SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19102, 22 February 1924, Page 5

SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS.

ANNUAL MEETING. The annual meeting of the New Zealand Society of Civil Engineers was continued in the King Edward Technical College yesterday. In addition to those whose names were published on Wednesday the following have signed the attendance register: Messrs E. J. Gossett (Tauranga), A. J. Paterson (Wellington). F. W. Mac Lean (Wellington). Lloyd Mandeno (Tauranga), R. H. P. Ronayne (Wellington), F. S. Dyson (Tauranga), P. Keller (Taumarunui), G. P. Anderson (Shannon), J. E. W. M‘Ennis (Whangarei), S. L. Spanhake (Dargaville), D. Murray (Dunedin), and D. Carrington (Dunedin). Mr G. P. Anderson opened the business of the morning by reading a paper on Corrugation of Roads. He described in detail the process by which roads were commonly worn into corrugations. These did not occur, he pointed out, on grades, but on level pieces where there was more engine action. He proceeded to discuss road materials in reference to their liability to corrugation. The combination of two elastic materials, he concluded, would be most immune from corrugation. The President raised the question whether corrugations would travel on double width well regulated roads, where most of the traffic in one direction kept on one side of the road. He asked whether corrugations occurred most on straight or on curved roads.

The secretary read a paper received from Mr Holmes on the question of road construction and maintenance. He mentioned that in Los Angeles the motorist was liable to find himself one of a line of cars many miles in length travelling at only seven or eight miles an hour. It was necessary to look ahead to the time when motor traffic in this country would be very greatly increased. Why should not roads be paid for as were other services according to the use made of them ? Licenses were an inequitable form of taxation for road upkeep. The tyre tax was the simplest and fairest method of collecting revenue for road maintenance, and it should be paid direct to the Government. The benzine tax would seem almost impossible of collection without friction, for those who used benzine for other than motor vehicles would have to be exempted. Mr A. J. Paterson said he thought there was some confusion in the minds of some between corrugations and pot holes, which were two distinct things. Mr Anderson had brought forward some points that required explanation. Corrugations had only come into the roads since motor traffic. He thought it started with the gears. The Ford transmission was not a gear transmission, and one got a far better ride with a Ford as far as changes of gear were concerned. The corrugation started the potholes. Mr A. J. Baker said he believed the problem of road construction was the biggest the country would have to face. There were large and very conflicting interests involved—the railways, the users of vehicles, and the county councils. Personally he con sidered the motorists had to pay for the roads provided no matter what that cost might be. Motor tarffic was to some extent a luxury—(A member: Question ’). The country was not yet sufficiently developed to enable it to pay for a complete equipment of roads. It was going to be a difficult matter to get a big proportion of the county councils to see beyond their own interests, and that was hardly to be wondered at. He was persuaded that to make a success of the Main Highways Act the principal roads should be completed whether the Iqcal bodies concerned" could pay their share or not. With regard to the tyre tax he thought no one would contend that it was not sound. He agreed with Mr Holmes that a petrol tax could not be looked to for finance under the Main Highways Act. A license fee of 30s to £2 was treating the owner exceedingly leniently, and more leniently that it would be possible to do if road development was to go on. It was essential that the position should be reviewed to enable local bodies to adopt whatever heavy traffic by-laws were necessarv to make these heavy vehicles pay their share.

Mr R. S. Oree Brown drew attention to the corrugation met with the previous dav on the road near Outram. He considered it was due not to the gear but to the tuning-fork action of the spring. Springs of motor cars were designed for certain periodic vibrations of the body, and the vibrations were much the same for different classes of car. Corrugations were never found on a sharp curve. There was a long stretch of corrugations between Oamaru and Palmerston South, where, he understood, the road had been top-dressed with gravel over macadam. Pot-holes were duo to speed and wide tyres. Mr J. E. Menzies described corrugations about 18in apart that had come under his observation at the foot of the Moutere Hill. They had developed eight or nine months ago. Mr IX Dobson described his experience on a Canterbury road, where at a slow speed the corrugations were badly felt, but at 40 miles an hour they were not felt at all. On the tarred macadam roads hp had laid down he had never found any corrugations. He could not see his way to suggest any theory. Mr G. Cuthbertson (Oamaru) referred to the increased corrugation in roads in the Waitaki Countv, especially between Palmerston and Bushev. In Thames street, Oamaru. there were corrugations about 2ft apart, which reminded one of. the waves of the sea. He was inclined to think this was due to insufficient preparation of the foundations.

