DRAINAGE WORKS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19344, 3 June 1926, Page 13

DRAINAGE WORKS.

NEW SEWERAGE . SCHEME. CONTRACT FOR £12,700 BEGINS. THE ' FIRST SOD TURNED. A commencement with thri work on the No. IB sewer of the Auckland Suburban Drainage Board was -made yesterady by Messrs. W. Stevenson and Sons, whoso tender was accepted at the last meeting of the board. The sewer is to be 5111 feet in length, and the con tract price is £12,751. The course of the sewer will bo from the vicinity of the Harp of Erin on Great South Road, right' across the racecourse, and through the Ellerslie town district until it connects with the Ileniuera sewer, and so on to the main "outfall at Orakei. The ceremony of turning the first sod of the work was performed by the chairman of the works committee of tlse Drainage Board, Mr. M. J. Bennett. TOUR OF INSPECTION. PLAYGROUND FOR ARCH HILL. A tour of inspection of various works in progress, and others in contemplation, was made by the works committee of the Auckland and Suburban. Drainage Board yesterday, headed by its chairman, Mr. M. J. Bennett.

The watercourse in Arch Hill gull\ was visited first, with a view to considering a request made by the' Newton Schools Committee that a culvert be constructed in it, to enable the area to bo filled in and regraded for the purpose of forming playing fields. Mr. F. W. Brinsden, who. besides being a member o;; tho bo; u 'd, is also on the school committee, explained the scheme of the school authorities, and advocated that the board should do its utmost to further the project. The matter will be considered by the committee at its next meeting," with the object of presenting a report on the subject to the board. From Arch Hill tho committee proceeded to Edendale, to learn on the ground the position with respect to certain proposals for joint storm-water and sewerage work, in which the Auckland City Council; tho Mount Eden and Mount Albert Borough Councils, and the Mount Roskill Road Board are concerned. The Drainage Board has to construct, and eventually extend, its No. 8 sewer up to the boundary between Mount Eden and Mount Albert, and the several local authorities are' asking that that sewer should be made of sufficient capacity, to carry storm-water as well as sewage, from tho areas indicated-

It has been practically decided that the work shall be carried out .in that manner. All the bodies interested, with the exception of the City Council, have already given their approval to a report which was submitted by Mr. II H. Watkins, secretary-engineer to the board, some months ago, in favour of the scheme, and virtually all that is now required to enable tho work to be authorised is the foraml approval of the local bodies affected.

Another phase of tho tour was a visit to the railway deviation embankment of the Public Works Department across Hobson Bay. The embankment has to pass over the board's main outfall sewer, without bringing any weight to bear upon it. Temporarily, a scaffold bridge will be carried over the top of the sewer, and eventually there will be a permanent bridge.