THE CITY ENGINEER.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13452, 31 May 1907, Page 6

THE CITY ENGINEER.

— «o* i NOTES ON HIS SOUTHERN | TOUR. 1 _ WHAT OTHER CITIES ARE DOING. ; Mr. W. E. Bush, city engineer, Mho has i just returned from a visit to Dunedin,; Christ church, and Wellington, was inter-1 ■jviewed by a representative of the Herald' i yesterday upon what h: saw of public! works in connection with the cities he •visited. "I had to visit Dunedin," he I said, "'on behalf of the Auckland City j jCouncil, and the Council - kindly gave me time to inspect the various municipal 'works in the three large centres of population in. New Zealand. I was most kindly received and every, opportunity was afforded mo of making my visit pleasant and interesting, and I hope that "much of the iinformation I was able to obtain will be of I service sooner or later to the city of Auckland." j Mr. Bush had much that- was favourable (to say of Dunedin's buildings, and .he expressed the opinion that much of their substantial . • and dignified appearance is attributable to the fact that- Oaniaiu stone is less costly to obtain there than in the other cities of the colony.

DUNEDIN'S WORKS. "I was much impressed," said Mr. Bush, '' with the treatment of the tramway tracks in Dunedin. Except for a short" section in the heart of the city, which is laid with Neuchatel asphalt, the tracks are paved with tarred macadam, the tar for which was specially obtained from Melbourne. Some trouble was experienced with it at first, but it is now -eminently successful, for it has materially minimised the dust nuisance." .Mr. Bush visited the recently opened power stations belonging to the Council at Waipori Fails, and in his opinion the whole of the work seemed to have been carried out extremely well, The only portion likely to give any anxiety was the wooden flooring. " Dunedm," he said. "must be congratulated for going in for so extensive and so novel an equipment.' Alter referring to the sewerage system of Dunedin, .Mr. Bush said the quality of metal used in the Dunedin streets is superior to anything we had in Auckland. "On the whole," he continued, "I do not consider that the streets and paths of Dunedin are superior in order to those of Auckland. I was much impressed with the uniformity of the verandahs. They are carved and glazed, as in Christchurcii. The cost of up-keep must be considerable, and I doubt whether they would be so cool as those of Auckland in the warm weather we have here." CHRISTCHURCII.

After a most interesting visit to the Oaraaru quarries, especially with a, view to seeing what could be done to supply stone for the new town hall—-if the structure be erected in that material—Mr. Bush passed on to Christchurch. The situation of Christchurch has made the matter of its laying out a very simple one," remarked the engineer; "but one cannot but admire the foresight of the . men who chose the site. Among the works I visited were the refuse destructor and the electric, power station. The latter was added in order that the steam generated ,by the destructor might be profitably utilised in a manner similar to what we are to do here; but the general arrangement is somewhat different. The power station. is rather cramped, however. It is proposed to utilise water from the condensers at the electric power-house for the heating of a tepid swimming bath there." ; The new type of tramcars, with enclosed seats at each end, and open cross seats in the centre, Mr. Bush found to be in favour in Christchurch, and also, with cei> tain modifications, in Dunedin and Wellington.- .Mr. Bush also inspected the Islington freezing works, and the Christchurch municipal abattoirs, which are'different from anything of the kind at Home, but which are very similar to those now being erected for the Auckland Council at Otahuhu. / " I found public men in Christchurch very sanguine," said Mr. Bush, " as to the growth of, their city. They regard the proposed ship canal between Christchurch and Sumner quite seriously, althought it' must cost a very hirge sum of money to construct and maintain." H 1 WELLINGTON. Referring to Wellington," Mr. Bush said : " Wellington struck me as being a most progressive, most vigorous city. There is abundant evidence that the citizens there do not mean to be left behind in the struggle for supremacy in New Zealand, although it-seems clear to me that Auckland will become a very great mercantile port." The New York of New Zealand?" "Yes; something like that. But to return to, Wellington. Th® Council is excavating arid levelling a big hill in order to form, a recreation ground, at a cost of £8000.' They are also preparing to develop their electric lighting station on * a very large scale. I think that the difficulties of work in Wellington, owing to its peculiar physical features, are very great, greater than in Auckland, although there is in the heart of the. city a larger area of level ground than in Auckland, enabling a larger area of > street to be permanently paved than can be done here. Wellington is also fortunate in having a scheme of sewage disposal, which, is complete, but extensive additions should become necessary for the suburbs. The Wellington destructor is out of date, but a new one of most, modern type is to be built. It is no doubt urgently needed. ; The power to be derived from the destructor will be used to actuate the pneumatic sewage ejectors. I was much impressed with the great saving effected in many particulars by the Council m doing its own works, ' such as making concrete' kerbstones and flags, making its own scavenging brooms, and so on. This work pays handsomely. The Council carries out its own tramway extensions, and all by directly employed ,labour. It seemed to me a matter for regret that- the Town Hall was not constructed in stone, instead of in stucco.

"My trip through the colony, brief as was my stay at different places, convinced me of the wonderful energy and enterprise of the people as a whole, as reflected in the management of the large cities."