THE WAITAKEREI WAtER SCHEME.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 254, 24 October 1905, Page 3

THE WAITAKEREI WAtER SCHEME.

TENDERS ISSUED FOR ERECTION OF WORKSHOP FOR MANUFACTURE OF PIPES.

RfJ^ e _,^ ephail Fer guson Locking-bar oteei Fipe Co., who were the successful tenderers for the snpply of pipes to the Council in connection with the waitakerei water scheme, have issued Anders for the erection of the worksnops necessary to carry out their conVk The buildin gs will be erected +1, __ next to the railway line or on Tbe banks of the Whau Creek, about three-quarters of a mile from the Avondale Railway Station. The main building wiU be 300 ft long and 60ft oroad, and will contain about £10,000 worth of machinery when the plant is complete and in working order. The workshops are to be completed by January 1 next, and it is expected that tbe manufacture of the pipes will commence some time in January. Most ot .?. machinery is expected to arrive within the. next four weeks. The comply a t the present time are also distributing specifications to local carriers, preparatory to issuing tenders for the carriage of the raw material to the work, and the finished mains to then- destination along the line of route. The manufacture of the 300G odd tons of piping that will be required to complete the 14 miles of steel mains m the contract will consume some 2200 tons of steel plates, andisoo tons steel bar sections, in addition to several hundred tons of other material, so that altogether it will mean that upwards of 6000 tons will have to be carted. The company anticipate that this handling will mean an expenditure ot something like 20/ a ton. In ad-3'ition to the steel contract, a sub-coutract has been let to Messrs. Briscoe and Co. for (he supply of three miles of cast iron pipes, to be used for the head wirks, between the pump and the foot of the ranges. Mr. Smithins, the manager of the MV phan Ferguson Company, states that the Auckland City Council were fortunate in letting the work when they did, a= within three weeks of letting it the price of steel plates rose 20/ a ton. This would have meant a difference in the price of over £2500. The ica3on for t.iis sudden rise is considered by Mr. Smithins as r.erng largely due to the ce&sation of hostilities between tiusjsia and Japan, which would natura'Jj be expected to result in an immense demand by boih those countries for steel pates, for u«e in making good ihe ravages of war upon their respective navies. The Mephan Ferguson Company propose also to erect in Auckland special machinery for the manufacture of the

lighter spiral steel mains for small sizea of pipe. In doing this they anticipate obtaining a share of the work of the various local bodies in the neighbourhood of Auckland.