PUBLIC WORKS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 208, 3 September 1925, Page 16

PUBLIC WORKS.

THE DEPARTMENTS ACTIVITIES. An interesting address on the activities of the Public Works Department was given by Mr. F. W. Furkert, engineer-in-chief of the Department, under the auspices of the Wellington Workers' Educational Association, on Saturday night. Mr. Furkert said that in the early : period of government in New Zealand each province Had its own little Parliament and was responsible for much important work in opening up the country. Canterbury, for instance, was faced with the big question of constructing the Lyttclton tunnel, and, with big ideas of the future, decided to adopt a gauge of A ft . ? in - There were then three different rates of gauge in New Zealand, and in 1870 it w«s recognised that better arrangements must be made, and an Act was passed, the Breadth of Gauge Act, which fixed the gauge at 3ft 6in, and thus unified it throughout the country tlie wider one being sold to South Australia. Progress went steadily forward, good roads were made, bridges built, and railways opened up, and in 1873. the Public Works Department was inaugurated to undertake all these operations which were placed on a much larger oftiioojs. by sir juuus vogei ' c ioaa The lecturer dealt with the varioue works undertaken by his Department. Hie. biggest question had been that of railways, and Mr. Furkert explained the numerous problems wliieh had to be considered when a new railway was about to be opened up. The first important point was an economic one—whether the consequent business done in the district would justify. the expenditure, what cflect the line would have upon settlement generally, and the supporting of new industries and the actual cost of operation and maintenance. When all these points had been decided upon experts were sent out to explore the country. He mentioned that all Customs. post office, police and other departmental buildings were erected by the Public Works Department, and the development in hydro-electric power at Lake Coleridge and Mangahao were outstanding tributes to the work of this Department. Some idea of the magnitude of these operations could be gained from the fact •that the sum of over £10,000,000 had been spent in one year by the Government in works of this nature. * Irrigation was another big question that had been tackled in New Zealand in Otago there was a district of 6000 square miles with insufficient rainfall to produce an adequate- agricultural crop. In order .to properly develop the land the winter's snow was stored in huee dams built up in the and .let out in water races during the dry jßeason to fertilise the valleye