MANGAPU DRAINAGE

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXVI, Issue 3448, 22 November 1932, Page 5

MANGAPU DRAINAGE

GOOD PROGRESS OF WORK. At the meeting of the Mangapu Drainage Board held on Friday last, the engineer, Mr. J. C. Simmonds reported that good progress has been made the last few months in clearing the Mangapu, Mangaokewa, Mangaroma and other tributary streams between Otorohanga and Te Kuiti. Hauling operations have been carried out with a steam hauler on the lower Mangapu, at the Mangamutu junction, and in the lower Mangaokewa Stream. Poisoning has been carried out at the junction of the Mangapu, and Mangaokewa streams, while frilling and poisoning has also been done between Te Kumi and Hangatiki on the Mangaokewa. A large amount of work in clearing the Manguroma has also been carried out. In all the recent operations the hauler has been working in a mass of blackberry and gorse and the willow growth has been both dense and heavy. In view of this, the rate of work must be considered as most satisfactory and the efficiency of the men has improved as they become more and more familiar with the work.

It can be confidently hoped that before the end January the whole of the Lower Mangapu from the Mangamutu junction downwards will be entirely cleared of all obstructions and debris. This means the completion of the Board’s undertaking with the Railway Department, and the Board will then be qualified to apply for the residue £250 to be paid by the Department. It is also expected to have a perfectly clear channel from the Mangapu-Mangaokewa junction _ and the Mangapu-Waipa junction within the next two or three months. The 80 chains stretch below Wilson’s Bridge is in a very satisfactory condition. Here the rink-barking and poisoning, boring and poisoning of bobbed stumps have proved most successful and the trees are either quite dead or nearly so. Effectiveness of Frilling. The report states that in dealing with the largest trees experiments were carried out, viz., by boring, poisoning and frilling, ring-barking, and frilling only. All trees were killed, proving that frilling killed the trees. It is recommended, therefore, that frilling should be carried out in the Mangaokewa Stream between Hangatiki and Te Kuiti, this offering the best solution in dealing with this section. When the trees in this section were reduced to a state of decay the hauler could be used to deal with logs, snags and large willow stumps. About three miles of the Mangaokewa Valley has been dealt with, and it can be expected that by another month or six weeks the whole of the Hangatiki-Te Kumi sections will be covered. The work carried out under the direction of the Borough engineer, Mr. Drake, from Te Kuiti towards Te Kumi, is showing very good results, and will prove of material assistance to the Board. A large proportion of the work is being carried out under No. 5 scheme, the number of men working for the Board being 42. The report pays a tribute to the work of Mr. Wood, the contractor for the cuts, these being carried out in a most efficient manner. The chief drainage engineer recently paid a visit of inspection of the work being carried out by the Board, and expressed satisfaction with all that had been done to date.