BOROUOGH ROAD-MAKING.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2401, 16 January 1909, Page 6

BOROUOGH ROAD-MAKING.

THE METAL SUPPLY

SUITABLENESS OF WAXHIItEIU STONE.

Some fifteen months ago the ole idea of getting material from Wai hirero for the construction of Borough roads was 'brought prominently to the lore iby Air George 'Grant, C.E., tv Ik propounded a scheme for the construe tion of a tramway from Waihirere quarry to the AVaihirere railway’ si a tiou by 'which the stone from that lo cality could be brought to town. All Grant did not oiai.ni tliat the met a' was really first-class, ’but lie af.legei that much of it was better than som< of the Patutahi metal that is usee on our roads, mid that it could cer tainly he used with great advantag. for all but the main streets or tin town; and on these it - could be usee for the foundations, the road bom; finally topped off with Patutahi stone. The chief argument he used was tha

whereas, even >,t the exorbitant pric* the Borough was paying for Patutah stone, it could not obtain a sufficient quantity to make a substantial ini pressioii upon the thoroughfares imdcJ its jurisdiction, the supply of material from Waihirere would be am plo for ‘.nil requirements. Patutah metal -was costing about 13s a yard to bring to town and only about 3000 ti 4000 yards could be obtained per an mim, as the contractors could only cart iu fine weather. Even then the damage they did to the roads was very great. Such n limited supply was obviously of little use to a Council which needed at least four times the quantity to put the roads in anything like order. Mr Grant- clainpdl therefore that with 'Waihirere stone available in i, any quantity at any time of the venr at’a cost of*’ss 6d per yard landed in Gisborne, it was clearly to the advantage of the Borough to take up that scheme. -Amongst other advantages were the facts that the Council would own its own supply and t-lv> poorer class of stone could bo profit ably be used for footpath formation. The project was warmly endorsed by Air Harvey Gibbon, who was then Bo rough Engineer, and the Council took it tip to the extent- of making enquiries about the rights of using the quarries. Some legal difficulties then arose and caused a delay of several months. In the meantime Air W- D Lysiiiii’ ivjis elected uVlhvoi\ and slioitly after his election he visited War lurere, accompanied by a number o! Borough councillors. The party came hack unanimous in condemnation or AVaihirere stone, which was deci.ared to be utterly useless for road construction. A face of the hilt maicn liad been opened under Air Gaboon s directions was inspected, and the report circulated by the visitors on Uieir return was that the action of the weather had decomposed the material so that it- crumbled into sane at Tim least pressure. This killed the \\ aihirero project, and since that time the Council has continued along the old lines, getting as much metal from Patutahi as it could obtain, the quantity being so small as to have no appreciable effect on the roads A goon tie ail has been claimed for the Staakm waggon, but the most it-can can t n about nine yards a day, -and as n will only run about 100 days m i« year, the total quantity available under present conditions is quite inadequate for the requirements Oi, the Borough. The actual cost pei^jarq for delivery by the Strakei h. - nyet been computed, but it is a ',A . be less than that involved v.hcn horses and waggons were used. Some time back the Comity Co an m entered into negotiationss v. ftA tU Borough Council to supply ™ Patutahi metal brought h.Ji wiv to be constructed by the nnmLodv lb has undertaken to supply with at J-,t of metal -per annum foa throe . at a cost for freight of o» per tare.. This will mean about 8s per yaul, as the cost of the material delivered in Gisborne. However, the Coan fm the tramway has not yet been authorised. and it will bo some time yet before the first load .from Patutahi wnl come over the rails. Iln-> being he. ■present (position, it is interesting to note the finding of Mr Grant wnen, accompanied by Air Town ley ami A<r ]). McLeod, he visited .Waihirero on Thursday. ' A representative of the “Times” was also present and had an opportunity of verifying the points made bv Air Grant. -< lt- is true, said lie,* “'that some of the stone has decomposed with, the action of turn weather, but I have known all the time, and it must be apparent to anyone, that the quality hero is mixed. Some of the stone is comparatively soft, but some, is quite hard enough for road-making purposes. The poor 3 stuff has decomposed but the better quality is as sound as the day it was quarried. Aly contention is that there is enough good mctnl here to supply the Borough requirements very easily and it is still the best scheme available for making the Gisborne roads/” Air Grant's observations were amply borne out by the inspection made. A large proportion of the stone that has been blasted from the face of the hill is thoroughly sound, has, if anything, hardened as the result of exposure to the weather, and would obviously bo of great service in road construction. The Council has secured about 43 acres of the reserve and it seems certain that sooner or later a definite test will be made of the value to the Borough of the Waihirere quarries lor the- making of Gisborne roads.