WAIPA COUNTY WORKS

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 72, Issue 6241, 12 June 1946, Page 6

WAIPA COUNTY WORKS

ANNUAL REVIEW BY ENGINEER MANY ACTIVITIES DEALT WITH The engineer (Mr W. G. Macky) presented the following annua! report to yesterday’s meeting of the Waipa County Council:— Works Expenditure: (a) Loan, main highways roads and bridges £1329, Hamilton-Raglan main highway £446, Maeroa water £44, total £lBl9. (b) Revenue on roads: Highways maintenance £4395, re-seal £356, construction £l7l, total £4922; main roads: maintenance £3750, back pay £BB, holidays £1036, miscellaneous £341, total £5215. (Bridges: Maintenance £B7. Ridings: Maintenance £8059, construction £3962, total £12,021; grand total (a) and (b) £22,245. (c) Miscellaneous works: Sundry private works £2273, metal and shingle dumps £2899, total £5172. (d) drainage areas £437. Total works expenditure, £29,673. Subsidies earned: Main Highways Board £5030, P.W.D. grants £3302, sundry private works £2461, main road credi'V £5OO, riding credits £354, metal and shingle £3362, total £15,009; grand total, £14,664. Net expenditure: Loan £487, revenue £14,177.

The gross works expenditure shows an increase of £5573 over that of the previous year, but the net expenditure on works out of revenue shows a reduction of £llOO as compared with 1944-45. This is brought about by the increased expenditure on Government grants and also on metalling work done on behalf of the Department. The total expenditure on grant works and metalling for the Works Department was £5lOO. The total wages for 1945-46 was £13,023 as compared with £10,614 for 1944-45 and £9344 for 1943-44. The estimated wages bill was £12,900. Plant hire showed a substantial increase from £10,945 to The increase in tength of surfaced roads during the year was 2§ miles, and in addition to this the Council will on completion of the re-metal-ling be responsible for maintenance of 6i miles of roads in the Ellicott and Wharepapa Blocks. Roads and Bridges Loan; The only work during the year was completion of Gibbon’s culvert on Te AwamutuCambridge main highway. Mai Highways Maintenance: Expenditure on ordinary maintenance showed an increase of £7OO, and an additional sum was expended on re-sealing part of Hamilton-Raglan main highway. Main Roads: Actual expenditure on main roads was £6O less than the previous year, and average cost per mile was £46. Bridges: Very minor repairs were effected to the timber bridges during the year. Ridings: Expenditure on maintenance showed an increase of £3OO over the previous year, but as reflected by Works Department grants construction expenditure in ridings amounted to £3662. Metal and Shingle Supplies: The value of metal and shingle stocks decreased slightly during the year, but at 31st March they were valued at £2877. During the year Mr Appelbe crushed 9800 cubic yards of shingle at Owairaka and hauled a further 1000 cubic yards of uncrushed shingle. Mr Short has also hauled a considerable quantity of shingle at Mr Onion’s duirip. Plant: The plant position has improved during the year in that we took delivery of the Galeon grader and two 3 cubic-yard trucks. The cost of plant running has again shown an increase in the case of trucks. The graders worked for 971 days at a daily running cost of £2 8s 2d. The corresponding figures for last year were 800 days and £2 13s 4d a day. The trucks worked for 1968 days, with a running cost of £1 10s lOd per day. For 1944-45 the days worked were 1626 and the running costs were £1 6s 7d. Tree Planting; A start was made last year with tree-planting in county reserves, and 4600 trees were planted at Puahue quarry and Kakepuku sand pit.

Staff: The staff position has been less acute during recent months, and we were able during the year to welcome back further members of the staff who had been op active service. The loyal co-operation of all has enabled the work of the county to be carried out smoothly and harmoniously. The assistance and consideration extended to the staff by the chairman and councillors during the year has been greatly appreciated. General; The past dry season has been a difficult one for unsealed roads and it was been almost impossible with the resources available to maintain a satisfactory surface on some of them. During the year considerable progress was made in the matter of widening the formation, which had narrowed considerably during the war years.