THE CITY DRAINAGE SCHEME.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1291, 26 November 1896, Page 41

THE CITY DRAINAGE SCHEME.

At last week's meeting of the City Council Mr K. L. Mestayer, Drainage Engineer, reported, in compliance with, a request from the Council, on the works.

The total mileage of reticulation completed, he stated, was 42 miles, and from 16 to 18 miles remained uncompleted. In March last he took out the cost of 27}miles of pipe sewers laid complete to that date, of sizes ranging from 6in to ISin diameter, and found that the cost of the sewers laid complete was .£859 per mileThe amount allowed in the estimate was .£IOOO per mile. The total value of work done up to 30th September last (not including engineers, office work or overseers) was .£91,412 6s lOd. The total cost of engineering and survey work, including chief engineer, consulting engineers, engineer's office department, with incidental expenses connected therewith, and surveyors and chainmen employed in connection with the drainage work, were as follows : —Resident Engineer for Drainage, .£2833 6s 8d; consulting engineers, £1750; assistant engineers, surveyors, draughtsmen, chainmen, office boys, &c, and office expenses, including incidental expenses, .£7942 19s 9d: total, .£12,526 6s sd. The cost of surveying and levelling alone, including surveys for the Suburbs Sanitation Act 1894, amended route for tunnel, line of out-fall sewer in lieu of sewage farm, surveys of areas of existing watercontour plans of city, &c, amounted to about £3700. This was jusfc as much a portion of the " work completed" as the actual laying of the sewers, or building of tunnel, as the latter could not be executed without the surveys being first made. The work would not be completed for the £150,000 originally estimated, because the original estimate provided for a sewage farm, and the scheme as carried out included an out-fall sewer to Cook Strait beyond Hue-ti-taka, at a greater cost than the amount provided for the farm; a considerably greater length of sewers had been found to bo necessary than was originally provided for, owing to many sewers supposed to bo in good condition being found on examination to be quite the reverse ; the original estimate provided only for sewers in streets, but it had been found necessary to lay some miles of sewers through private property, while the actual length of sewers in streets was greater than had been estimated; and a large amount of surveying and levelling has bad to be done as a part of the scheme, for which no provision had been made in the estimate, the Drainage Commission having recommended be done by the Council prior to the carrying out of the sewerage scheme. Generally speaking, the different kinds of work had been carried out within or close upon the original estimate. Pipe sewers, reticulation, per mile (including all lampholes,Jmanholes, &C, office work and supervision), cost £859; the estimate was .£IOOO. The tunnel (including surveys for alteration of route) cost under -6:19,000 ; the estimate was £26,500. Intercepting sewer cost .£11,084; estimate, .£II,OOO. The machinery cost .814,224, the .'estimate was £11,430 ; engine and boiler - houses cost £2281, estimate .£ISOO ; house connections each cost 255, estimate 30s. Ho could not say what amount was likely to be required to complete the works until the lower sewer and the ejector stations were completed. He estimated that the whole of the work would be fully completed in 15 months' time. So soon as the outfall sewer was completed, which should be by the end of September next, the whole of the sewage now floating into the harbour would be diverted to the new outfall in Cook'Strait.

Councillor McG-ill, in the course of a few remarks, said that the work was costing more than it should do, and the filling-, as at present conducted, was more costly than excavating and filling under ordinary circumstances. He had watched the work during its progress since inception, and was satisfied that some of it was costing over 25 per cent, more than it ought. The office work in connection with the scheme was also out of all proportion. It would take 18 months longer to finish the scheme, according to the engineer's estimate, and he Iwas satisfied that it would be found that the original estimate would be exceeded by many thousands of pounds. There were 18 more miles to do, and he thought that 8 to 10 miles should be taken out on the contract system. Had the whole work been done by contract the Council would have saved a lot of money. After some discussion it was decided to consider the report in a fortnight. ANOTHER STRIKE. Forty hands engaged on Messrs T. McG-rath and Co/s contract for the construction of the outfall sewer in connection with the new city drainage scheme, struck work on Friday morning for an advance of wages from 7s to 8s per day. The contractors refused to concede thair demands. Navvies are requested by advertisement not to go near the works during the continuance of the strike.