# Municipal and Official Handbook of the City of Auckland, New Zealand/City Engineer's Department

CITY ENGINEER'S DEPARTMENT.
STREETS.
The important position that roadmaking now occupies in the City Council's policy is reflected in the progress made in the past decade. Prior to 1911 the City possessed one paved street, viz., Queen Street, which, in 1902, was paved with Neuchatel Asphalt, coincident with the construction and opening of the Electric Tramway system. At the present time there are 10 streets paved with Neuchatel Asphalt on a concrete foundation, of a total length of 2.5 miles and an area of 61,312 sq. yards; 6 paved with wood blocks on a concrete foundation, of a total length of 1.4 miles and an area of 32,336 sq. yards; and 17 paved with cement concrete of a total length of 5.6 miles and an area of 118,074 square yards. There are also 2 short lengths of stone sett paving, of 2663 square yards. Concrete paving has been used more extensively in Auckland than in any other city in New Zealand or Australia, and it has been laid in streets carrying the heaviest traffic.
The City has been equally progressive in other directions. Out of a total of 184 miles of streets, comprising 756 in all, 367 streets, of a total length of 83 miles, have been fully kerbed and channelled, and 93 streets have been kerbed and channelled for a portion of their length, adding a further 19 miles of kerbed streets, and making a total of 162 miles.
​In the matter of surfacing macadamised streets, the policy of tarring and dressing has been largely adopted, and at the present time 22 miles of carriage-way have been so treated.
For the surfacing of footpaths the laying of tar topping on the more important streets, and of tar dressing on others, has been adopted, and in all 1,261,700 square yards, or approximately 260 acres, are treated in this way.
Where private cart or carriage entrances cross the footpaths, stone sett, concrete, asphalt, wood-blocks, or tar macadam paved surfaces are provided at the cost of the owners, so that a good surface for pedestrians is assured on all properly-formed footpaths.
IMPORTANT IMPROVEMENT SCHEMES.
Apart from paving operations, the Council has of late years carried out many very important schemes, having for their object the improvement of the principal traffic routes in the City, The most notable of these is the scheme known as the Eastern Outlet, which was started in 1915 and completed in 1920. The trams commenced to run on this route in February, 1921.
JERMYN STREET (now Anzac Avenue), before commencement of improvements.
ANZAC AVENUE, after completion of improvements.
​greater part of this road. The remainder of the land required was obtained by the Council acquiring the whole of the properties between Beach Road and the narrow street known as Jermyn Street, together with the land and properties on the western side of Jermyn Street. The latter street was only 33 feet wide, and was most awkwardly graded, having two or three hollows in its length and some very steep grades. The Council having obtained the power to acquire the whole of the properties, proceeded to construct what is virtually a new street, 84 feet wide, since named Anzac Avenue, which, for a portion of its length, follows the line of Jermyn Street, and joins at its lower end, with bold curves, Beach Road; and at its upper end, Symonds Street, after passing over the site of the old University College, formerly the first Parliament building of New Zealand.
Apart from the acquisition of property, which has cost in all £234,000, the Council has spent the sum of £43,500 in excavating the property to new levels, involving in the course of constructing the new road (Anzac Avenue) and levelling the sections abutting thereon, the removal of approximately 70,000 cubic yards of spoil, and a similar quantity in excavating the sections abutting on Beach Road, and forming, kerbing, and paving Anzac Avenue from the Junction of Beach Road to Symonds Street, while a further sum of £16,200 has been spent in kerbing and paving Beach Road.
GILLIES AVENUE, Example of Suburban Highway.
CUSTOMS STREET WEST.Baths. Showing Retaining Walls and Hobson Street Baths.
​At the time of embarking upon the scheme, it was anticipated that the sale of properties, after the improvements had been completed, would practically reimburse the cost of acquiring the property and carrying out the improvements. But owing to the long duration of the war, and the unsettled conditions which have succeeded it, it was found that the interest charges on the large amount of capital sunk in the undertaking would prevent this expectation being realised, and £100,000 of Loan money has been raised.
The improvements are, however, of so important a character that the work is fully justified, and it is probable that the increased ratable value of the properties will enable the Council to meet the annual capital charges in connection with the scheme.
