COUNTY COUNCIL WORKS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXI, Issue 31, 21 September 1911, Page 2

COUNTY COUNCIL WORKS.

SUNDRY REPORTS. The following reports were received at yesterday’s meeting of the Stratford County Council:— Engl near. Ihe engineer reported:—l have the honour to submit my monthly report as follows : North Riding.—Danger notices have been erected at York Road bridge. I ae necessary boulders for reinstalling L onions of North Mountain and 1 consliehl Roads have nearly all been obtained and the work of crushing and spreading will shortly he commenced. Bont.il Riding.— As instructed I have inspected Pnkqngahu Road with a view of the formation of a further portion and the remetalling of tin’s and the portion formed. Mv estimate of cost is as follows: To reform present formed length to take metal 110 chains £250, metalling same IJO chains at £l2 £1,320, total £1570; or alternative proposal: to reform present formed length 110 chains £250, to form a further 110 chains at £G 10,s £715, metalling 220 chains at. £l3 £2Bfao, total £3825. These figures chow that the cost of either work will he heavy. Judging from the present state of the road and the tiaffic it. has to take it would appear that such expenditure is rather un-

warranted. East Riding.— r J lio drain and creek cleaning contract (Now-Tv opua) is in pi-ogress !, |C completed shortly. T!ie rebuilding of, bridge on Toko Road is about to commence. I have a man on doing the prelim a nary work and the material is being ordered. Drain cleaning ,in Road valley is being carried out, and I have communicated with the property owner at upper end re cleaning out the crook. The necessary repa/irs have been made to Managaoapd track. Plans, etc., for formation of Mangaoapa Road are now in the hands of the Public Works Department. The two bridges on Ohura Road near Strathmore have been cleaned and painted. West Riding.—The concrete bridge on Opunake Road near Rowan is approaching completion. I inspected the live fence alleged ■ to he planted on Opunake Road near Mahoe and found such to he the case, the fence being from 3ft. Gin. to 4ft. Gin. on the road. I notified the owner to move it hack. So far nothing has been done, but a second notice has been sent out. The following is an estimate of the cost of reforming and metalling the unmetalled portion of Iteanld Road:

Reforming T mile .to take, metal. £200; metalling ] mi in at £ 7 per chain ,£'.loo total £76oj, Mangaolm Riding.—Contract Xa. 841 (formation of portion of jVJanga Road), is completed. Contract,, No. 849 (formation pi a further portion of Manga Road), m approaching completion. 1 hap, been able to, majtq a start with the building of sepond bridge (over washout) op Mangaehu Road, and this work will be carried out with fill dispatch, ‘", ; ' Foremen. D. Brown.—The roads under my care are in fair rorder at present. Mountain Road: il have put out ahoxit 970yds. of honldqrs at a cost of >about £2OO. They are stacked on the roadside ready for crushing when required. I think it would ho as well to have 50 or , 60yds put out for Monmouth Road, as the crusher will not lie so near again for some time, and also about 20yds. for the lower part of Radnor Road. I think it will lie as well to start crushing as soon as possible as it will clear the road again. I have put. in jnculvert with nine 3ft. 9in. concrete pipes near Waipukn station. Denbigh Road: I have pul. in' an extra set of two-foot 12in. clay pipes to take the water off where it has lioon flowing a good deal lately, eight pipes being used. I would like to know what is to ho done to this road this year, as it is as well to have the work all in view while men and teams are on hand. Barclay Road: I hoard that this road was in a had state, but found it not to bo so. The blinding has improved it much more than,l though it would. Rad-

nnr Road : I put in a day on the upper p u t of this road with horse and cart. Mr Johnson gave a day with a twohorse team, and a good job was made i'or the present. I have been laid up .with an attack of. influenza since September loth. On doctor’s orders 1 have to. lay up for a week. I hope to he back at work by that time or sooner if possible. •\ Kovalesbi,-—' The roads und?r my control are dn good order with the exception of Kaipoi Hoad, which is in rat:icr a bad state. About 25yds. of metal would be required to put it in fair order. Mr Walker has offered to do the work if the Council will provide the metal. Six 9iu. concrete pipes have been put down in Salis•nry Road in front of my property. Hand-breaking of the 50yds. of bonfdjis on Croydon Road East will be completed in a few days. We have about hall the stone out on the Midnrst .crushing site. In consequence yf the few floods within the past twelve months there is a scarcity of stone, which makes it necessary to work a longer stretch of the river to i;et the required amount. S. Parker.—All. ; the roads are in •S°«d order. I have remetallcd nine

