Fields Track

Wanganui Chronicle, 4 May 1949, Page 4

Fields Track

Sir,— Recently Fields Track and part of the Upper Whangaehu Valley Road have been top-dressed with so-called metal. Fortunately, the rain came before the job was half finished when the remetalled portion turned into a sea of slurry, making the road quite impassable Now, all the metal, costing presumably from £lOOO to £l5OO, has had to be graded off and recovered with what the undersigned hope will be a more satisfactory metal. We, the undersigned ratepayers, desire to know what the County Councillors intend to do about this loss. It is also desired to know who was responsible for the day-to-day supervision of the pit work and the loading of the eleven trucks used. It is also desired to know what experience in this class of work was possessed by the person placed in charge of this job. W. S. Dillon, J. C. Powell, A. D. Bartram, R. Hearn and Co., K. K. Donald per Donald Bros., W. Casey and A. G. Kennedy, G. C. Greaves per B. Greaves, V. C. Dillon. COUNTY CHAIRMAN’S REPLY. Sir, —I wish to thank you, Mr. Editor, for the opportunity to reply to what, in my opinion, is unfair and hasty criticism. This opinion is also shared by the representatives for the district, Councillors O'Neill and: Hine. At the oytset, Mr. Editor, I wish to state that no-one has yet found the ansWec to control the weather. As the sponsors of the letter desire to know what the Countv Councillors intend to do about a so-called “loss," I will endeavour to explain the facts of the case.

The council had a big metalling pro gramme on hand prior to starting on this job. Metalling work on this area commenced on April 4, and because o. very abnormal weather conditions for April the success of the work was hampered. The metal, which was ob tained from the only suitable pit in the district, has been used for many years. The top half of the metal face is a light grit, but if given favourable weather conditions for compaction, makes a satisfactory road surface. The pit has been operated to achieve the best advantage by utilising the top grit for the first coat on the read, and then apply the coarser and cleaner grit at the bottom of the pit for the final surface. Unfortunately heavy rain set in prior to compaction, and it was deemed necessary to grade the grit to tli> side of the road to enab'e traffic to pass, and when the weather was favourable to grade it back on to the road and then cover it with the cleaner grit. The grit is now being graded back on to the road and there will be very little that will not be recovered. To say that so much money has been wasted is a gross exaggeration.

The coarser grit is now being carted on to the road, and under present favourable weather conditions the roads will soon be restored and improved, but the work can only be ~roeeeded with while the fine weather lasts, and will cease when the next break occurs

Regarding the experience of the person placed in charge of the work, I wish to state that out of 17 working days up to the end of April, there were six days when no work was done, and during this period the county engineer has spent practica’ty all of eight days on the job, and in addition the county foreman has been up on the job on se zeral occasions. Residents of the district are well aware of the council’s difficulty in obtaining suitable metal, and surely should apprecaite that it is necessary to make use of the best available material handy to the area. It could perhaps be claimed that the job nas late in being started, but if norma' April weather condit'ons had obtained, this trouble would not have arisen. However, I feel that it would have been a more grace ul and courteou - act had the complaint been referred tn the riding members and a little more patience exerc’sed, -nd not so much haste to rush into print.—l am, etc., A. H. COIJ INS, Chairman, Wancat ui County Council.