through in the second year. I have already stated that as soon as the rock was reached and that I found it harder and more difficult to blast than I expected I reported the matter to the Consulting Engineers. No one can be certain in tunnel driving that will be met with from one day to another and I do not think it fair to criticise so severely the Estimates of a work for which no data can be obtained before-hand.
As regards comparing the first year's expenditure with the second years expenditure I think I showed very plainly in my Report of February 1908 that there were several charges booked against the work in 1907 which would not be the case in 1908.
It would be impossible without a very large accounting staff and also "costs clerks" to separate out and make a proper comparison that would bear minute scrutiny.
Very few contractors even keep such a staff. The clerks necessary for this sort of work would have to be imported and when it was done it would all depend on the ratio of the difficulty of heading driving on one year compared with another which ratio can only be given as a man's private opinion.
BRIDGES: The price of Gascoigne Road Bridge is increased for the following reasons over the original Estimates:
(a) It is much bigger. This was foreseen as regards masonry but not as regards the present rates paid to Messrs. Leigh and Orange.
(b) The iron work is more expensive not so much due to the fluctuation in price as to the dead weight of iron. The design is made by the Consulting