WELLINGTON STREETS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19236, 27 January 1926, Page 12

WELLINGTON STREETS.

jj CONDITION OF PAYING. DETERIORATION , ALLEGED. MARKED INCREASE IN COST CRITICISM OF COUNCIL'S POLICY. Under the heading of "Wellington's Paving Muddle," yesterday's Dominion publishes a long article reviewing the results of the street paving operations in Wellington. It states that defects have now become manifest in ovcry one of the seven sections of bituminous paving laid last season under tho Hurt Iload extension scheme, and in some cases most extensive patching has already been neces- ' nary. Failures have even occurred in thia season's work. J n spite of the.se serious occurrences, it .is apparently proposed to rush ahead and lay anything np to £250,000 worth of paving this season. No satisfactory assurance has, however, : been given that 'tho causes of. tho defects have been eliminated. She article states that tho cost of paring, in. to Sin. deep, was 8s ! a square yard in 1923-24, hut in 1924-25, paving only 31 in. deep, cost lis 31|d a yisfd. No statement has been published of the cost of 'tho Yin. paving in Thpradoa Quay. Tho work done last season comprised the following streets and roads:—• Cost por sq. yd. a. d. Cable, Chaffers, and Herd Streets, city J 2 8.2 Jvrans Ray .Road . .. ..32 11.11 Main Road. Lowor Hiitfc . . .. 13 'j'xa .Railway Avenues Lower Hutt .. 12 9.99 >TjS'pjEuittdo, Petono ..10 4,62 Cuba St root, Petono ... g !f horrid on Quay .. The official estimate for this 3^in, paving, worked out at about 8s por square yard. Extensive Maintenance. A point mado most emphatically by tho City Council ever since it took up bituminous concrete paving is that this typo of road is a "permanent road" Unit requires practically nothing in tho way of maintenance. Thomdon Quay, for instance, was condemned as a rninously expensive road .in its former macadam state, the maintenance of which from 1916 to 1924 'was officially stated to have swallowed up iau average annual sum of £9 13s 6d per chain. Onco hot-mix was laid it was promised that a perfect surface would bo provided that would cost nothing to maintain. Instead of a perfect surface, Thorndon Quay is now a sories of waves, and it would bo interesting •to know what the patching is costing. The fact of the matter is that in every, one of tho seven sections of pavement laid last season defects have developed—and are continuing to develop—and very extensive patching has been required.

The most extensive failure is in the 7in. pavement on Th'drtadon Quay. The defects there were at first officially explained to bo due to subsidence in the soft ground over a 40-year-old' Water-main running the 'whole length of tho quay, and under frequent repair. The movement in the pavement, however, has been far too extensive to be accounted' for by any such cause. A second official' explanation was that the failuro was doe to the use of Lyall Bay beach sand in tho sheet asphalt top coat. This sand, it was stated, was too rounded and unsuitable for the purpose, but the experiment of using it had been a valuable one. "Collapse" of Other' Work. No special •causes appear to have been politicly assigned so far for tho defects in the Cable and Chaffers Street paving, 'and the Evans Bay paving.- Extensive collapses have occurred in the Lower Hutt and Potoiie work. The'city engineer has 'stated that "the most serious faults" in this area aro "undoubtedly duo to bad foundations." A second reason for failure iwas given by the > Mayor of Petone that : "the Hull Road Board's engineer attributed the failure of a portion of tho bituImsn paving in Petone to the overheating of the material in tho courso of manufacture." ■ A statement by the city engineer last "March tliat ''it is confidently expected that there will be no maintenance on the proposed pavements for five years" is quoted. It is stated that' whereas the expectations of low mainterianco costs have,.been realised so far in the case of the Hutt Road itself; they are not being realised in the 'case of the later work under tho extension ,scheme. In the. latter, the plant and materials used .were practically tho same, and the, staff employed had the experience gained in laying the Hutt Road to guide them. Question of Foundation. The only differences that can bo discerned are that tho Hutt Road paving was laid upon tho solid macadam foundation built by the Public Works Department when the roadway was constructed in tho period prior to 1914. In at least ono instance of failuro under tho extension (scheme nearly all Ihe metal there was on the road was scraped,off in tine "preparation" work before the. paving was laid. Another factor that must bo taken into account is that the Hutt Road paving was ici the main laid tinder the supervision of Mr. T, W. Patterson, an American gentleman who was stated.to have been associated with the asphaltum business for twenty-six years',,, The whole scheme, including the Hutt Road itself, the Hutt Road extension .work, and the city paving provides for the laying of 59 miles of pavement at an estimated cost of £380,000. This works out at ah average estimated cost of, roughly, £6400 per mild.' f. Under tho financial side of. tho scheme, it will be over twenty year's before the paving is paid for. Under the practical side of the scheme a considerable area of it has already been ripped up in the first six months, and more-will have, to come up soon. After discussing various other aspects of the subject, the article concludes by presenting tho following questions':—ls it not time that the' whole position of this costly -paving.project should be reviewed? What is the total expenditure to date ? What are the paved roads costing to maintain—some of the 'most* defective portions are costing about £BOO per mile per annum in interest in sinking fund alone—and how much has to.be added to reach the total cost since laying? Have the causes of failure in the paving been eliminated, or have (hoy not? These matters are all of the highest importance to citizens.