RAILWAY BY CONTRACT.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18862, 10 November 1924, Page 8

RAILWAY BY CONTRACT.

KATIKATI TO TE PUNA.

TURNING OF THE FIRST SOD

CEREMONY BY MR. COATES.

EVENT OF NATIONAL IMPORT.

A national event was celebrated at Te Puna on Saturday, when the Minister for Public Works, the Hon. J. G. Coates, took hold of the levers of a steam navvy and sent the teeth of the bucket ripping into the bank of what is to be a cutting on the East Coast railway. It was the formal opening of the work Sir William Armstrong, Whitworth and Company are to carry out by contract between Te Puna, some seven miles west of Tauranga, and Eatikati.

The contract covers a distance of 18 miles, and each end of the section will in three years link with works in hand by the department, and thus the 50 miles of lino running east of Tauranga will be brought into the North Island system. The linking up of this stretch of isolated line alone will be an important event, but special significance attached to the ceremony because it marked what is generally regarded as the first railway job to be undertaken by contract for many years. As Mr. H. Poland, M.P., recalled in his speech at the banquet in the evening, it is not the first railway job to be done by English contractors in New Zealand. He said that when he was a boy, his father worked for the English firm that constructed part of the line to the Waikato. Work Already Commenced. A large crowd assembled to witness the ceremony. The day was beautifully fine and the outing was very pleasurable. It was not really the first sod that was turned. As soon as the excavators were ready work was begun and at Te Puna operations are proceeding at two points. One of the Ruston diggers has driven some distance into a low cutting, the clay being of a friable nature, and easily cut. The second machine is cutting'into a hillock, and hopper trains, drawn by small but highly-efficient motor engines, carry the spoil to build a filling across a small swamp. The track runs off the solid ground on to high trestles ahd the clay is thus dropped exactly where it is required. There is no shovelling beyond what is needed to keep the alignment of the embankment accurate.

In welcoming the Minister, Colonel F. H. Greenhough, the New Zealand representative of the contractors, said the turning of the first sod was a time-honoured ceremony going back to the canal days of the 18th century. As they could see, it was not the first sod, Mr. Coates having been unable to get away from his Parliamentary duties when they were ready to begin. It was very kind of him to travel so far to perform the ceremony. His intention probably was to mark the departure mado to contract work by the Public Works Department, but he hoped that also it marked the Minister's esteem for the contracting firm, which would make its. utmost endeavours to deserve the confidence it had received. Contract Not An Experiment. Mr. Coates then operated the excavator amid cheers from the spectators, who included a number of representative Maoris, some of whom wore mats in honour of the occasion. The spoil was dropped into little hopper trucks which already had shifted a considerable quantity of earth. Colonel Greenhough then handed to Mr. Coates a relief map of the North Island, finely done in silver, with the route of this portion of the line marked in red. Mr. Coates thanked Colonel Greenhough for the handsome momento. Addressing the people he said they had been telling him for five years that they had had all kinds of promises, and that these promises had not been given effect. The Government had done its best in the circumstances. It had called for tenders for this stretch of 18 miles, the price of £470,000 had been accepted, and the work was to be finished in March, 1927. This was greeted by applause, and there was further applause when the Minister expressed satisfaction that the contractors were a British firm. There had been much fault-finding ugainst the department, which was willing to try any means of giving satisfaction to its shareholders — the people of New Zealand. Personally he thought the letting of the contract was not an experiment at all, and one of its great advantages was that it prevented curtailment of work should hard times be experienced. ■ Conditions Governing Employment. Any assistance the department could give to Colonel Greenhough would be gladly given. He did not want to see the contractors fail, but achieve a thorough success. He referred to the conditions imposed by the department governing the conditions for the employment of men by v the contractors. They provided for reasonable living conditions, lor reasonable holidays, and for the employment of a proportion of married men if they offered. He had no doubt the workers would at the finish have nothing but good to say of Colonel Greenhough, who recognised that to get good results men had to be treated well. He asked the workers on their part to give and take sometimes. When completed the line from Waihi to Tauranga would cost approximately £800,000. " I notice," the Minister continued in bantering tones, "that every one wants a railway station on his own farm. (Laughter.) As far as it is possible we will try to meet your wishes, but there will have to bo a little give and take." The member for Tauranga, Mr. C. E. Macmillan, briefly addressed the gathering. " Will the line to Waihi be finished by the time this section is completed ?" called a voice from the crowd at the conclusion. " Long before," promptly came the reply from Mr. Coates. Interesting Piece of the Plant. The visitors then inspected the camp, most of the buildings of which are of wood. It is not likely, however, that there will be any very large collection of huts on the route. Work will proceed at a number of points, there being active preparations at three points between Te Puna and Aongatete, where the most interesting piece of plant will be employed. At this point the ballast is to be obtained from the bed of a river. A drag-line excavator will be used. There will be two towers carrying a cable on which buckets will run, the drag-line principle being employed. The shingle will be elevated into a crusher, it will pass automatically through screens and thence into hopper trucks. At no stage will the shingle be handled by hand, until it is spread on the track.