Important improvements, with the co-operation of the Auckland Harbour Board, have also been effected on the water-front, the principal one being the widening of Customs Street West and its continuation (Fanshawe Street) to and past the north of Victoria Park, as a 100-foot wide street.
The works carried out include the erection of three reinforced concrete retaining walls, aggregating a total length of 1,775 feet, the construction of a high and a low level road, each 80 feet wide, between Albert and Nelson Streets, and an inclined roadway, 20 feet wide, connecting them at the Hobson Street intersection.
Lower Hobson Street, from the low level road to the wharf, was also widened to 100 feet, and a graded ​road, leading from the high level road connecting with Nelson Street, formed.
Fanshawe Street, from its intersection at Nelson Street to Victoria Park, was increased in width to 100 feet, and from that point northward an extension of Fanshawe Street was constructed as far as Beaumont street. The total cost of carrying out these improvements was £46,646.
In connection with this series of undertakings the Harbour Board was able to assist, by arranging for the transfer of lessees' interests from property required for street purposes to other portions of the Board's property.
The waterfront on the eastern side of Queen Street has also been improved. The improvements were made possible in the first place by the reclamations carried out by the Harbour Board and secondly by the co-operation of the Board and the Railway Department with the City Council. Prior to the alterations being undertaken, Quay Street practically finished at Breakwater Road. A new road, named King's Drive, 100 feet wide, now continues Quay Street in a straight line to the cliff at Campbell's Point. In the course of the work connected with this scheme, the old locomotive sheds were removed to an adjacent locality.
Another improvement was carried out in conjunction with the Railway Department: Mechanic's Road, a narrow tortuous street, being converted into a bold curved roadway, 100 feet wide, and renamed the Strand.
| O'CONNELL STREET. Before widening operations were commenced. | O'CONNELL STREET. After completion of widening and paving operations. |
​Street-widening operations have been carried out in other districts, a portion of Symonds Street, opposite Khyber Pass Road, and a strip of Mount Eden Road, adjacent to the Grafton Library, being increased from 66 feet to 76 feet. Another section of Symonds Street, south of St. Paul's Church, was widened to 90 feet by the erection of a reinforced concrete retaining wall on what was originally intended to be the line of street, but which evidently had been abandoned on account of the steep nature of the country abutting the road.
O'Connell Street, one of the City's oldest thoroughfares, which was originally 18 feet wide, has been in creased to 33 feet, the work being carried out with the co-operation of the property owners on the eastern side of the thoroughfare. The alterations necessitated the removal of Auckland's first wooden house, erected by the late Sir John Logan Campbell, to a new site in Cornwall Park.
High Street has also been increased in width from 20 feet to 33 feet on a portion of its length.
The most recent operation of this class was the widening of Remuera Road at the base of Mount Hobson, where, although the maximum increase of the roadway did not exceed nine feet, the improvement is considerable.
LIGHTING OF STREETS.
GRAFTON BRIDGE.
​are of 2,000 candle power, 32 of 1,000 candle power, 65 of 100 candle power, and 26 of 32 candle power.
Gas lights, of which there are 920, each 50 candle power (nominal), are used for the illumination of residential and suburban streets.
BRIDGES.
The only bridge of any importance in the City, with the exception of one or two bridges belonging to the Railway Department, is the Grafton Bridge, the others being wooden structures over creeks, etc.
Grafton Bridge is notable as having the longest three-hinged arch in the world, and was, at the time of its construction, the longest single-span arch constructed in reinforced concrete.
The Bridge, which is 973 feet in length, consists of 11 girder spans, besides the central arch span, made up as follows:—
* One span of 35 feet.
* One span of 37.5 feet.
* Three spans of 75.5 feet each.
* One span of 81 feet.
* Two main piers, 13 feet each.
* Centre span, 320 feet.
* One straight girder, 83.5 feet.
* One straight girder, 80.5 feet.
* One straight girder, 41 feet.
The balance is made up by filled up approaches of 20 and 22 feet respectively at each end.
​The Bridge was designed and built by the Ferro-Concrete Company of Australasia, Ltd., under the supervision of the City Engineer, the contract price being £31,918. The total completed price was £35,441, while a further £5,000 was spent in acquisition of land and in legal and other expenses.
