TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17067, 27 July 1917, Page 7

TAIERI COUNTY COUNCIL.

Tho following report by tho engineer will bo presented to tho Taieri County Council at its monthly meeting:—

North lawn Riding.—Metal repairs on Gladstone road and Wingatui road havo been effected. M. Harty's entrance on tho former road has been attended to. The Wiwre l<lat road has been reinstated as far as tlie road that branches off to tho schoolhouso but the balance of this road and also the Long Ridge road are in bad condition. Iho creek above tho school left its course, and washed chains of tho road baro Hid&? V %7* ♦* has • cost , tho North T " ieri hiding £75 to repair tho damage in what may be termed tho non-rateable portion of j r J? ln ?' d tho road s mentioned above and Kays bridge have not yet been attended to. If work is carried on no money will be available for tho portion of the riding that contributes tho rates. I have conferred with the chairman, and we reoommend that, pending some adjustment with tho City Corporation, that local body bo asked to pay tho cost of ono surfaceman swages in North Taieri, and also tho cost of gravelling the road from the Silverstream to the Bchool. The subsidy that was previously offered is not sufficient for the W j ~-h , e re aro two footbridges on this road which are unsafe and should be either renewed or removed. The north abutment oi Uordon road bridge was further • undermined by the May flood, and the old timber wing wail on the upper sido collapsed. This Bridge is not worth costly repair and I recommend that iho abutment be underpinned with concrete and the lower wing wall protected with rubble encased in wire netting, tho timber sheeting between the main piles of the bridge supplemented with two inch planks, and a new timber wing of shorter length constructed on the upper aide. Ihe estimated cost ia £50, of which Mosgiel borough pays half. Tenders are oalled metal repairs to Duke's road from Fmdlay's to Griovo's, the intention being to repair the balance of the road with gravel from Meiklejohn's. The chairman and engineer have made arrangements to repair with gravel from Ruthven's the Janefield Settlement road. East Taieri Riding.—The metalling of the Mam South road has been completed and the metal blinded. Riccarton road and Dukes road have been gravelled from the Silverstream. Tho willows are being removed from the bed of tho Silverstream and cut back for the width of the road at the crossings. The water opening on the bchool road has been renewed. There is a considerable quantity of silt on Circular road, between Riverside and Kirklands, and the road is in a very sloppy condition. The metal formation is kept wet, and quickly ruts when carted on. I recommend that sludge be removed with small grader and scoop, a number of roads in East Taieri Kiding require maintenance metaL Riocarr,J °" d > "P Past Williamson's (15 yards); Wadfield road, between Main road and 5* W V < 10 , *?«*>); road (10 yardsk School road (10 yards); and Gladstone road (40 yards) The Riverside road, where damaged by the Taieri River overflow r£ quires 40 yards, and Shand's road where scoured by the flood, 100 yards ;-total 225 yard 3. 1 recommend this metal be included in next month's contract After the sludge is removed irom Circular road I will be able to tell what is required on this road. Kaikorai Riding.—The contract for the R& ° f on the road and Brighton road is completed and the metal ;n« ?2i DCr fuu pipe culvert *"* been inserted on the Abbotstord-Wingatui road Ihe water tables at Mrs Bryant's* have been attended to Casey Bros, declined to sign for contract 12 owing, to a misapprehension as to the locality of the work. Fresh tenders are 100 yards of metal for Speeds Hill added to the schedule. Mi Ross requested me to scrape the Kaikorai Valley road and clear the watertables, and 1 agreed subject to your concurrence, provided his firm paid half cost. The offer i open for your acceptance. Otokia Riding.-'lhe delivery of meta under contract 11 is in progress. . Th< channels on the same road between Otokk and laien Ferry are being cleared wit! the small grader and scoop. The grarellinf of the Brighton road at Seaview townshit is completed. Some metal repairs are re q T e l *° A ? iccart <?n Coal road, whicl will be attended to when teams are avsf able.

Outram Riduig.-The metal repairs to Bruce s road, Centre road near county hut, and the rood embankment between Allanton and Lindsay's are completed, and the men _-«e. now blinding. The bos culvert for Lawson Bros., Outram, has been inserted. The approach to the Otokia bridge has been reinstated. - Maungatua Riding.—The delivery of metal under. contract 10 (Outram to Bercompleted and the metal I blinded, The Riverbank road, Henley has been repaired, and will be finished off'with the small grader.. The. water is still very near the suriace of the metaued roads. Ine ruts are being raked in, but metal will not be cartea lor repair till too roads are dry. Cr Kompshail and toe engineer i«port regarding the Miil Creek road, Berwick, tnat. the Mill Creek has been beared and is now running in its old course The dangerous holes on the road are"beua ff : °£-, fenced otf > a track clearea from Wilson's gate to the (iowhai bpur. A oonsiderable length of this road is destroyed, and the extent of the present work is to restore a dray road to Wilson's and a sheep track thereafter. The Public Works engineer was over this road with me and we are of opinion that unless the vtfaipori .Haver is regulated it will leave its course whero it broke through during the May flood, and that any attempt to reinstate the road until the river is dealt with would only be a waste of money. We do not regard as prohibitive the cost of very materially improving river conditions between Mill Creek and Berwick. Deep Stream Riding.—The contract for the formation of the Pukerangi-Mat&rae road which was abandoned by the contractor, has been carried on and completed by I f^ , l ho Strath-Taieri surfacemen this work. The washouts on the road between Rocklands and Deep Stream and at Shannon Creek have been repaired and a number of scoured roads in, tho Hindon beat attended to. Strath-Taicri Riding.—Work in this ridmg has been confined to flood damage roP alr- _j i?si° p from BMck and Pillar toward Middlemarch, is first being attended, and it will take all nest month to reinstate this road. Cr Matheson and tho engineer report having accepted Messrs Docherty and Pedofsky's tender to cart metal for Centre road at 4s per ton, and have offered several gravel deliveries to the same contractors at day wages. Since my visit the surfaceman reports that work has not been started, and if anything occurs to upset arrangements we ask authority to nXe oUier dealings, cither «by contract or day labour, as there is a splendid bank of gravel m the river, and we desire to take the first opportunity of getting it out Mosgiel Quarry.—Seven men have been employed at Mosgiel quarry, and the output for the month was 844 yards.