MAIN HIGHWAY FOUNDATIONS.

Auckland Star, Volume LIX, Issue 65, 17 March 1928, Page 12

MAIN HIGHWAY FOUNDATIONS.

At yesterday's meeting of the Waitemata County Council the engineer (Mr, A. Murray) stated that difficulty was being 1 experienced with the construction of tbe Birkenhead Main Highway, and that the borough engineer at Raetihi had had similar trouble. Foundations were poor owing to the class of metal used, and when bitumen was spread on the metal ■ moisture came to the surface.; The bdroush engineer at Raetihi had overcome tb« difficulty by using a-heater and treating the metal. By doing this; the cost worked out at one penny per square , yard more than the oost of the; roads round Auckland. Mr. Murray stated that he was going into the matter to ascertain if the same methods could be used here to successfully overcome difficulties now experienced. A large amount of bitumenfsing had been done in and around Wellington with great suecess, and the percentage of failures was only 1J per cent. He mentioned the type of road being put down at Birkenhead, end said that this proposed method of constructing the same was a failure. He 3?*?> . n°w awaiting a visit from Mr. J }* (highway* engineer) with a view construction, as the difflj°b had got beyond a safe