PROGRESS IN ROADING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19832, 30 December 1927, Page 10

PROGRESS IN ROADING.

MORE AMBITIOUS METHODS.

AUCKLAND COSTS TREBLED.

MAINTENANCE OF HIGHWAYS. Reading work in the Auckland Province during 1927 lias been characterised by greatly improved maintenance methods in most districts. The South Auckland highway district, embracing all territory from tho city boundaries to Raglan, Te Awamutu, Cambridge and Thames, has benefited particularly. Three years ago maintenance of main highways in this area cost £53 10s a mile, and for 1926-27 it rose to £lßl for each mile. This is the highest figure for any of the 18 highway districts with the exception of Taranaki, where £l9B 16s was expended on each mile. Of the 3664 miles of main highway in the North Island, about 2000 miles are in the Auckland Province.

Much of the improved maintenance is attributable to the supervision of the Main Highways Board and to the encouragement, which local bodies are given to use power graders and other modern machinery. This equipment is now obtainable on hire-purchase from the Highways Board, and bodies with the most modest revenue are enabled to increase tho efficiency of their roading plant. The Highways Board has also helped to standardise roading methods by holding examinations for foremen and overseers employed by local bodies. Confidence in concrete was maintained in Auckland during the year, and nearly 12 miles of paving has been laid on the Great South Road since last January. Similar surfacing was also done at Northcote, Point Chevalier and the Remuera terminus. It is interesting to observo that there was no concrete paving on any highway outside the Auckland district during the year.