NEW DRAINAGE SCHEME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume L, Issue 15326, 12 June 1913, Page 8

NEW DRAINAGE SCHEME.

TANKS ALMOST COMPLETED. SEWERS WELL IN" HAND. READY FOR WORK EARLY NEXT YEAR. Goon progress is being made with the carrying out of Auckland's new drainage scheme by th e City and Suburban Drainage Board's staff and contractors, and although, of course, much yet remains to be done, the important and comprehensive work may now be said to be within measurable distance of completion. The laying of the outfall pipes was completed some time ago, and the construction of the three storage tanks is now also practically completed. A contract has just been let for the erection of a building, of 04ft by 45ft, which will contain the 'plant required in connection with the inlet chamber in which the sewage will be screened before passing into the tanks. The building will have a Milestone base and brick walls. The coarse screens for the screening chamber are being manufactured locally, and the fine screens, including the mechanical, raking gear, have .been ordered from England. A..contract has also been let for the erection of a valve-house of 31 ft, by 18ft at the outlet end of the tanks. At the end of the main sewer a detritus chamber, which will intercept the silt in the sewage, is to be constructed. The chamber will be in the form of a large hopper-shaped tank, and it will be so shaped that the silt may be lifted by means of an ordinary bucket dredge. ' The main sewer was completed from Orakei to Stanley Street some time ago. The section from Stanley Street to Union Street, which is being constructed in the tunnel under the main part of the city, will bo finished about the end of the year, whilst the section from Union Street to

Cox's Creek, traversing the Ponsonby district, is'practically completed. By the end of the year the whole of the sewer, as far as Cox's Creek, including tunnelling and lining, will be out of hand. The tunnelling of the section from Cox's Creek to Meola Creek, on the western side of Grey Lynn, is also well advanced, and should be finished by about the end of the year. Tenders have yet to be called for the final section of the main sewer, which extends beyond Meola Creek, and which will enable tho Mental Hospital buildings to be connected with the system. Several of the branch sewers have been completed. These include the branches serving the districts of Remuera, portions of One-tree Hill and Epsom, and the whole of Newmarket and Parnell. One or two, small branch sewers in the city have been constructed, whilst on the Ponsonby side considerable progress has been made. The tunnelling and lining of the concrete (section from Willow Street (off Franklin Road) to Greenwood Street' (off College Hill Road) is well in hand. * The tunnelling has been finished along the whole of the remainder of the Ponsonby branch sewers with the exceotion of the western section near Cox's Creek. The earthenware pipes are now being laid along tho completed portion of tho tunnelling. The Archhill Gully sewer, which will serve Archhill, Eden Terrace, portions of Grey Lynn. Mount Albert, and Mount Eden, was the first branch sewer completed. Another section, which goes through the Kingsland Cricket Ground, and which will tap a considerable portion of 'Mount Albert (including .Kingsland) and Mount Eden, is well advanced. The new scheme, so far as the drainage board _ is concerned, from Grey Lynn to Orakei, will be ready to be-put into operation in the early part of next year. The reticulations in the various districts have, of course, to be completed by. the different local bodies concerned before the scheme : will be in full working order. 1