*DEPARTMENT OF MAI NEW SOUTH WALES Issued by and with the authority of the Commissioner for Mah Roads 100000001 News of the Month. Metropolitan Division. and Batliurst werc tar-surfaced by way of experiment. Very scverr rain <tornis on the South Coast in the As a result. further extensive lengths have lieen Shire of Jlulli recently causctl several minor land slips similarly trcatetl this season. Ider. these will be linked up. givitig continuuus Icngths of tar-surfaced oll Prillce9s I igllway at Bulli I,ass. ancl t~ll Lower ~~~~~l~coast roatl (xO.Is5) in vicinity pavcmetlt to connrct with the concrete sections. Clifton. Ikpairs are being eKccted. The pavement 011 the HLIIIICHighway betwen lhc In ortler to lxovitle for the increase in traffic on tlic foot of Razorl);lclc tlevi:ttion at Apps Crcck and Picton, Flume 1 lighway, a timlier bridge over Cook's River at a distance of 335 miles. has I)xn witlenetl to 20 feet f3ridzc ovrr ihc 1 ur~nRrvcr nrar Sofala. on thc Suf:tI+blud~c~road (No. L 161 the Strathfield-I:iitieltI I~~~~intIaryis I)eing increasctl in !i;rougllout. This lcllgtll ui I-~JXI \\;is nrigiclally COW width to 24 feet between kerlis. The opportunity is !-tructerl in waterbound nlacadam. surface treated, with being taken to cotistruct a iootwap 011 one side of the a pavement I j-16 fcct wide and with excessive cross- bridge. The cost of the fciotway is being met by fall. It has been widened by building strips of pcne- Strathfield and Enfield Municilial Councils. tration niacadaiii on either side of the existing pave- In 1930-31, short sections of the gravelled surface ment. the strips being placccl as iar as possible to of the Great Western Highway between Mt. Victoria increase the radius of the curves ancl to permit of *r1634 122 MAIN ROADS. Vol. IV, No. 9. ~~ _~____ sul)cr-elcvatioti. ‘l‘lic work is now bcitig coinplctetl I‘lic 1)epartmeiit has just conipleteil tlie rcpaintitlg hy the atlrlilioii of :I sheet of drag-slireatl coirl-inixed of thc hrirlge over thc i Iuntcr Itivcr :it SiiigIet(in, 011 inacad;uii. whicli will improve the riding qualities. tlie New I<nglantl I lighway. ()wing to iiiore urgent col-rcct the crossfall, ant1 give improvcd super-eleva- rcpirs to other hirlxes Ilaving I~engiven preference tion of ciirves. ncw 7 feet s 7 feet concrete ciilvert in previous years, the old paintwork hat1 almost com- h;is I)ceii I)uilt 3 miles north of Picton. The road pletely worn off in inany places. and rusting had coin- tlirough Canitleti has lmn rcsurfacetl. iiieiiced. Scraping atid clcaning up the old steclwork 1)efore painting werc thrreforc relatively expensive. Northern Division. The Department has recently cotnpletetl the con- North-Eastern Division. struction I)v tlav Ialrtrur of~~ a.. three-si)an. .. tinihpr~~~~~ .~ I,cam , i ~~ bridge over Yarras Creek. 011 the 0xlt.y FIigIijvay in The constrtirtion ol a four-cell 9 ft. s ; ft. reill- the Shire of Hastings. Hy the construction of this forced concrete l)os culvert at IS 111. j.rm It. from bridge, the last open creek crossing liable to hol(l LIII Inverell towards \\:ariaIda, on the Gwydir Highway tr:tftic for :iny length of time hetweeii \I’auchol)e anti in ~~ilnllJ~k~JllrliShire. has recently bee’n completctl. the top of Tobin‘s Creek tleviation has l)ren eliiiiinatetl. r.I enders have been invited for the construction of a This portioii of tlie Highway will iiom be I)locketl only single-cell 5 ft. x 1 ft. 6 in. culvert at 19 111. 2,000 ft. when the I lastings River is in high flood and itintitlate.; ;itid n triple-ccll 6 ft. s 2 ft. 6 in. culvert at 23 in. the ro;itl at a few low places. 990 ft. ‘I’lie coinplction of these works, together with New mnnforcecl concrete bridne of two 35-h. spns rccenlly erected by the DPpartmcnt over Coomliinr: Creck. Mid- \Vestern Highway, Lyndhurst Shire. For many years the southern approach to thc bridge the triple-cell 9 ft. x S ft. culvert recently constructed over Stewart’s or Jolni’s River. on the Pacific High- at Frogs’ Hollow, 14 miles from Tn\wdl. will mark way in Msnning Shire. has Iwcn tlie cause of traftic the elimination of the worst of the open crossings stoppnges in time of flood. ’lhis has been due as niuch within the Shire. to the mieveti grade of the roatl as to the actual level of the flootl. as dips in the road blocked traffic when Tlic bitumen penetration work 011 tlie Kew England (ither higher portions could he safely negotiated. Higliwa); in Guyra Slrirt.. referred to in “News of tlic ,.1 herefore, arrangements were made this year for the h4onth” in the 1~)ecember.1932. issue of Mair1 liontis. C‘oiincil to raise the apl)roacli slightly, to a cinifnrni lias Ixen coml)letetl. with the crception of the bitumen level, illcrease the cul\Terts, ali(l seal the l)”vementwitll seal coat. as far as +hc ~outllernshire I)ou11(lat-yat 7 1x1. 