WAIROA COUNTY ROADS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIV, Issue 19378, 16 July 1937, Page 10

WAIROA COUNTY ROADS

WILLOW FLAT PROPOSAL EN f; 1N EER ' S RE POR T (ITornld Correspondent.) In addition lo a full report on the main highways, the engineer, Mr. R. W. Hawthorne, reported generally to Wednesday's meeting of the Wairoa County Council:— "On the Matakuria road bridge I made an inspection of the site of the proposed bridge to give access to Mr. F. H. Norris' homestead section. Handy to the site there is plenty of fallen and standing rimu, matai and whinau from which suitable timber could be cut for the erection of a bridge 25ft long and 10ft wide. I estimate the cost of cutting the timber and erecting the bridge to be approximately £SO. Willow Flat Road Widening;

"On June 25 Mr. W. Bromley discussed with the chairman, Mr. A. G. Nolan, and myself the desirability of finding full-time work for 20 to 25 men for three or four months. A generous offer towards the share of the labour cost was made by Mr. Bromley, and I would suggest that the council consider the question of establishing a camp for road-widen-ing purposes.

"A good deal of this road could be widened by means of the Auto Patrol grader, using an off-hitch grader as a trailer, but in many places where papa and sandstone shows, labourwould have to be used. The Willow Flat road has some particularly sharp corners that will eventually have to be widened and in several places a few chains of narrow cuttings will have to be widened to make the road safe for traffic. The bridge over the Mohaka River at Mr. Fraser's is now ncaring completion, and when the Napier Timber Company has its sawmill established on Mr. J. R. Murphy's Mode, timber will be carted continuously to the railhead at Kotemaori over the road by both sawmillers, Messrs D. Frasef and Sons and the Napier Timber Company. "There is a possibility that light six-wheeled trucks will be used to overcome loading restrictions and at the present time the road is unsafe for this type of vehicle. I estimate the cost of establishing a camp to accommodate 20 to 25 men to bo approximately £2OO. The council's share of the labour cost for 20 men for three months would be approximately £220. All work done would bo let on contract and worked on a co-operative basis. To be able to let work on a contract basis, engineering surveys are required, and at the present time I cannot cope with the work unless engineering assistance is provided." The engineer mentioned also that the contractors on Ardkeen, Mangarewarewa, Mohaka to Putere, Maungataniwha, and Notokahaeangu roads still had a balance of metal to deliver.