Mr Luke (Wellington) expressed the opinion that a rigid foundation produced a tendency towards a fracture and perhaps a corrugated surface. Mr A. J. Paterson (Wellington) said that they had to look forward to three times the number of cars in five years that there were in New Zealand to-day, and they had a problem to face which must be faced on broad lines. In Mr Murray’s paper four or five methods of finance were referred to, but they were solely for maintenance and not for construction. The high cost of maintenance was due to motor traffic, but the general taxation did not cover that. Motor traffic was successfully competing with the railways, but he was confident that if the question -were thoroughly gone into it would be found that motor traction was no cheaper. The speaker contended that the tyre tax and a gasolene tax were unfair. There was no method whereby the owners of motor vehicles could he directly represented on the bodies of construction. The motor people were willing to pay, but they wanted direct representation on the Control Board. The Society of Engineers should also be represented cn the board. The Highways Act did not provide for what a progressive country wanted. He thought the Act should be repealed and some” definite and workable measure put in ns place. Mr Corkhil! ‘Taranaki) said that at present they had the roads and the railways, which were in conflict, but if they had some system of gridironing the railways would get their proper share of the traffic and at the same time the roads would fulfil their natural functions as feeders. ' The Chairman expressed the opinion that the motorists were fairly well represented on the board. In the course of his reply Mr Murray stated that the character of a road must depend on the traffic. It was quite impossible to deal with all the to ids at once. The only way was to maintain certain roads and put in heavier materials as the traffic warranted it. To deal with tho taxation of motor cars and lorries they should estimate the amount of damage done and face the question on some definite principle. The Main Highways Act. was probably not perfect, but it should be given a fair trial. Mr Anderson said his observations of corrugations were made in three places on a flat road where motorists might be excised if they did a little speeding. He had found that the pitch ranged from 15in to 30in. the greatest being where tho speed was highest. He thought that corrugations were produced -by the engines of motor cars running free. He r»s of the opinion that pot holes were due to a fracture of the foundation of a road. COOKING BY ELECTRICITY.

A paper dealing with an analysis of the demand on the electric power supply of Tauranga, especially for cooking, was read bv Mr Llovd Mandeno The author stated that the method of cooking by clectncity prcduced heat which had several advantages over other available methods For household use the advantage that appealed most to the cook was the effectiveness of the electric oven. The improved conditions in the kitchen were other features, while another one was the fact that the adoption of the electric* service simplified the design of a comfortable and roomy bouse. Mr Mandeno expressed the opinion that as these advantages became generally known there would be an insistent demand for the electric service. The Tauranga system was established in 1915, the supply being derived from the Omanawa Falls, some 13 miles distant, where two units, each of 150 h.p. maximum output, were installed. At present territory extending from five miles

