G old Mining Company, and other mining companies have used considerable quantities. It is 17 years since we [began manufacturing Portland cement. All -the materials are produced" here, and the latxrar employed is considerable- In conclusion, we beg to request the Council will in future specify colonial Portland cement shall be used on.all works done by, and in connection with, the city, provided it stands the same tests as are commonly specified for imported. The tramway contractors have used colonial. Portland cement ; throughbut./ •;■:' ?- • '" .".... ■■[:.. ' ; The: letter was.;.referred. ..to 'the Streets Committeie.

In answer to Mr Hannan, the Mayor said no clause had been inserted by the Streets Committee in. the specifications for the asphalt contract re the use of colonial cement.

The matter was referred to the Streets Committee.