West Australian (Perth, WA : 1879 - 1954), Tuesday 2 August 1927, page 14


MUNICIPAL WORKS.

CITY COUNCIL ACTIVITY. Tour of Inspection.

The Mayor (Mr. J.T. Franklin) and tbe chairman (Cr. Holland) and members of the works committee of the Perth City Council od Friday accompanied the

city engineer tUr.H.G. At well) and the assistant-engineer (Mr. R. A. ? Oldham) or- a tour-'of inspection of works being carried out under*' the direction of' the 'city * engineer. ; - v The first place visited was Albany-rond, Victoria Park, where, a new slab path was viewed. The sum of- £1,000 itas been allowed for the re-surfacing of the paths from the Causeway, to Mint-street, and it was suggested that a cheap type of Klab should be used instead of tar toppings. The portion ? already re-surfaced with slabs between Colombo and Geddes streets, cost 8s. a square yard, ' the total cost at that rate of similarly treating the distance provided for being approximately £4,000. The slabs! used are wha: are 'known as sinfle-sided. First-class ,or double-sided 'slabs cost about Is. 3d. extra, but even if these were employed, the city engineer pointed out, the cost would only about equal that of the gravel-tar paths now laid down, when the cost of maintenance of the latter was taken into consideration. A portion of the contract recently lei to Thomas Bros, for thev construction of gravel sub-grade, over the whole of the unmade section of, Horden-street. was examined. Before the roads so treated are opened up, the department will surface them with bituminous macadam. The total of the contract is £3.838. The party then proceeded to tbe municipal yard passing through Mint, Duncan and Hale streets en. route. Mintkreet has been reconstructed and awaits a bituminous surface to be put on at. tbs beginning of summer a£ a total estimated cost of £2,520. The road is 20ft. wide and the kerbs have- been- kept down so that traffic may mount them^in. case of emergency. Duncan-street was top dressed with diorite and light 'penetration bituminous mncadam during- tlie year at a cost7 of approximately £700. In Haystreet, tar paths are being- provided on either side and the kerb replaced at a cost of £185. . , -Tha Mnidial Yard.

In the municipal yard the new .weigh-ridge , was - examined. This ' bridge iras converted from .a ten-top to i 20-ton bridge. The cost was £200. The cost of a new 20-ton» bridge, nrould have been £1,000. Money was wovided on the recent estimates' for wo new bitumen iieaters similar' to :he latest two acquired, to proride bitumen, for- tbe new bituminous concrete plant. ,' ? ? , . ? The b.tuminous concrete plant, in course of construction was seen. The engineer explained that this will extend from the- bins .to the bitumen headers with a through-way, so that the trucks loading the material will encircle the existing mixing sheds, go under the plant load up, ' and then straight out of the irard gate. This t feature is an improvement on the Eauteru States n'nnts. The new plant should beat hand about this middle- of August and will be orected before the end of September. Portion 'of the elevated material bins, ?which' will save a tremendous amount of tsho^elling work at present goingon jn the yard, was ilso indicated. The bins will increase the efficiency of the motoT.vehiclcs by' approximately- 10 per. cent bj leKnening the time they are standing idle while being loaded. Four of. these bins will be installed with a capacity of 400 tons. The new siding, an essential portion of the elevated. 14n Bcheme. was alx» seen, the party being informed that «nee its construction it had been possible to accommodate 40 per cent, more trucks ' Other points oHnteresf visited iueluded the garage. The existing garage' will hold approximately twelve vehicles. The Department uses 35 vehicles, including 23 trucks. During the night, at present, the trucks are standing in the weather, ?nd' form a line from the wood-blotfang shed to the south fence. A tender of £3,000 was recently let for the erection of adequate garages in- the new. yard. The slab-making shed was lfaned by the* electricity and gas -department as a temporary expedient two years ago. Plans and specifications hare beefi drawn up preparatory to calling tenders for the erection of a new slab-making shod east of the existing shed. The' proposals will involve* the extension of the railway siding, the estimates. for which are now in the hands of the Railway Department. The new shed will, be equipped with an over-head, trolley system,, which will pick up - the concrete and- distribute it when making the stabs and then take tne made slab and transport it to the storage area and finally haul it over, to the transport vehicle in the cart dock. In the existing system of slab making, 'improvement.-! noted were the new type of mould giving a bevelled edge to the slab; the cheap type of slab made of. sand and. cemeat with a half inch layer of granolithic: and the experiments with, colouring matter. It was stated that about 130 slabs were turned out in. a day. but with the new shed and better equipment, it was expected that up to 200 would be produced. N*w stables were erected about sis months ago. It is proposed to place the n«w garage between the stables and Moore-street, leaving a 20ft. roadway in between. The construction of the northern, wall of the sta Was -will allow of conversion into a garage is necessary. Rattf BaiMiai.