The main arch consists of two ribs, 6 feet by 4 feet 7 inches at the abutments, 10 feet by 4 feet 3½ inches at the quarters, and 5 feet 6 inches by 4 feet at the centre hinge. The abutment hinges are of cast steel, and are carried on steel girder grids. The total length between the abutment hinges is 315 feet, the rise from the bottom hinge to the central hinge is 84 feet, and the greatest height above the creek 147 feet. Six of the straight girders are of the open type and the remainder solid. There are three girders to the width of the bridge, the two outer being under the kerb line. The footpaths are carried out from the outer girder on cantilevers. The width of the bridge between parapets is 36 feet, of which 21 feet is carriage way, and the remainder, two footpaths of 6 feet each.
It is interesting to note that the total amount of steel used was over 337 tons, and of concrete 5,504 cubic yards.
The Bridge was commenced in 1907, and completed in March, 1910. It was opened for traffic in April of the same year.
WAITAKERE RESERVOIR.
​been fixed; the one on the north side being relative to the structure itself, the other designed to commemorate the pioneers whose mortal remains are deposited in the cemetery spanned by the bridge.
RESERVOIRS.
THE WAITAKERE RESERVOIR is situated on the Waitakere Stream, about 14 miles from Auckland. This, the first impounding reservoir constructed by the Council in connection with its gravitation scheme, has a storage capacity of 220 million gallons, and has yielded, with the dry weather flow of the stream, 3 million gallons as its minimum daily supply. The water area of the Reservoir is 64 acres, and the catchment area 2,200 acres. The overflow weir, which is 100 feet long, is situated 580 feet above sea-level and 50 feet above the bed of the stream. The dam is 540 feet in length, and is curved to a radius of 382 feet, measured to the upstream face. The width on the bottom is 231 feet, and at the top it is 3 feet 6 inches. It was completed in 1906, and the cost of construction was £29,600. The Engineer for the work was Mr. H. Munro Wilson, C.E., and the Contractor, Mr. Billington.
The water is brought to the City by a 27-inch diameter steel locking-bar main.
The Main Dam is situated over 1½ miles down the stream, at the top of the main falls, where the sides of the river contract, but on account of the comparative steepness of the sides of the valley above, it has had to be constructed to a height of 146 feet from river bed to weir level. The dam, which is designed as a gravitation dam, is curved on plan, the radius being 450 feet, and the maximum length will be, approximately, 540 feet, while the maximum thickness is 104 feet, diminishing at the top to 12 feet. The total quantity of water impounded will be 540 million gallons. The water area of the Reservoir, when full, will be 36 acres, while the total area of the gathering ground is 2,400 acres.
It is expected that the Dam will be completed in the first half of 1923.
It is being constructed of mass concrete, with blue stone plums or sinkers embedded, and will contain, when finished, upwards of 70,000 cubic yards of concrete.
The Nihotupu Stream, with the two reservoirs above described, is expected to yield a daily supply of 5 million gallons of water.
NIHOTUPU (MAIN) DAM, SHOWING WORK IN PROGRESS.
​The construction of the service reservoirs has varied according to the time of their construction, but those more recently erected have been built of reinforced concrete, with vertical walls and reinforced concrete roofs. The service Reservoirs situated at Arch Hill and Khyber Pass have each a capacity of three million gallons, with a depth of 22 feet 6 inches, while a third on Mount Eden has a depth of 15 feet and a capacity of one and a-half million gallons.
CITY MARKETS.
Auckland's first Municipal Markets were situated between Wellesley Street and Cook Street, and were opened in 1873. They were used until 1917, when the first of the two new buildings, situated in Customs Street West, was opened. The old Markets were demolished in 1921.
The present buildings were erected from the designs of the City Engineer, for the purpose of providing accommodation for firms carrying on business as wholesale fruit and produce auctioneers and merchants.
Building No. 1 is of reinforced concrete frame construction, with brick cavity walls, 11 inches thick in panels. The floors are of reinforced concrete, and the roof is of 24-gauge galvanised corrugated iron. The cost of this building complete was £13,000, the actual floor area provided being 38,628 square feet. The main part of the building consists of a basement, ground floor (three feet above street level), first and second ​floors; the other portion is an Auction Mart, of one storey.
The Contractors for both buildings were Messrs. Fletcher Bros., Ltd.
BATHS AND BATHING FACILITIES.
