Sessional_Paper_1905 — Page 305

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Good progress has been made with the whole of these works.

In spite of heavy sickness during the summer months the daily number of men employed on the works has never been less than 400, and towards the close of the year averaged 1.000.

Excavation commenced on the pumping station site on the 4th of April and on the dam and roads on the 1st of May, and at the close of the year the pumping station site was practically levelled, the damn-trench bottomed and some of the heaviest cuttings on the roads nearly through.

DAM.

The dani-trench has been excavated through soft red earth, rotten rock with soft clay seams, hard rock with a few clay seams to a bottom of very hard roek with a few clay seams through which a little water percolates.

The tongues into the hills on either side of the valley has not been carried down to a rock foundation but are, on the South end, in very compact red earth, and on the North end in soft rock with stiff clay seams,

In all 10,000 cubic yards have been removed from the main trench and 1,500 cubic yards from the flood water channels.

A large quantity of broken stone and displacers have been prepared for the concrete hearting, and dressed granite for the facework is being quarried at the Tytam and Stanley quarries.

PUMPING STATION SITE.

To form the pumping station site 14,000 cubic yards of red earth and rock have been excavated from the hill-side and deposited to form a reclamation in front of the excavated site.

This reclamation is loaded with 1,000 tons of 18" diameter cast iron pipes which have been stacked there until the roads and tracks are far enough advanced to admit of their being laid in position. The "pierre perdue " forming a foundation for the landing stage and pitching has been deposited and comparatively little work now remains to be done to the pumping station site.

PUMP-PIT.

One set of engines and pumps with 2 boilers (capacity 14 million gallons a day each) arrived in the Colony on the 1st of August and have been stored with other material in a matshed store on the pumping station site. In July a start was made with the pump-pit which at the end of the year was nearly finished and the work of erecting the engines and pumps should commence early next year.

EUROPEAN QUARTERS.

The erection of the European quarters for the engine-drivers, was commenced in September and is now well in hand, the building being nearly up to the 1st floor level.

ROADS, ACCESS ROADS AND TRACKS.

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The excavations for the roads, access roads and tracks have proceeded satis- factorily but there has been some trouble in obtaining stone for the numerous taining walls and bridges.

This difficulty was got over by opening up a quarry near Stanley for the granite for the bridges and by using a rustic stoneface for the retaining walls, the rocks along the line of the road being sufficiently good for this class of work.

Since the beginning of September very good progress has been made with the

roads and access roads.

RISING AND SUCTION MAINS.

Up to the end of the year two-thirds of the entire consignment of cast iron pipes for the rising and suction mains had been received and stacked on the re- clamation in front of the pumping station site.