NEARING COMPLETION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 763, 11 March 1910, Page 4

NEARING COMPLETION.

HUTT DUPLICATION WORKS. VISIT OF INSPECTION. At' Inst the Hutt railway duplication works, and improved roadway aro approaching completion." They have not boon in course of construction quite as long as the oldest citizens can remember, but they havo dragged on so long that for years past the hearts of those who were anxious to see the work completed havo been sick with hope deferred. When Sir Joseph Ward opened tho Lower Hutt-Petone section of tho railway duplication on July. 2G, 1905, he was reported as saying: "He estimated the time within which the work would bo completed would be two or three years—that was tho completion of everything. The duplication and tho running of the line would be completed before that, but to complete tho wholo . of' the reclamation would occupy the time he had stated." According to this prediction tho cntiro work should have been finished, at tho very latest, by July, 1908.. It. is now March, 1910, and the; "work is still unfinished. The long interval since this first prediction has been brightened, or made more melancholy, by a multitude of other official assurances as to when tho work, or portions of it, would be completed, only less erroneous, than the pleasing forecast of the .present Prime Minister: It'is therefore satisfactory to bo able to state now that, even at the present rate of progress, with allowance for. wet weather, it is difficult to see how the work can last beyond the present year. If a spurt were made, it, could probably be finished now'in. a. few months. Kaiwarra to Thorndon.

'1 he improved road, CO feet in width; with an additional 20 feet for footpath, is completed to the Kaiwarra Kailway Station.. The double railway' track is laid to the south end of the Kaiwarra station, and the Railway Department, which is carrying. on the work, is' ready now to complete it to the Manawatu bridge. wherb the double line will go after it reaches the bridge has apparently v not yet 'been fixed. That will depend on the., actual ground location of the projected 'new railway, station, which is at present "in the air." The now station, when it is: built, ■ will take tho double traflic of the present Lombton and' Thorndon stations. The sea wall is completed to its full height as far as the Manawatu bridge, and the foundation for the wall, rising to high water ..mark, has been finished for the remaining distance to .the end of the Thorndon Esplanade. .There is a good deal of nlltag in' to do between the esplanade and bridge. The .formation for the railway track is finished, but the formation iSE ? ™encd road remains to be made, the deep bay by the Kaiwarra wharf, where there was 30 feet of water at low \-u' l S ? U i "' d , in - There is a big bay still to'be reclaimed by the end of the esplanade, but' it is comparatively shal- !?■""'., ten , f . Mt being tho average depth, spoil is being deposited in it to the averago amount of 550 cubic yards a day. i'urther on towards Kaiwarra there is a th nß ji epr T on , to bo filled in close to the old railway, hue. When a Dominion repre S(mtat j Te ppaird r a visit of inspection .t," 1 , 1 * on Wednesday, thei/was a ■line of fifteen trucks drawn up alon" were down, and men were shovelling fall into the- hollow. At that rate tho depression should soon,be filled. .

Look Out for .Explosions; ■, _ '. nffiii 6 JT^" :re actt«l -the •' office at Kaiwarra, just, in time for a little excitement. -A mai- rushed to tho office.door, and past the.adjacent build- ! 3' C 's7 in f k ?, nt '.for- the explosimi i^° k °, ut , for explosion!" Tho oftca staff rushed outside, and stood at a sate distance. A similar stampedo took place from the other buildings. -' In' a moment there was'a : mild report, and a lnaß £. of :'broken rock ■ and' earth came S&, V 1! 0 I S ld< H e of - t , lle road. Workmen With their shovels'made a clearing for the traflic. It -would have been quite' safe, as ;t: proved/ to remain inside the office, but in tow of the'broken formation of the country, .there is. always the possibility that an explosion'might burst open some weak seam, propelling earth and stones to. a considerable, distance.' Almost every day has its explosion/preceded by the warning and stampede. ■ . .No difficulty is experienced now in' getting metal. The Department' has got all it'wants from th© Pencarrow quarry, which is not now being'used. -Present supplies come from the hill face opposite, Paekakanki, . and Belmont. ...Another trouble which the Department' is now saved is in connection with the lighters used for earning stone for.the sea-wall. It was very difficult to, work the lightens m certain-winds; now. they have done their vjork, and are no longer required, i

Footpath and Kerbing. ■ A mile and a half above Ngahauranga the kerbing is being put down for the footpath.- The formation for tho footpath is practically completed to Kaiwarra and for a mile and a half from Peto'n'o'-tho footpath is finished, and asphalted. A staTt-hasr also been made with the asphalting from Ngahauranga to Kaiwan;a. A length of surface siding, which now runs along a portion of the path, will be removed. The broad now road is. in excellent condition for the greater part of its length. ' On the portion last finished, close to Kaiwarra, there has been rather too much clay mixed with the blinding, and the surface ■ is. very soft and dusty! That will soon be remedied, it is said, by the traffic, and - this- part of the road mil be- quito ,as ; hard and firm as the rest. An extra span will bo added to the Manawatu bridge when the road is widened below Kaiwarra. _At the'Paparangi cutting a good deal of' trouble was caused formerly by slips, and a strong retaining -V.all was constructed _on this;account. Since the-wall was '' built there' has been one considerable slip, still marked by a damp hollow in the hillside, but no damogo was caused' to the wall. It is a fortunate and somewhat remarkable circumstance that not one serious accident has happened to any of the men engaged, in quarrying the hillsido facing tho Hutt road. Som« of the men wield their picks at a great height, and as the earth and rocks trickle down beneath their feet, one not used to the work would think that they were in imminent danger of a fall. The men work with ropes beside them, but some of them apparently do not think it necessary to keep close-to the rope. Easing Off. Last week there were 138 men occupied on the road and reclamation works. In the past there have been as many as 300, but the Department is reducing the number of employees as the work draws nearer its conclusion. When the operations are completed, the Wellington-Hutt road, which used to bo among tho v;orst, will be one of tho finest in the Dominion. Kaiwarra and Ngahauranga, which are at present grey with ancient.dust and dust of the existing upheaval, may be expected to rise quickly to the glory of their new surroundings. Doubtless they will shine forth glorious with new paint, each with a score of buildings not less beautiful than their new aesthetic railway stations.