The City Council maintains three large swimming Baths at Ponsonby, Parnell and Hobson Street West, also small bathing sheds on the beaches at the foot of Sentinel Road, Ponsonby, and Victoria Avenue, Remuera.
The use of two Baths, formerly located at Albert Street and Customs Street West, was dispensed with, owing, in the former case to the lack of patronage and in the latter to make room for City improvements.
The following is a brief description of the three swimming Baths, which were designed by the City Engineer and erected under his supervision.
SHELLY BEACH SALT WATER BATH, PONSONBY, which is situated on the beach frontage of Point Erin Park, was erected at a cost of £6,500, and was opened on the 23rd November, 1912.
The swimming pool is 150ft. by 60ft., and is surrounded by heavy concrete retaining walls, the floor, which is sloped to form a deep and shallow end, being also of concrete. The water is brought directly from the sea through a valve in the wall.
SHELLY BEACH BATH.
PARNELL SALT-WATER SWIMMING BATH.
​On the Park side of the Bath, a building, containing 56 dressing boxes, Caretaker's Quarters and Office, and a commodious grand stand, has been built on a foundation of reinforced concrete piles and beams.
PARNELL SALT WATER BATH was erected on the beach at Point Resolution, and was officially opened on 7th March, 1914. Access is obtained by 144 steps, which zig-zag down the face of the cliff.
The swimming pool is 194 feet long, with a maximum width of 149 feet, and is enclosed by massive concrete walls. The natural sea bed forms the bottom of the bath, providing an average depth of water at ordinary tides of 2 feet to 7 feet. Water is obtained from the sea through sluices in the north wall. A hardwood fence has been constructed on the two seaward walls, to ensure the safety of bathers. Commodious dressing sheds, each equipped with shower baths, for women, men, girls, and boys, are placed on the west, east, and south sides of the pond. Mixed bathing, under strict rules, is permitted. The situation of this Bath renders it suitable for sun-bathing.
HOBSON STREET BATHS are situated at the junction of Customs Street and Sturdee Street, and were erected, under contract, by Messrs. J. T. Julian & Sons, at a cost of £10,673, and were opened on the 17th December, 1914. (See illustration opposite page 90).
The site was formerly a portion of the harbour, and the whole of the building had to be carried on ​reinforced concrete piles, driven an average depth of 24 feet.
The building is constructed of reinforced concrete, with panel walls of brick, the pools being entirely of reinforced concrete. The accommodation comprises a swimming bath for men, 100 feet long by 50 feet wide, in a hall 122 feet by 72 feet, with 65 dressing rooms, on top of which is an extensive gallery, capable of seating 450 persons. The women's swimming bath, 60 feet by 30 feet, is in a hall, 82 feet by 57 feet, with 55 dressing rooms. Both pools are lined with white tiles and have sloping floors.
In addition to the swimming baths, there are 9 slipper baths, a caretaker's residence, and a laundry, equipped with washers and driers.
The Baths are provided with tepid salt water, obtained by utilising the return flow from the condensers of the Tramway Department's Power Station, Hobson Street, and the inlets and outlets have been arranged to ensure a continuous passage of water through the baths at all times. About one-third of the roof area over each bath is left open, and provides ample ventilation. Cold water sprays have been fixed on the roof of the men's bath, while shower baths and other conveniences are also available. The slipper baths are provided with hot and cold water (salt and fresh).
MUNICIPAL HOUSING.
The question of providing houses for workmen has at various times received the consideration of Council, but it was not until 1915 that it was resolved to erect six workers' cottages on land belonging to the Council in Clarence Street, Ponsonby. Four of these are designed as semi-detached and two as detached cottages. Competitive designs were invited, and the plans of Mr. T. G. Price were accepted. The accommodation provided for each house consists of 5 rooms, bathroom, wash-house, etc. The total cost, exclusive of land, was £2,264. These houses are let on weekly tenancies, the present rents being £1.
The matter was again under consideration in September and November of 1918, when a scheme was submitted, providing for the erection of 224 houses upon three City sites, at a total cost of £165,855, which included roading in each case and the purchase of the necessary land. On two of the sites there was already property belonging to the Council.
WORKERS' COTTAGES, GREY LYNN.
