Class LXIV.—Apparatus and Processes of Civil Engineering, Public Works and Architecture.

Public Works Department, Wellington.

As in most of the colonies, all the more important public works of New Zealand are in the hands of the Government and other public bodies; comparatively few have been undertaken by companies.

The initiation of public works in New Zealand is coeval with the founding of the Colony, and in the early days they simply kept pace with the spread of settlement. But in 1870 a great impetus was given to the progress of the whole country by the inauguration of the "Public Works Policy," which provided for carrying out works in advance of the settlement Numerous page 94 railways, roads, and water-races were constructed, and immigration was conducted on a large scale. As a consequence the population increased from 267,000 in 1871 to 501,000 in 1881, and the principal branches of settlement advanced in much the same proportion.

Roads.—The first public works initiated in the Colony were roads, for without them no regular settlement could take place. New Zealand is well intersected by roads of various kinds, many thousands of miles having been constructed in all directions. Some of the main roads through sparsely settled districts were made and maintained by the General Government, but the ordinary main roads are under the control of the counties, and the district roads under local boards.

Nearly all the larger rivers on the main roads in both Islands are bridged. A few, however, have ferries worked by the current.

Railways.—At the end of the last financial year, 31st March, 1885, there were 1,479 miles of Government and 91 miles of private railways in operation in New Zealand; and 155 miles of Government and 105 miles of private lines under construction. Of the Government railways in operation, 529 miles are in the North and 950 in the South Island.

At the last meeting of Parliament the Government was authorized to purchase the private railways, and negotiations with reference to the majority of them are now completed.

The New Zealand railways are equipped with 220 locomotives, 480 carriages, and 7,700 waggons.

The expenditure on the 1,479 miles of Government railways open last year has been £11,810,194, or an average of £7,996 a mile; this includes all charges connected with the construction and equipment of the lines.

The revenue from the Government railways for the year 1885-6 was £1,045,713, and the working expenses £690,027, The balance of £355,686 is equal to a return of £3 0s. 3d. per cent, on the capital invested. Some of the principal lines to an extent of 975 miles pay interest ranging from £3 13s to £4 16s. per cent.

Prior to 1870, when the colonial public works scheme was initiated, 46 miles of railway had been made and worked by the provinces—17 miles in Otago and 29 miles in Canterbury; all the remaining 1,431 miles have been constructed and equipped since then.

The main lines in the South Island have ruling gradients of 1 in 50, the sharpest curves being 7½ chains radius. Some of the principal lines in the North Island have 1 in 35 gradients, and 5-chain curves; and in crossing the Rimutaka Range there is an incline of 1 in 15, on the Fell central rail system, 2½ miles long. The gauge throughout is 3ft. 6in.

Some of the formation works on the New Zealand railways are very heavy, particularly at the Rimutaka and in the vicinity of Dunedin. Bridging also is a large item on the Canterbury Plains, where the other works are exceedingly light. The largest single work on the whole of the lines is the Moorhouse Tunnel, nearly a mile and three-quarters long, between Lyttelton and Christchurch, which was carried out by the Provincial Government of Canterbury.

Telegraphs.—Prior to 1863, when both the General and Provincial Governments began to construct telegraphs, there were three lines in operation of the aggregate length of 40 miles—one in the Waikato, for military purposes; and two private lines, one between Port Chalmers and Dunedin, and the other between Lyttelton and Christchurch. In 1870 there were 1,661 miles of lines and 2,877 miles of wire, and now there are 4,264 miles of lines and 10,474 miles of wire. There are three submarine cables connecting the two Islands of New Zealand, and one connecting the Colony with Australia and the rest of the civilized world.

Seven of the principal towns have the telephone exchange, the number of subscribers in April, 1885, being 1,114.

The New Zealand telegraph system up to December, 1884, had cost £542,440; and, including £20,856, the value of Government messages, the revenue for that year was £116,490; 1,654,305 messages had been sent.

Waterworks.—The Government has expended about £540,000 on the construction of reservoirs, water-races, and sludge-channels on the goldfields.

All the cities and principal towns are supplied with water at the cost of the corporations. Auckland, Napier, and Lyttelton have pumping schemes, but the others are supplied by gravitation. Christchurch and Blenheim have no public scheme, but each individual can have an ample supply on his own premises at a trifling cost by sinking an artesian well.

Tramways.—Ordinary tramways have been established in all the principal towns in New Zealand, and Dunedin has in addition two cable lines leading to high-lying suburbs. The ordinary tramways are in some cases worked by steam motors, but horse power is more generally employed. The cable tramways are practically the same as those in San Francisco.

There is a horse tramway between Greymouth and Kumara, the leading feature of which is that passengers and goods are taken across the Teremakau River in a cage at a high level The cage is suspended and steadied by wire ropes, and worked by a stationary engine.

Gasworks.—All the principal towns in the Colony have gas-works, some of them belonging to private companies, but the majority to the corporations. The native coal from Greymouth is stated to be one of the best in the world for making gas.

Harbour Works.—All the ports in New Zealand are provided with wharves and jetties in proportion to the trade. Important works to afford shelter and increase the depth of water have been executed or are in course of construction at eight places—namely, Dunedin, Oamaru, Timaru, Lyttelton, Greymouth, Westport, New Plymouth, and Napier.

The harbours of Oamaru, Timaru, New Plymouth, and Napier are practically in the open sea. They are enclosed by concrete and rubble breakwaters. The only one of these yet finished is at Oamaru, which has been a complete success. Sixty acres are enclosed and deepened, and vessels drawing 22ft can be accommodated at the wharves.

The works at Dunedin consist of dredging a channel in the Upper Harbour, so that vessels of large draught can go right up to the city, and the construction of a mole at the Heads to increase the depth of water on the bar. The channel is well advanced, but the works at the Heads are only begun.

Lyttelton Harbour is an inner basin in a sound, which naturally was greatly exposed to certain winds. About 110 acres have been enclosed by rubble breakwaters and dredged out, so that the largest home steamers can be accommodated.

Greymouth and Westport are coal harbours at the mouths of large rivers. The works consist of training-walls and break-raters, intended to concentrate the current across the bar and thereby increase the depth of water. The works at Westport are only commencing, but those at Greymouth have been in progress for some years. Although not nearly finished, they have already effected a great improvement on the port.

Wellington has no dock, but there is, instead, a patent slip capable of taking up a 2,000-ton ship.

Lighthouses.—In addition to ordinary harbour lights there are twenty-five lighthouses on the coast of New Zealand. Five are built of stone, five of iron, and fifteen of timber. The lights are of various orders and descriptions and of the most approved type. The first lighthouse in the Colony, that at Pencarrow Head, was lighted in January, 1859, and the others have been added year by year as the shipping trade increased. Sixteen have been built since 1870.

Defence Works.—Prior to the war scare in March, 1885, New Zealand had no defence works, but they were begun vigorously at that time : and now the principal ports are in a fair state of defence. Auckland, Wellington, Lyttelton, and Dunedin have all got batteries with moderately heavy guns, and larger batteries with heavier guns are in course of construction.