TARANAKI COUNTY ROADS

Taranaki Daily News, 4 February 1930, Page 4

TARANAKI COUNTY ROADS

meeting of the council A T WEIR IN WAIWAKAIHO RIVER. FOOTPATH TO THE SHOWGROUNDS. The monthly meeting of the Taranaki County Council was held in New Plymouth yesterday. Present; Crs. J. Connett (chairman), W. Hall, W. Cartwright, R. Wood, L. Carey and W. Thomas. It was estimated that the reconstruction work at the VVaiwakaiho weir would cost in the vicinity of £4OOO, stated the chairman, who had interviewed the engineer of the Main Highways Board at Wellington. -The Government would subsidise at the rate of £3 for £l, -which Mr. Connett considered very satisfactory. . This’ meant the county and borough would divide equally in the payment of £lOOO. The scheme entailed taking off the top block of the weir to reduce the fall of the water. On the advice of Mr. Palmer, the county consulting engineer. who had gone into the matter, a proposal to construct a protective mat of' concrete over the blocks had been abandoned as the mat would cause an. extra; fall of water and consequent erosion of the shingle bed. Plana were being prepared. As the work was urgent the Main Highways Board had agreed to day labour instead of - the calling of tenders, which would take time. Work would begin on Monday and would probably extend over three or four months. With’ regard to the suggested footpath along' the Main North Road from the .Wai.wakaiho bridge, Fitzroy, to the A. and .P. .Society’s showgrounds, the chairman reported that the Taranaki Acid and Fertiliser Works Company had agreed to donate towards the forming of a path carried as far ae its property on the following terms: £75 if the path were .put on the company’s side of the road; £5O if placed on the opposite side. The A. and P. Society, it was hoped, ’ would give £5O. Other bodies would be approached for contributions. The cost of a path to the showgrounds would be £2OB and to Smart Road £67. The chairman and riding members were authorised to deal with the matter. An inspection of the Te Arei Road, with a view to completing the metalling, had been promised for January of last year, wrote two ratepayers of Huirangi. They asked df it would be possible to have this work done before the winter, as the road at that season was almost The county overseer and the Public Works Department engineer had inspected the road, the latter being impressed by the necessity of the work. He had stated he would report favourably to his department in the matter. The Egmont County Council advised that it consented to the metalling pf the Lower Puniho Road, as proposed by th'e Taranaki County Council. Mr. N. Berridge, Omata, asked the council to reconsider its decision, by which it declined to allow his fence to be moved. High fern and blackberry was a menace. Permission was again declined.

Sympathy with Mr, 11. Jeffery, a council employee, in the death of his wife was expressed, Mr. Brown, Baker Road, is to be requested to clear all noxious weeds from the frontage of his property. The Union Road metalling is .to be expedited as much as possible, The tender of Mr. M. Putt was accepted for the construction work at the approaches of the Stony River bridge. REPORT OF COUNTY OVERSEER. The overseer (Mr. G. Meredith) reported that during January the rotary crusher had been worked ten days at the Sentry Hill pit crushing 73d yards of metal, which was delivered as follows:- 700 yards spread on the Richmond Road (loan work); Te Arei Road, 4 yards; Corbett Road, 4 yards; Manutahi Road, 4 yards; 28 yards delivered to Mr. Williamson on the Richmond Road. In the Mangorei riding the construe-

tion work on the first mile of the New Plymouth-Kaimata highway had been completed and approximately 25 chains had been done on the second mile. The earthwork on the third and fourth miles was- proceeding ae weather permitted. The improvements to Ashman’s Corner, on the Korito Road, had been carried out with the exception of the metalling, which would be done as soon as the lorries were available. A serious washout took place on the Upper Alfred Road early in the month about 30 chains above the Waiwakaiho bridge. About two chains of the road was completely washed away. A temporary road had been made Mr. Reeve’s and Mr. Baker’s sections. The surfacemen had been engaged with the usual repair work. The metalling on the Richmond Road (loan work) in the Waitara riding had been completed with the exception of the rolling and blinding. Grading had been done on the Corbett Road. A start had been made with the metalling on the Te Arei Road. When completed the. crusher would be shifted to the Mountain Road, Waiongona, and a start would be made with the construction work - south of Lepperton. The Mangapapa culvert on the Mountain Road was .practically completed. The surfacemen had been attending to water tables, metal patching and blinding the various roads in their lengths. Surfacemen in the Omata riding had been engaged meta) patching, cleaning water '.tables, banking and blinding on the 'various roads in their lengths. A considerable amount of metal patching had been done on the Frankley Road above ’the Hurworth Road intersection. The engineer had inspected the Omata hill with a view to improving the b.M bend at the foot of the hill on the north side. He estimated that to reconstruct’ this would cost approximately £l4O. With-regard to the Weld Road metalling in the Okato riding the overseer said the .wet weather during the month prevented tlje contractor completing the earthwork, but about two days would allow completion. The crusher was ready and a start would be made with the metalling immediately. The asphalt on the main road had been blinded with fine shingle where necessary and banked in places. The surfacemen had been engaged with the usual miscellaneous repairs on most of the roads in the riding. EXTRA WORK AT KAIHIHI BRIDGE The costs of extra work on the Kaihihi bridge totalled £223 15s, reported the county clerk (Mr. R. Ellis). Addi-

tional excavations below water level cost £43 15s for 35 cubic yards for foundations; additional concreting cost £157 10s, and hire of power pump and cartage £22 10s. As requested by the members for the Okato riding, Mn Ellis-made the following return for highway, constructional works in the riding with estimated cost and actual amount expended (deviations or approaches are included in the first four works'): — Stony River bridge, £3175. Timaru Hill. —Estimated cost £2llO 13s 6d; expended £l3Ol 19s Id. Stony River bridge. —Estimated cost, £3715; expended, £2047 18s. Katikara bridge. —Estimated cost, £6075; expended, £2984 3s 7d. Kaihihi bridge. —Estimated cost, £1268; expended, £1405 He. Saunders Road. —Estimated cost, £1166 13s 9d; expended, £lOOO Ils lOd. Dealing- with county finances, Mr. Ellis stated £21,962 3s JJd had been banked. The bank balance was .£5186 14s 2d in credit. Mr. F. Swindells (sanitary inspector) reported nine cases of infectious disease had. been notified, including six of pneumonia, and one each of diphtheria, tuberculosis and encephalitis lethargica. Sanitary inspections included: Habitations 23, food sellers’ premises. 12, plumbing and drainage 14, offensive trades 4, dairies 6. Five cemeteries and two camp sites had also been visited. Dogs numbering 083 had been registered during January, reported the county inspector (Mr. R. Aroa). Dog tax collected totalled £99 19s, motor drivers’ licenses £1 15s, and driving fees 4s. ..