​consideration of the various types of cottages, the City Engineer was instructed to erect 10 detached cottages, of five rooms each, on allotments having a frontage on Old Mill Road of 40 feet each and a depth of 140 feet. The houses were designed by the City Engineer.
The erection of these houses was undertaken when the price of labour and materials was at its highest, but, notwithstanding, the Council considered it advisable to construct the houses of permanent material, and for the most part earthenware hollow blocks, 18 inches by 9 inches by 6 inches, were adopted for the outer walls and concrete or brick for the internal walls. The cottages were plastered internally and roughcasted externally. The ten houses were completed at an average cost of £1,100, or, with the land, £1,250, and were sold, with the land, on a rent purchase agreement, £50 deposit being paid, the balance to be paid in half-yearly instalments of £44 1s, extending over a period of 25½ years.
DRAINAGE AND SEWERAGE.
The natural configuration of the older portions of the City made drainage a fairly easy matter, the gullies forming natural water-courses into which drainage could easily be led, and in course of time pipes and culverts were used to carry the drainage to the level of high or low tide.
With the increase of population, the pollution of the foreshore became such as to render some more ​suitable method of dealing with the sewage necessary, and as a result, a comprehensive scheme for the interception of these gully sewers was undertaken and carried to a successful conclusion.
Following this work, the connection of the various City sewers with the main system has proceeded, and the only work remaining to be done is the construction of certain separate sewers on the low levels of the City, the sewage from which will have to be pumped into the Drainage Board's System.
In the older portions of the City, the sewers were made large enough to carry both sewage and stormwater, but in most of the suburban districts, the reticulation of which was carried out prior to their amalgamation with the City, the provision is not sufficient, and various means have to be adopted for dealing with the stormwater. In many cases this is still carried off by the natural water-courses, in others the stormwater is led into caves and vaults in the lava rock, where it ultimately finds an exit into the old water course.
In the City's reticulation system, no less than 191 miles of sewers, varying from 6 inches to 9 feet in diameter, have been laid.
In many of the principal streets the reticulation sewers are laid on both footpaths, to obviate the constant disturbance of the roadway surface, while, owing to the hilly nature of the City, others necessarily have ​to be laid in private property at the back of the houses, instead of under the street.
COLLECTION AND DISPOSAL OF REFUSE.
The refuse of the City is collected by the Council's own staff, and conveyed in its own plant to the Destructor or to tips.
In the business portion of the City, the collection is made three times per week; in the inner residential districts twice weekly, and in the outer suburbs once weekly.
The refuse from the outer districts is deposited on tips, and that from the business portion and near residential districts is taken to the Refuse Destructor, which is situated between Patteson Street and Drake Street, and there burned. Drake Street being at a level 25 feet above Patteson Street, the refuse is tipped into bins and thence into a four-grate Meldrum Patent Simplex Regenerator Destructor.
The Destructor is able to burn, at a maximum capacity, 40 tons of refuse per day of 24 hours, the normal quantity destroyed being approximately 200 tons per week.
The hot gases from the Destructor, before reaching the main flue and chimney, pass through a combustion chamber, and thence to a Babcock and Wilcox Boiler, having 1,966 square feet of heating surface. The steam from this source is utilised in connection ​with the forced draught to the furnaces, also in connection with the feed pumps to boilers, and in driving a vertical steam engine used for power in the adjoining corporation workshops. It was formerly more fully utilised as a complement to the boiler power at the Electricity Power Station before the latter was removed to its present site.
QUARRY.
For a great number of years the City's supply of stone for the making and repair of macadamised roads has been principally derived from the Council's Quarry (6¾ acres), which is leased from the Government Prisons Department, Mount Eden.
The machinery installed consists of:
1 Babcock and Wilcox boiler, of 75 hp.
1 Tangye single cylinder steam engine, 14¼ inches diameter by 28 inches stroke.
2 Baxter jaw stone breakers, 20 inches by 16 inches.
1 Set of Baxter granulating rolls, together with the necessary screen conveyors, etc.
1 Air compressor, 14 inches by 12 inches, which supplies the air for the pneumatic drills.
Owing to the uncertain tenure of the lease, the disposition and arrangement of the plant is not as satisfactory as the Council would desire.
Attached to the stone-breaking plant is a large shed, in which are installed a revolving cylinder for ​heating stone, tar boilers and tar macadamisers, where tarred macadam, tarred toppings and tarred chips are prepared for Council's street works. All the latter plant is of local manufacture.
