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Four shingle washing and screening plants have been installed at suitable points along the formation to supply aggregates for concrete work. Since construction in concrete is such an important feature of the railway, the latest equipment has been obtained for its manufacture and placing. Electric, pneumatic, and petrol-driven vibrators are employed to make strong and durable concrete. The use of vibrators and the frequent tests made of concrete and aggregates have resulted in a high-quality product concurrently with a reduction in the quantity of cement that could not have been obtained otherwise. The major remaining works to be constructed comprise 12 bridges, 170 culverts, and 2 comparatively short tunnels. A number of the bridges will be of reinforced concrete, a new departure for railway bridges. The chief operations in progress are as follows : — Cascade Creek Bridge (8 m. 79 ch. to 9m. 6 ch.) : Erection of the five 80 ft. steel-plate girder spans and the 40 ft. span comprising the superstructure is complete. The bridge is of special design because of the sharp curvature of the railway here. Before erection it was necessary to thoroughly sand-blast and paint the steelwork. Redmond Creek Bridge (11 m. 39 ch. to 11 m. 43 ch.) : This is a reinforced-concrete bridge consisting of three 40 ft. girder spans and an 85 ft. arch span with a rise of 48 ft. Abutments, piers, and footings and two girder spans are complete, and falsework has been built for the arch and remaining girder span. Tunnel at 13 m. 25-8 ch. to 13 m. 28-2 ch. (2-4 ch. long) : If ch. of the bottom heading of this tunnel has been excavated. Tunnel at 13 m. 41 ch. to 13 m. 54 ch. (13 ch. long) : The bottom heading and 10f ch. of the full excavation are finished, and the tunnel has been lined with concrete for a length of 5! ch. Stable Creek Bridge (15 m. 47-5 ch. to 15 m. 54 ch.) : The bridge is of reinforced-concrete design, comprising ten 40 ft. and one 20 ft. girder spans, with a maximum height of 60 ft. above foundations. One pier has been completed, and two more are under way. This bridge consists of six 100 ft., one 45 ft., and one 30 ft. steel-plate girder spans with concrete abutments and five reinforced-concrete cylinder piers. Buller River Bridge (60 m. 16 ch. to 60 m. 27 ch.) : Construction of the piers has proceeded during the year. Three piers have been completed, two of them in the river-channel, where the greatest danger from floods was anticipated. The cylinders for two other piers have been sunk to rock bottom, and the cylinders for the two remaining piers will be completed shortly. The first steel-girder span has been delivered at the bridge site from the Hillside Railway Workshops. Inangahua River Bridge (57 m. 17 ch. to 57 m. 26 ch.) : The nine 60 ft. steel-plate girder spans have arrived from the Hutt Railway Workshops. The spans are being riveted-up near the Buller Bridge, where a steel-yard with suitable equipment has been established. After riveting each span, weighing 24 tons, it is loaded on to a motor-lorry and trailer and transported along the completed formation to the bridge-site, where it is hoisted into its final position by means of gantries. The first two spans have been completed and placed on the piers. Culverts and Water-drives : One 12 ft. by 12 ft., one 9 ft. by 9 ft., one 7 ft. by 7 ft., and eight 3 ft. pipe culverts, and one water-drive are complete ; three culverts and two water-drives are in progress. Work on bridges and culverts has been hampered to some extent through lack of skilled tradesmen, but this difficulty has been overcome, and construction is proceeding more rapidly than in the earlier stages.

IRRIGATION. CENTRAL OTAGO. Operation and Maintenance op Irrigation Schemes. During the year a new area of 3,000 acres, known as the Dunstan Scheme, was brought into operation. This scheme will be operated as portion of the Omakau Scheme and the water supplied on the day-head basis on demand. The total area of schemes operating on the acreage basis under irrigation agreements is 44,165 acres, and the area actually irrigated was 42.264 acres, the balance, 1,901 acres, being the area to which water was refused on account of non-payment of rates. The area irrigated represents an increase of 2,935 acres over that of the previous season. In addition, the Omakau Scheme, which commands 13,400 acres over which water is supplied on the demand basis, provided irrigation water to 7,000 acres, or an increase of 1,700 acres over the previous season. The sales of water represented 10,380 acre-feet. The season was a very dry one, and the sales of water were the highest yet recorded. The total area commanded by all of the Otago schemes is now 63,000 acres.

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