GREAT SOUTH ROAD.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20362, 17 September 1929, Page 10

GREAT SOUTH ROAD.

PROBLEM OF PAVING.

PAPAKURA-MERCER SECTION. HIGHWAYS BOARD'S REQUEST. [BY TELEGRAPH. —OWN CORRESPONDENT. ] PUKEKOHE. Monday. The question whether concrete should bo used throughout for paving the Great South Road through tho Franklin County, from Papakura to Mercer, or whether most of tho road should be paved with bitumen, is exercising tho minds of the Highways Board engineers, according to a report submitted to-day by the county engineer, Mr. J. F. McAHhur, to tho County Council. Tho report stated that the Highways Board engineers had now intimated that the previous proposal for concreting the portion of tho road from Papakura to the northern end of the Bombay Hills deviation, 7-3 miles, at an estimated cost cf £120,000, was too elaborate. They had asked that his proposal bo revised, the carriageway to bo 26ft. wido instead of 32ft., the shoulders to be metal instead of bitumen surface, and other items included in the estimate to bo deleted. The grades and alignment in the original proposal had not been classed as beyond the requirements of tho road. The Highways Board engineers were now asking for alternative estimates:— (1) For concreting the whole rbad from Papakura to Mercer, 16J miles; (2) for concreting the portion from Papakura to tho northern end of tho Bombay Hills deviation, 7$ miles, and bituminising tho remaining nine miles; and (3) for concreting from Papakura to tho junction of tho Drury-Waiuku Road, 2jJ miles, and bituminising the remaining 14 miles. A bituminous wearing surface 2£in. thick was suggested for the estimates for bitumen. The council instructed the engineer to prepare the alternative estimates.