The normal output of the Quarry is about 20,000 cubic yards per annum, but it has reached over 30,000 during busy periods.
STABLES.
For the carrying out of the maintenance services, and numerous public works executed by direct labour, the Council keeps, in addition to motors, a considerable number of horses. The horses are stabled at various depôts, the principal one being situated on the Council's property, Patteson Street, where a commodious building, containing two storeys of stalls, with lofts, has been erected, giving accommodation for 93 horses, while six loose boxes are provided for horses that are sick or needing special attention. This two-storey stable is the only one of its kind in New Zealand, although this form of stable is common in Great Britain.
Other stables are situated at Parnell, Remuera and Grey Lynn Depôts of the Council, 102 horses being housed in the central and branch stables. The remaining animals, including those turned out to grass on account of sickness or injury, are distributed in the public parks, at Nihotupu Dam Construction Works and the Council's farm at Harkin's Point. The total number of horses fed is 115.
MUNICIPAL DEPOT, SHOWING DESTRUCTOR CHIMNEY.
​The Council's farm at Harkins Point, some 12 miles up the Harbour, consists of 478 acres, of which all but 100 acres are improved. It was acquired in the first place for the disposal of nightsoil, but that system having been superseded it is now used for grazing and for raising of stock. The average number of stock grazed is from 100 to 130.
CORPORATION DEPOT.
The Council's Main Depôt, Patteson Street, contains the Main Stores of the City Engineer's Department, workshops for blacksmiths, carpenters, wheelwrights, painters, plumbers, stonemasons' sheds, and offices for overseers, foremen and sewer inspectors, while immediately adjoining are situated the Refuse Destructor and a Dog Pound.
PUBLIC CONVENIENCES.
The Council has erected and maintains twenty seven conveniences, or comfort stations, five of which are placed underground in different parts of the City, the largest being in Customs Street West, outside the Government Buildings. Thirteen stations are located in the parks.
CORONER'S COURT AND MORGUE.
The building serving these purposes was erected within the Hospital grounds in 1912–13, from the designs of the City Engineer, at a cost of £1,616.
​The accommodation provided consists of a Courtroom, 21 feet by 15 feet, Coroner's Office, Public Waiting-room, and separate mortuaries and post-mortem rooms for general and Hospital purposes.
CEMETERIES.
The Council controls two Cemeteries, one of which is situated in Symonds Street, but, except for the interment of certain blood relatives of those whose remains are buried there, is closed.
This Cemetery contains the mortal remains of Captain William Hobson, R.N., the first Governor of New Zealand, and of many other early pioneers. On its lower slopes still flourish a profusion of tree ferns and other native flora.
The principal Cemetery, familiarly known as Waikumete Cemetery, is situated at Glen Eden, 9 miles from the City by road and 11 miles by rail. It occupies 307 acres, of which some 98 acres have been brought into use, the remainder being put down in grass and planted with trees.
The north-western portion of the Cemetery has been set aside exclusively for the burial of returned soldiers, and at the entrance thereto the Returned Soldiers' Association has erected a fine obelisk of Nelson marble, with Sicilian marble panels, in memory of those who lost their lives in the Great War.
BY-LAW ADMINISTRATION.
The By-laws relating to the erection and alteration of buildings, the control of hoardings, the laying of drains, and other plumbing work, are administered by the City Engineer. The staff consists of the Chief Building Inspector, two Building Inspectors, two Plumbing and Drainage Inspectors, and two Office Assistants, who attend to the issuing of permits, etc., and to other routine business connected with the City Engineer's Department.
The number of permits issued varies considerably, depending largely upon the financial barometer, but is influenced by other causes. The following are the figures for the year ended 31st March, 1921—
| No. of permits for the year | 2,016 |
| Building value | £895,623 |
As illustrating the progress which has been made, the figures for the year ending 31st March, 1913, are of comparative interest. In that year, 899 permits, for buildings, valued at £399,258, were issued.
The position of City Engineer has been occupied by the following:—Mr. William Anderson, 1871–1899, and Mr. A. A. Wrigg, 1899–1906. The present holder of the office was appointed in the latter year.
W. E. BUSH, M. Inst. C.E.,
City Engineer.