Leaving the municipal yard, the party proceeded to the following ? Stirling-street.— The engineer drew attention to tbe level of a newly-erected shop on the east side.- The door, he said was approximately lfiin. beilow the proper level. Loan money had been provided fov the re-construction of Stirling-street, part of the work being the raising of the eastern kerb to obviate the present excessive crocs-fall. '? However, the shop which was the only obstacle in the 17chain section, was a grave difficulty, which could have been avoided. Harold-street.— This street is to here-surfaced with bituminous macadam at a cost of £1,567. The section between Stirling and Beaufort streets was found to be in a very bad condition, in places not more than 3in. of road material being evident. ? ! . ? Joel-terrace. — Continuous trouble has been# given for years by the scouring of the approaches to the bridge. The section, however, has been reconstructed, the grades being improved and kerbs provided which, when the road is surfaced with biuminous macadam, will obviate the trouble. The engineer suggested that the bridge should be replaced by a bank and culvert, which would do away with bridge maintenance and provide a tip for old material. . ? Bulwer-street. — After continuous delays for about IS months, the tramline has been re-laid and work has' been commenced upon the road re-construction. When- completed, during the - following summer, this road wlK give a first class running surface from Smith-street right through to Vincent-street. ? ? ' I'almerston-street. — T%is street is being reconstructed at a cost of £2,360. This section, the engineer -said, afforde-1 a good example of the very unsatisfactory condition of the old subgrades in some ot* our principal streets, approximately 90 per cent. 'having. to be completely remade. Fitzgerald-street.— The section between Newcastle and Bulwer streets has been re-formed and now awaits the summer bituminous programme. Work is iiow-soing ahead on the section from 'New-castle to Vincent streets, the total- cost being £40,030. When completed a first class surface will be provided right through from Kewcastle-strcct to Walcott-strect. .Loftus-street. Loftus-street. — This street will be constructed at a cost of £8,281. Work has been commenced upon the worst section — Vincent-street to Anzac-road. The subgrade will be properly graded and kerbs provided. The houses on the east side are, in some places, throe feet below th« road level. The engineer pointed out that that was most unfortunate. If the fences had been kept. up to the road leveii no inconveniences would .have been caused to the house-holders and tbe future footpath would have prevented flooding their houses by stormwater. His department proposed to place before the council a stormwater drainage scheme for the catchment lying between Marian and Richmond streets. From plans prepared to date it had been proved impossible to drain 'the lower part of Bourkestreet lying east of Loftus-street, because the land was so low-lying that it could not be drained into the ?Government storciwater main through Smith's lake. It was unfortunate that permission wax granted for buildings in that section. Woolwich -street. — Steady progress is being made in the reconstruction of this street. A new roadway has been placed on either side of the tram track, allowing a safety area for both-way traffic. Cambridge-street.'— The estimated cost of work in this street is £7,128. The rats of progress on the sub-grade is being timed so that the road will be ready for surfacing with, bitumen during (December.

Murray-street. — The engineer- pointed out that in attending to the section between Havelock and Milligan streets it had been necessary 'to rectify a verv bad j mistake of the past. It was discovered ' that - one side of the, road was two feelower than the other 'side and the lower ' side was being raised accordingly. It was anticipated that large buildings wou£d bu erected in that section' during the next d-* cade. They would be 'put up on the easi side to the new road' level. If the £5,750 had been spent upon surfacing a road with the old contour the mistakes of the past would probably 'have never been rectified. About £12,000 is being spent upon the wood blocking of the section between William and Milligan streets. This work had been delayed during the past three weeks by the activities of the Water Supply Department: ' : ' ?