RESTORATION WORK

Taranaki Daily News, 25 February 1935, Page 9

RESTORATION WORK

PROBLEM FOR COUNTIES EMPLOYMENT FOR HUNDREDS. MANY ROADWAYS DEVASTATED. GENERAL SURVEY OF POSITION. There is perhaps only one bright feature of the story of the floods. Hundreds of unemployed will find full time employment for a time bn the extensive road repairs that will be necessary in the three counties most gravely affected —Taranaki, Inglewood and Hawera. In every instance it will be necessary for the local bodies to seek financial assistance from the Government to carry out even the immediately essential work. Probably Taranaki has suffered most of all the counties. An inspection was made yesterday by the chairman, Mr. S. Vickers, other councillors and the county engineer. They returned late last night with information that it will take them many hours ’to classify and order for a special meeting of the council to be held this morning. The Kent Road washout has removed 9000 yards of filling that must be replaced.- The Waiongona bridge must be replaced completely. The new Carrington Road extension has suffered extensive damage to embankments because the work was not yet consolidated by weather. The new portion has escaped more lightly than the work first done. In the meantime farmers in back areas served by the county roads are faced with a grave problem of getting their milk or cream to the factories, and so extensive is the damage throughout the area that it is not yet known when repairs will be complete, although county officials will do everything in their power to relieve the situation. Inglewood county is in much the same position. Strangely enough, roads coming within the direct jurisdiction of the Public Works Department have escaped with little or no serious damage, according to the district engineer, Mr. P. Keller. Intermittent water supply and a fulltime service of electric power have been restored at Waitara, where the damage to the waterworks was less than was at first thought. Mr. P. Keller visited Waitara on Saturday morning and inspected the bridge. There is no change in the condition of the structure and light traftic is allowed over the river at the owner’s risk. The spans that meet about 50 feet from the town end have dropped about 20 inches on the upstream side. The third attempt to get wires across the river to carry the high voltage current to the sub-station near the police station was successful early on Saturday morning, when Mr. Frank Clare and another workman brought the wires across in a boat, and the current was restored about midday.

SILT COVERS FARMS. HOKITIKA WITHOUT WATER. By Telegraph—Press Association. Greymouth, Last Night. Flood damage in the Arahura Valley is more severe than was at first reported. Several farms are deeply covered with silt and little pastur© mH be available, till next season. The Hokitika water s MM x-