THE NORTHERN OUTFALL.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVI, Issue 14912, 3 December 1912, Page 2

THE NORTHERN OUTFALL.

PROGRESS OF THE WORK. PIPES BEING LAID. Excellent progress i s being made- with the work in connection witli the northern drainage out tali. For a time only two gangs of men were.available for the tunnel work, but three are now_at work again, and there only remains about lGQfb of rock to cut through in order to complete the tunnel. The work which remains to bo done is right in the centre of the Mil through which tli9 tunnel passes, and as the men engaged are a first class lot, it should not be long before the work is finished. Mi- Buell is getting on well with the manufacture of the Monier pipes, having met with no difficulty from start to finish. Tho engineer in charge, however (Mr R. S. Logan), has found it necessary to condemn two or three of. tho pipes made —not that he thought they were not sufficiently strong, but because he detected a slight weakness, and he would only accept pipes with which no fault of any sort could bs j found. Over 500 pipes are now made, I and a start has been made with laying them from the beach at Dashing Rocks. About 250 ft of pipes have been laid. Opening the trench for these pipes was the. most disagreeable work of the whole job. so far. Where the pipes have been laid is all made-no soil, and when the trench was opened up the stench was almost unendurable. This is'part of the freezing works ground, which has been | used for 'years in the manufacture of I manure, and the "soil" consists of a! mixture of horns, hoofs, wool, wire, old { tins of all descriptions, ashes, clay, and decaying rubbish of all descriptions. It j was most difficult to open a trench owing to the tangled mass of wire and tins, and when it was opened the material -worked in was so loose that sides had to be timbered from top to bottom in order to keep a clean space to get tlie pipes down, and for a short distance, concrete ha s had to be spread in the bottom to make a solid resting place for the pipes. The treacherous ground is now all opened lip and no further difficulties are apprehended. There is a small creek to cross, but if a good bottom cannot be got there, the pipes will be put on piles. It is in-oposed today all the pipe s from the beach to the town end of the tunnel, and to do the outfall across the, beach and into the sea, last.