SOUTH ROAD CROSSING.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVII, 11 August 1928, Page 9

SOUTH ROAD CROSSING.

CAUSE OF THE DELAY

COUNTY CHAIRMAN REBUTS CHARGE.

The appearance on the site of toe South Road crossing of the much discussed and much delayed girders for the railway part of the work was mentioned by the chairman of the Hawera. County Council (Mr. J. B. Murdoch) at tii© meeting this morning, and gave an opening for an explanation of the position and special! j for a denial of the charge recently made by the Railway Departments engineer in charge of the section that the delay was due to the Hawera County Council. Mr. Murdoch opened the discussion by reading a statement made . some time ago in a Taranaki paper, in which the engineer referred to the local bodv’s dilatory action, to which he attributed the delay in completion. Actually, said Mr. Murdoch, the delay was due solely to the department, and in addition much useless expense had been caused by its. failure to proceed. The council would never have started if it had known the girders were not available. The work was begun 10 months ago. and all the council’s excavation work was completed and a temporary road was made. This bad been an eyesore and a great hindrance to main road traffic. The council had all its men down there and all the teams on the job. and' could have pushed it through expeditiously. These had all to be taken away, and now the council had to start over again. Cr. Winks said the railway engineer had to, cover up his delay in not getting out tenders earlier for the work of building the girders. The chairman added that it was four months after the work was becrun before the contract for the girders was let. The Railway Department was the cause of the whole trouble, and was responsible for the -permanent main road being kept, closed to traffic so- long. Cr. Rotherv added that the probability was, too, that more rain would be experienced and the expense' still further increased. Naturally, .said the chairman, the council resented the statement and the imputation of delay on the part of the county officers.