NEW CONCRETE ROAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19389, 26 July 1926, Page 11

NEW CONCRETE ROAD.

MOUNT WELLINGTON SECTION.

OPENING OF THE HIGHWAY. GATHERING OF MOTORISTS. SAVING IN CONSTRUCTION. X- greater appreciation of a progressive roading policy could have been •shown than the gathering of scores of motorists at the opening of the Mount Wellington Highway on Saturday afternoon. Mr. J. Wood, chairman of the. .Mount Wellington Road Board, presided. The Mount WcHuigtou Highway, formerly known as the Paninure-Otabuhu Hn.id. is two miles 65 chains in length. Two years a.Ljn it was a fast-failing macadam load, and a scheme for its reconstruction in bitumen was formulated, a, number of ratepayers considering that cement concrete construction was necessary only for the hoard's sections of the Great South Road. After investigating comparative costs, the Road Board found that a concrete road of superior durability could be laid for a cost that banished the last, argument for bitumen. The road lias been laid in concrete 18ft. wide for £7433 a mile, or less than the bitumen estimates made by the Main Highways Board for the Great South Road.

In addressing the ratepayers, Mr. Wood said the new highway -was a fitting continuation of the board's policy of concrete construction initiated by the paving of one and a-half miles of the Great South Road last year. The board had adopted the unusual course of undertaking the work with its own plant, and the system had revealed" a great saving compared with contract work. The economy of the work on the Great South Road had influenced the board in undertaking concrete schemes for the Mount Wellington Highway, and for the Ellerslie-Panmure Road now under construction. A loan of £34,700 bad provided for the concreting of these two roads, a total of four and a-half miles. The charg6 on the district for its three concrete roads would be £4OOO a year. Great credit was due to the engineer, Mr. S. Trevor Dibble, for the remarkable savings effected. Mr. W. J. Jordan, M.P., said Mount Wellington had shown praiseworthy progress in roadwork. Concrete roads were essential to modern transport. Although there might have been some suggestion that present traffic requirements did not warrant concrete in this locality, it was evident the work was not premature. The Rev. W. C. Wood, chairman of the Papakura Town Board, also congratulated the ratepayers. The engineer, Mr. Dibble, said the road had generally followed the contour of the old highway. . The aim had been, to provide a durable road for modern traffic rather than a boulevard. If a great deal of cutting and filling had been undertaken to ensure a level stretch the cost would have been greatly increased. As it was there would be a surplus of £6BOO on the loan authorised and this could be devoted to secondary roads. The road was formally declared open with the cutting of the ribbon by the chairman's daughter, and the board's steam roller led a procession of beflagged motor-lorries over the new highway.

THE GREAT SOUTH EOAB. FINAL CONCRETE PROPOSAL. MANUKAU POLL ON THURSDAY* A unanimous pledge to support the Manukau County . Council's proposal to raise a loan of £10,500 to concrete two miles six chains of the Great South Road in the Papakura and Wairoa Hidings of the County, was given by a gathering of ratepayers at Weymouth on Saturday evening. Mr. F. M. Waters, chairman of the County Council, presided. The poll is to be taken next Thui-sday, the section involved being the last unprovided for between Auckland and Papakura. The Manukau County Council's proposals for the portions of the Great South Road in the Papatoetoe and Manurewa Ridings were recently carried by overwhelming majorities. The Otahuhu and Mount Wellington sections were finished at the end of last year. Concrete construction is well in hand on the Ellerslie Town Board's portion, and the One Tree Hill Road Board, the Papatoetoe Town Board, the Manurewa Town Board and the Papakura Town Board will be calling for tenders within a few weeks. After referring to the history of the road, Mr. Waters said the success of the proposals in the other ridings was an acknowledgement that farming communities were cognisant of the advantages of concrete construction. The Main Highways Board had adhered to its decision that a bitumen surface would suffice for the Great South Road beyond Otahuhu. Although the Highways Board had limited its subsidy to 50 per cent, of the coot of a bitumen scheme, the various authorities had been ambitious for a continuous concrete highway cf 15 miles from Auckland io Papakura. It would ho regrettable if the continuity of the stretch was to be broken between Manurewa and Papakura by the rejection of the present proposal"The superiority of concrete is so signal that the extra cost to ratepayers through the limitation of the subsidy is completely justified," said Mr. Waters. " The Highways Board's estimate for bitumen was £7900 a milo. and we believe we can do the work in concrete for an extra £SOO a mile."

Mr. Wat.ers said the estimate for the 166 chains was £17,446. The subsidy was £7BIB, leaving the ratepayers of the two ridings to find the balance of £9628. Interest and expenses brought the loan required up to £10,500. Approval of the loan would mean an additional rate of barely one-sixth of a pyiny in the £. Be joction of the proposal would mean an increasing expenditure in inefficient maintenance. The water-bound macadam road had proved inadequate to the demands of motor traffic. The County Council had spent £472 last year in an effort to maintain this section of the Great. South Road. A concrete highway through the ridings could not fail to popularise the district. Anvthing else would afford an unpleasant contrast. The county engineer, Mr. J. R. gave some technical information. lie pointed out that the roaa would be of identical specification to sections to be laid by other authorities. The concrete strip would be 18ft. wide with bordering strips, tar-sealed for four feet. llie paving would bo six inches thick in the centre and nine inches at the side. Severn' ratepayers spoke in favour of the p.oposal, and a motion endorsing the scheme was carried with some enthusiasm. The chairman and engineer of the County Council will address ratepayers Alfriston to-monow afternoon and at Takanini to-morrow evening.