IN P.W.D. DUMP

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 143, 14 December 1942, Page 4

IN P.W.D. DUMP

VALUABLE TYRES AND

MACHINES

(P.A.) CHRISTCHURCH, Dec. 13. Public Works Department machinery and tyres valued at approximately £55,000 are lying in a dump at Semple Street, Addington, and, judging from the height of the grass and growth of weeds, have been there for some months. „„ tl .. „ The dump comprises 13 "carry-alls and two large trailers, all fitted with tyres-20in or more in width and some sft in diameter, each estimated to have cost from £188 to £222. In all there are 58 such tyres of a type today unprocurable and irreplaceable. Most of the tyres- are new or nearly new and the machines were apparently in equally good order when left on the dump The approximate estimate of the value of the tyres is £10,000, that of machines about £44,000, and of the trailers about £1000. , "These 'carry-alls' are part of a shipment which was to arrive complete with tractors," said the district public works engineer, Mr. F. D. Grant, explaining why the "carry-alls' were lying in the Addington yard. "The tractors have not come to hand, so it has not been possible to put the 'carry-alls'.into use, and they have had to be stored in the Addington yard in the meantime. They are of such bulk that it is not possible to put them under cover, but it is not considered that there will be any undue deterioration. All the tyres have been covered with bagging as temporary protection, and if there is no possibility of the tractors coming. to hand the matter of obtaining some storage for the wheels is likely to be gone into. Apart from the tyres, the actual machines are of a type that are always stored outside with little deterioration." Mr. Grant said that indicative of the storage difficulties was the fact that each "carry-all" was 32ft 4iri long, 10ft 6in in wit^th, and 12ft high. The shipment came "out of the blue," and it was a case of "the cart arriving before the horse."