XLIX

D.—2

Stores building : Assembled ready for erection ; concrete floor and platform, 90 per cent. done. Iron-rack : Steel frame and concrete walls erected, and concrete floor laid. Machine-shop : Steel frame erected ; floors ready to receive concrete. Blacksmiths' shop : Steel frame and all sashes erected, and 50 per cent, glazed sides and end sheeting completed, and 50 per cent, of concrete walls ; all sarking and half of roofing-material laid ; floorfilling completed. Woodmill: Steel frame, concrete walls, and sarking and sashes erected ; glazing to do, side-sheeting completed, also 30 per cent, lead sheeting. Wheels and bogie shop : Completed, except for concrete floors, part of roofing and lavatory buildings, and office ; wagon-pits completed. Carpenters' shop : Completed except for 50 per cent, of concrete floors, 25 per cent, of sarking, 80 per cent, of roofing-material, lavatory, and office annexes. All wagon-pits are constructed. Trimmers' shop : Steel frame erected. Light plate and. structural shops : Steel frame erected and painted. Gantry erected, sashes erected, and 10 per cent, glazed, marking completed, half roofing laid, side sheeting completed, floor ready for concreting. Steel-wagon shop : Completed, including concrete floors and pits, except for lavatory and office annexes, asphalt floor, and portion of roofing. Wood-wagon shop : Completed, including concrete floors and pits, except for asphalt floor, 75 per cent, of roof glazing and one-third of roofing-material. Workshop Manager's office : Completed. Dining-rooms : Completed. Social hall : In hand ; foundations in. Midway gantry : Completed. Traverser-pit : Completed. All wagon-pits in the various shops have been completed. Electricjack pit, boiler-pit, and oil-tank pit completed. Coal, coke, and scrap bins half erected. Air-ducts completed. Water-tower : 20,000-gallon water-tower completed. Lavatory fixtures : Material coming to hand, and work begins shortly. All cranes for these shops are on order—viz., five 10-ton, six 5-ton, and three 2-ton. The traverser, 50 tons capacity, has just been landed. A considerable amount of the new machinery is on hand or on order. Most of that on hand is temporarily erected in old shops. The machinery position is as follows, in percentages : — In New Zealand. On Order. Yet to Order. Mill-shop .. .. .. ..50 10 40 Car-repair shop .. . . . . 60 30 10 Steel-plate shop .. .. . . 50 20 30 Steel-wagon shop .. .. . . 70 20 10 Wood-wagon shop . . .. .. 70 20 10 Machine-shop .. . . .. .. 90 5 5 Blacksmiths' shop .. .. . . 70 15 15 Power-house .. .. .. ..90 10 0 Reclaim department .. .. . . 60 30 10 Hutt Valley Workshops. In conjunction with the contractors' operations in the erection of the shops, the District Engineer is carrying out all platelaying and drainage works on the site, as well as earthwork filling required in the formation for the floors of shops. All sidings south of the midway are completely laid, and this portion represents about 80 per cent, of the platelaying. No ballasting has been done yet. The main storm-water and sewerage systems are completely laid, and most of the subsidiary drains are also laid. Earthwork filling is being brought in by work-train from a convenient face about a mile distant from the works. The formation for flooring in the stores and reclaim buildings is complete, and the bulk of that required in the machine and erecting shops has been placed. 16,000 cubic yards of filling have been placed to date. This is about 80 per cent, of the total filling required in the shops. Main-buildings contract : About 70 per cent, of the total steelwork has been erected. The steel frames of all buildings are completed, excepting the foundry, stores, and steel-wagons shops, and work on these shops has commenced. Steelwork erection is being followed by construction of concrete walling, sheeting, and glazing and by the laying of roof sarking, felting, and pitch-and-gravel covering. The yarious stages of completion for the various buildings is as shown below : — Power-house : Practically complete. Blacksmith's shop : This building is practically completed except for roofing. The pitch-and-gravel roof-covering has not yet been laid. Machinery-foundations have been laid. Locomotive erecting and machine shops : All steelwork in this building is completely erected and painted. Most of the concrete walling is complete, and a start has been made with the fixing of sheeting. The final pitch-and-gravel covering for the roof is put being on. Engine-pits in the erecting shop are completed, and formation for the concrete flooring is well advanced.

vii—D. 2.