27

C—s

Pukearuhc Inland. —Nearly six miles of the road running up the Mimi Valley from the Main North Road near the Mimi Bridge has been let in ten contracts, the work including bush-felling 1 chain 'vpde, clearing and stumping a 16ft. track in the centre, and grading, forming, culverting, and bridging a 15ft. roadway. At 5-J miles the road reaches a large block of Crown lands, some of which is of excellent character, and will be available, for settlement purposes. Up to the Crown lands the road runs through Native lands which have been Crown-granted, and will now be available for settlement. The road will be a very good one, the grades being easy, and first-class gravel is obtainable at fair working-distances. The present contracts will probably be completed by about November next. Cost, £174. Junction Road, Huiroa District. —The only w7ork done on this road during the year was the completion of contracts for formation of road between Oapui and Mataro Roads in progress on the 30th June, 1889 ; the removal of slips, which fell across and blocked up some of the hilly parts of the road ; and the screwing-up and painting the Tarata Bridge prior to handing it over to the County Council. Cost, £220. Tourist Track to Mount Egmont. —Over 4 miles of the continuation of the Egmont Road, Egmont District, through the Mount Egmont Forest Reserve, has been felled half a chain wide, and a bridle-track cleared 9ft. wide, and about 5 chains of swamp has been drained, formed, and metalled. There is now a- good summer-driving road to the forest reserve line (14 miles from New Plymouth), and a good bridle-road the remaining 4 miles to a small clearing where tourists usually camp, enabling the tourist to ride to an elevation of over 3,200ft., from whence the ascent to the summit of Mount Egmont is usually made in three hours. A large iron hut, divided into rooms, will probably be erected at this point before next summer for the convenience of tourists. A large number ascend annually by this route (some seasons over 300), and the number will probably increase as greater facilities and conveniences are afforded. Cost, £86 7s. 6d. Warea to East Road, Cape District. —This road has been felled 1 chain wide, and a eartway stumped and cleared 12ft. wide, from the open land to the junction of this road with the Newall Road, a distance of 129 chains. The local Road Board is now culverting and grading the road out of deferred-payment thirds, and it will soon be available for traffic. Cost, £64 19s. 9d. East and Wawiri Roads, Ngaere District. —About 94 chains of the East Eoad, from the Ahuroa Eoad to the Gordon Road, and 73 chains of the Wawiri Road, have been felled 1 chain wide, and a cart-road stumped and cleared 12ft. A\ 7ide in the centre. This work is the commencement of opening up the block of Crown lands recently sold in the Ngaere, Huiroa, and Ngatimaru Survey Districts, containing oy7er 6,000 acres. The East Eoad also leads through the Toko and Huiakama Blocks to large areas of Crown lands in the Mangaere and Mangaotuku Blocks, much of which is suitable for settlement purposes. Its improvement should therefore (apart from|its importance as a future main road to Auckland) be pushed forward as rapidly as possible to open up these blocks for settlement purposes. Cost, £100 15s. 3d. Eltham Boad, Kaupokonui District. —A cart-bridge has been erected over the Otakeho Stream, in Block X., Kaupokonui. The bridge is of a total length of 83ft. 6in., in three spans, the centre oiie being 55ft. It is built of heartwood of totara and maire, on concrete piers, and will prove to be one of the most durable bridges erected in the district. A bridge over the Mangawhero-iti is in progress (the Hawera County Council contributing part of the cost), and will be completed about September. It will be 91ft. in total length, divided into three spans, the centre one being 50ft. It will be constructed entirely of heartwood of totara and maire, and will rest on concrete piers. Cost, £423 ss. 6d. Botokare and Branch Roads, and Boads inland of Mokoia, in the Ngaere and Hawera Survey Districts. —Over 12! miles of the Rotokare, Whareroa, Makino, Morea, and Meremere Roads have been felled 1 chain wide, and a cart-road grubbed and cleared in the centre 12ft. wide. This work opens up 9,600 acres, and leads to over 7,000 acres of land in the Ngaere, Hawera, and Opaku Districts. Cost, £653 19s. Id. The total cost of the various works for the year, including supervision, &c, Avas £2,203 3s. 6d., and the contracts w7ere thirty-two in number. The works in hand include seven contracts on the Mimi Road (a further contract for bridgeAvork is now7 ready for letting), one contract —earthwork—at Mokau, and the erection of a bridge on the Eltham Eoad. The works enumerated herein have (as for several years past) been in charge of Mr. G. F. Robinson. Sidney Weetman, Chief Surveyor.

Statement showing Road-work performed by Local Bodies out of Deferred-payment and Perpetual-lease Thirds and Small Grazing-run Fourths for the Year ending 30th June, 1890.

Nature of Work. Length in Miles. Number. few metalling .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. I 3| laintenanee of metal (part of cost)* .. .. .. .. .. ,. | 158 load formation, improving, draining, &c. .. .. .. .. .. .. 30J load felling .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 2 few bridges (part of cost) t .• •■ ■• •• •• .- .. .. 2 * Towards this only £22 4s. has been contributed from deferred-payment funds ) r,, ■, , , , „ ~.~ i. £163 Hi * -j-j-0\\aras a TOiiai cost OT i4yy.