■west to 18 miles east of the town was supplied. In 1922 the population of the town was 2401. There were 718 consumers within the borough, classified as follows; —Residential, 562; snops, offices, and manufacturers, 141; public buildings, 15. The original canvass for consumers for cooking met with a fair response. The owners of two houses, who were commencing erection, changed their plans, cutting out all chimneys and substituting a complete electrical service, including water heaters. The present owners of these installations remained hearty advocates of the use of electricity in the kitchen after eight years’ service. The development of electrical cooking had not been artificially forced by any moans. The revenue derived trom heating had increased from £241 in 1917 to £2114 in 1913, and the ratio of heating to lighting had risen from 25.5 per cent, to 57.5 per cent, in the same period. There was every indication that the heating revenue would ultimately exceed that derived from lighting. In TSLuranga there were 68 houses using electric cookers, 52 of them being entirely dependent on them. Seven of these were entirely dependent on electric radiators for heating, and 21 used radiators to a fair extent, but had also other means of heating. In addition there was about 25 k.w. of cooking appliances and 30 k.w. of radiators in commission in the hotels, shops, oiid offices An average monthly account for a consumer who was not using radiators was; —Lighting, 8s 9d; cooking and honing, 22s Sdi water heating, say, Ss. Tho time was no doubt corning when electric cooking equipment would be as reliable as gas cookers. Some considerable advances had been made in that direction of late. Apparently the quantity of energy sold for water heating was out of all proportion to that for cooking. This was due to the fact that there were over twice as many residences fitted with electric water-hearing- services as there were with cookers. It was evident proof that the rate charged for the water-heating service (equivalent to l-3d per unit) was popular. A HARBOUR EXCURSION. In the afternoon the members of the conference and lady friends were entertained by the Otago Harbour Board at an excursion on the ferry steamer W'aikana, kindly lent for the occasion by the Ferry Company. The chairman of the Harbour Board (Mr T. H. Russell) and almost all the members and chief officers of the board were present, and the opportunity presented by tho outing was taken advantage of by a large proportion of the visiting engineers. Tho steamer left shortly after 2 o’clock, and proceeded down the eastern channel to Port Chalmers, xne trip with a following wind was a very pleasant one. At Port Chalmers the party inspected the docks, pumping plant, and 15-ton electric crane. On the homeward ioumey down the main channel a liberal afternoon tea. provided by the Harbour Board, was enjoyed. The president of the society and Mr F. W. M‘Lean both returned thanks on behalf of the visitors, saying that the board’s kindness was characteristic of the hospitality of Dunedin. Mr Russell expressed the board’s pleasure in entertaining the engineers. Dunedin was reached again shortly after 5 o’clock. OTHER PAPERS. At the evening session papers dealing with the following subjects were read: — “Electric Power Applied to Flour-milling.” by Mr E. Hitchcock: “Notes on Flour-mill Working in Dunedin,” by Mr M. C. Henderson ; and “The Construction of Tunnels, Bridges, Culverts, and Earthworks on the Railways North of Maungaturoto, North Auckland.” by Messrs J. E. W. M’Ennis and G. W. Albertson. The writers were accorded a hearty vote of thanks Mr M‘Ennis’s paper was illustrated with a number of lantern slides of cuttings, bridges, tunnels, and other works and by plans and diagrams. It was not completed when the hour for adjournment came, and it was decided to continue the paper when the conference resumes at 10 o’clock this morning. INSTALLATION OF NEW PRESIDENT. The retiring president (Mr F. W. Furkert) formally inducted to office the newlyelected president (Mr Dudley Dobson, of Christchurch). Mr Furkert said he vvaS quite sure the choice of member had been a wise one, and Mr Dobson would lead the society along safe lines and in quiet waters. Mr Dobson was a man of leisure, as well as of indomitable pluck and overflowing energy, and if anyone could get their Bill through for them he could. (Loud applause.) Mr F. W. M'Lean asked members to pass a very special vote of thanks to Mr Furkert. the retiring president. The president required to be a man of great versatility, and the remarkable way in which Mr Furkert had fulfilled all the requirements of the position must have appealed to them all. The vote of tnanks was passed with prolonged applause. Mr Dobson, in returning thanks for his election, said he accepted the position with a certain amount of misgiving. The only excuse he had to offer was that he had had to take up a wider variety of engineering works than any other engineer of his acquaintance, and that should help to put him in touch with all the members of the society. Ho hoped that his experience in dealing with public bodies and governments would be of service to them.—(Applause.)