:iin;ins- 'on Mountain Road and 2 5 ■liains on the upp v , ,i i-e-d. ( put in ;i small cidv.-M on the V. in- ! 4«*ove. Hoad. .Mr !seddy i. «utii*,,.? ■OUIU .nf the i v. out fli(>)•(•. .JO.mt tu'o c-;i:ii.'i> ol trees >vl• i• •j: keep ti.o road wet. He say' «;«• >..;.,t ; j willin.o--’v give so me tii in- Hoards ,5. upkeep of the road if ihr js allowed to stand. He uvuU cal ail overhanging iiram 'ms. The road is now in good hi. Roberts.—The whole of unroads under my control are in good ) irder. During tin; early part of the I

month most of out 1 time was spent in attending to the unmctalled roads, all of which arc now in good order. There Is still a considerable amount, of the Toko Road to bo water-tabled and crowned up, but, as the Weather continued iinP t\lid the water in the Staudish Road drain was low, it gave uS an opportunity to do the necessary work to them. This work is in progress, according to the engineer’s instructions. During the ensuing months if weather permits I hope to finish the Staudish Road drains and also the remaining portion of the Toko Road. I was absent from work last month for sis days on business in Wellington. Re residence; Owing to the house I was living in at Toko being required by the owner I was compelled to move. Thei‘e was only one house in Toko vacant at the lime which I could Hot see my way clear to take, for reasons which I would rather not make public;' but if the Council will appoint a committee to inquire I will be only too happy to give my reasons for moving. It is very inconvenient not having a permanent residence.

F. C. Gatton.—Most of the time last month has been put in ou the main road, water-tabling, opening up culverts, clearing small slips and hacking up metal. Ou Gordon Road a rotten culvert broke in and has been replaced with pipes. Owing to the dry spell during the past live or six weeks the New Kopua Road is standing fairly well.' All the roads are in fair order. There has been very little maintenance metal used so far this year. P. Hancock.—Akanni Road : The Government is carting heavy logs for tunnel on this road, which is cutting it up. It is in as bad a state as it was before, so that it will soon be impassable. Mohakau Road: I have cleaned out the water-tables and fixed it up generally. I have a few culverts to put in as some are buried and rotten. I will replace them with the best of the timber from the bridges I re-decked a few weeks ago. Douglas Road North: I have started putting this road in order up to the Waitara River. Makuri Road, East and West: These roads are getting in order now. With the milk traffic they should soon lie all right with a little attention at times. R. Robinson.—Finnerty Road : As authorised, I renewed a wooden culvert with a 12in. pipe. Brooks and Brecon Road junction 1 : There is a very sharp angle here. Would the Council allow me to widen it? r lho cost

would be about five or six pounds. Waingoi’goro Road: The north end of tin's road from Mr McFadgen’s gate to Mr David's, about forty or fifty chains is completely worn out. Would the Council allow me to get ;t remetalled' this summer? ' Sur ; :.i?.eman Lofor th wotdd like another tank for his house, as one is not enough. Mr Sattler' wants to know if tin* Council will' Allow him to use a guard fence on Opunake Road as his tenet. He says ho will shift it back to tho uiilb'.v.i and pit it in good order. J I wo.ikl suggest that, he bo allowed to do so, for the fence wants either renewing.or removing, as'it is in a bad state,bf repair. Mr H. Phillips’ men ha ve been hording cattle-on the roads. On Aiigust loth they had fifteen and on the- 17th another large moo on the Ronald Road, and on the IStli they had 98 on Hastings Road. It ts useless to try to keep the water cables clear while this is going on. Manga-whero-iti bridge: Who has the control of this bridge? It is just on the boundary of the Eltham and Stratford Counties. It is very neglected—there is out four inches of silt on it, which will soon rot the deck planks. Following is a list of those who have not finished cutting their trees back: Mr C. Waite, Opunake Road, Rowan: He has ent some. The trees are on the south side of the road and the branches are overhanging • the road line about teu or twelve feet. The under branches should he cut away so that anybody might ride under the trees. The trees do not shade the road. Mr F. Freathey, Opunake Road, Cardiff: His trees are on the north side of the road. They should be cut back to the twelve feet, as they shade the road very much. He has cut some. Mr Malone, Opunake Road: His tress arc on the south side of the road and do not shade the road, but the under branches arc in the way when we are taking clay from the top of the cutting. A hedge and (I think) one row of his trees arc over the road line.

J. Savage.—During the month I have been patching and hanking metal on the Mangotuku and Tututawa Roads and also taking off sharp turns. The surfaceman at Puniwliakan has finished widening the road whore it had slipped away near McMillan’s footbridge and is now raking up loose metal, blinding metal and clearing water-tables on Mangaelm Road. Mr Wood ims not cut down his trees yet, but I saw him to-day and ho said ho would clear them. They are on the south side of the road and do not keep the suu off it, but they overhang the road.