GOOD ROADS
ESSENTIAL TO DEVELOPMENT.
"Good roads are essential to the development of any community," said the new Christchurch City Engineer (Mr. A. R. iGalbraith) when speaking to a " Press "■ reporter on his arrival at .Christchurch, " and without them you can do nothing." The advantages of good roads, he continued, were obvious; not only did they facilitate transport problems but they greatly increased the value of a district, in sonje cases by as much as 30 per cent. The day of the ordinary macadam road was past, also that\of the tarred road, and such was becoming more noticeable every " day. This state of affairs had been brought about by the great development in motor traffic, lake, for instance, a motorlorry weighing about six tons. When on the road the " tear " pf ■ such a vehicle would be about nine tons. As a lorry could work up to a speed of, about twenty miles an hour on the flat, it was imperative that pneumatic tires be used if the life of the road was to be taken into consideration.' In every* district there were main arterial roads, which were used to carry the bulk of the traffic. Then there were subsidiary roads, which could carry the lighter traffic. The whole question required constant study. Speaking of concrete roads with wood block surfaces, Mr. Galbraith spoke eulogistieally of what had been done in Perth, Western Australia, where wood blocks had been laid on a foundation of seven inches of concrete with successful results; but, he added, conditions were different in New Zealand. It had always to be remembered that it was not the first cost of a road that was of the greatest importance; it was tho subsequent cost of maintenance which mattered most. " In Australia," said Mr. Galbraith, " splendid results were achieved by the Good Roads Association in preparing the ground work in educating the public on the question of good roads, and I have lectured under their auspices on several occasions." The work of making good roads, he continued, was becoming more and more an exact science, and it was necessary that standardisation tests should be carried out from time to time.
GOOD ROADS
Evening Post, Volume CIX, Issue 78, 3 April 1925, Page 7
Stuff Ltd is the copyright owner for the Evening Post. You can reproduce in-copyright material from this newspaper for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 3.0 New Zealand licence. This newspaper is not available for commercial use without the consent of Stuff Ltd. For advice on reproduction of out-of-copyright material from this newspaper, please refer to the Copyright guide.
Log in