BIG CONTRACT LET

Dominion, Volume 27, Issue 306, 22 September 1934, Page 9

BIG CONTRACT LET

Karori Sewage Drain to Cost £25,400

STARTING NEXT WEEK The Wellington City Council has accepted the tender of the M. G. Templeton Construction Co. to build the new sewer from South Karori to the sea. The contract price is £19,200 This is one of the biggest drainage

, contracts let by the City Corporation ■ for many years. It is actually the culmination of the action taken by resii dents of South Karori against the ■ nuisance alleged to have been created by the effluent of the septic tanks, which at present deal with the sewerage of that borough. Septic tanks are effective only under certain condition?. It is said to be a fallacy that the effluent from them is innocuous. It al! depends upon how that effluent is disposed of. Should it run direct into the sea. or a river which can be depended upon to provide an all-the-year-round flow greatly in excess of the flow from the tank, then it may be said to be effective, but should the effluent flow into a stream liable to diminish in flow or dry up altogether during the beat of summer, then it becomes a nuisance. That is practically what happened at. Karori. The tanks at South Karori gave a flow which made its presence felt from the site of the depot right down the stream. This was endured until action was taken in the Supreme Court by a settler through whose property the stream ran. As a result the corporation was ordered to rectify what might be a serious menace to health, as the effluent was defiling the stream. The order of the court was tantamount to an instruction to provide a gravity sewage system from the borough to the sea. and. moreover, to have it done in a given time. The term of the contract is 15 months. The job consists of the laying down of three and a.half miles of 15-inch reinforced concrete pipes through the rough country that is characteristic of the gorge-like valley which traverses the distance between South Karori and the seafront of Cook Strait, some three miles to the westward of Island Bay. 22,000 Feet of Pipe Line. The total length of the pipe line is 22,000 feet, which includes 850 feet of outfall. There are several places where the pipe has to cross the line of the

stream. In such places the pipes (of steel in this instance) must be bridged over. There are two fairly long tunnels, through shoulders of the hills through which the pipes will be conducted rather than follow the tortuous course of the stream. There is nearly 900 feet of tunnelling in all, one length being 1 over 500 feet, and the other over 300 feet. The pipes, which are being supplied

by the Amalgamated Brick and Pipe Company Ltd., under separate contract, will be supplied in 8 feet lengths. ea_ch one weighing 7cwt. A rough road will

have to be made to enable the motor-, lorries tp convey the loads of pipes tothe several points where they will be needed. Camps will be formed at once for the road-makers .and the workers. A start with this? work ■will be made next week. Mr. Templeton Intends to

work from both ends, with other gang.? to engage in the tunnelling operation® at the same time. The contract price for the supply of

the pipes was £6218, which brings thecost of the work, apart from the cost of drafting the work by the city engineer’s department, and supervision, up to approximately £25.400.