1)itumen to prevent scour. i\s high floods wtrultl still IS ch. from Guyra. inundate the road for 15 chains. lntters of 3 to I Work is now in progress in connection with the were left 011 tlie lower side of the tills. Thc work reconstruction nf a sinfile 35 ft. span reinfnrcctl con- Iiatl just been completed. hit had tint had time to coli- crete 1)ritlpc over Spring Creek, Iletween (;raveseiitl solidate, when a high flood in the first week of April atid Liinigoy. on the Gwydir Highway in Yallaroi Shire. washed out part oC tlie I)ank and tlamagetl thc pave- The construction nf this bridge is a ncccssary part nient. l’hc brealis will be repairecl, and it is hoped of the work involved in the completion of ail all- that the work will Iiave had time to consolitlate and weather road from \\‘ariaIda to Ihiguy. as referred to grass will hve esta1)lishetl itself on the batters sufii- in “Kews of the Llonth” in tlie Fc.bruar)-, 1933,issue of ciently to I-csist scour before another high flood occurs. Mnin Roads. May, 1933. MAIN ROADS. I23 North-Western Division. 'I'hc illustration oil this page shows one of a iiuiiiLer of very old Iiewii stone culverts on the Scw England Highway in the Shire of Nundle. The culvert shomti is of 4 ft. 6 in. span. and 3 feet high. with stone slab decking IL' inches thick. l'liis onc is in good ortlcr, apart froin the stones dislodged from tlie heatl\valls. :iltliough others nearby h:ive tlevelopetl cracks in the decking. Culverts of larger spar have been built with stone corbels in order to limit the clear span of the deck slali to 4 ft. 0 in. Coiitr;ictors liryaiit ;uid Buchanan have cotnpletctl X miles of tar-surfacing on \\':irlands Range deviation, on tlie Nciv l<nglantl Highway hetween Blandford and the soutlierii I)ountlary of \\'arrah Shire. Slag was usctl as aggregate for part of the work. ant1 screened river gravcl ii-om :Uicrtleen for tllc remainder. 'l'hc illustration on this page shows tlie power roller used, antl tlic set of brooms wliich were I)ushetl in front of it to distribute thc aggregate evenly before rolling. All the Dcpartment's rollers usctl on surfacing jobs in the country this season were equipped with bass or steel wire brooms. Central Western Division. Roller used for tar-surfacing Warland's Range deviation. Good progess is being niatle by Contractors N. H. New England Highway. showing set of brooms used for distributing the aggregate evenly. Jones antl Co. on the construction of thirteen reiii- forcvtl concrete box culverts on the Mid-Western 1 lighway in tlie Shire of Lyndhurst. Thc culverts range on the ArtIiurville-(;eurie devclopniental road (No. in size from single-cell -1- ft. x I ft. 6 in. to two- 1007) in the Shire of ('ohbora. The repairs consistcd cell 8 ft, x 4 ft. Some will replace worn-out timber of renewals of one cap sill. one corl)el. four girders. one culvcrts. and the remainder will eliminate V gutters. 60-foot pilc and 7,000 super feet of carriage-way deck- ing, together with filling in a lat-gc scour and general Tn connection with the inaintennnce by the Ilepart- tightening-up. nient of the section of the Nortll-Western highway in the Shires of Tabragar antl Tinil)rebongie and the Municipality of Narromine the following contracts for Southern Division. the supply and sprcatlillg of gravel have ' heeii corn- The construction of concrete pipe antl precast box pleted :-lhl)bo-Ge~rie ( l'alliragar). 2.640 cubic yards, culverts to eliiiiiiatc causeways on the Cooma-Mt. Cotitractor _I. E. Pucket-irlge ; Dubbo-Narrotnine ( Tin- liosciusko road (No. 2%) lxtwecii the Hotel brebonxie), 1.314 cubic yards, Contractor J. Bryant; liosciusko atid tlic silturnit of the mountain has been Narromine-Trangie ( Timbre1)oiigie aiid Narrolninc) , completed as far as 2-1 in. This has consitlerably 1,616 cubic yards, Contractor J. (i. Niller. iniprovcd the running surface aiitl will greatly facilitate The divisional bridge rnaintenance gang has repaired the maintcnaiirc of this scction. which is suhject to the bridge over the Macquarie Kivcr at Scabbing Flat, severe weather conditions while snow is melting in the spring. Contractor \\-. D. McUonald has coiiiiiienced tlie constructioii of concrete box culverts at 3 m. 3.310 ft.