✨ Provincial Government Engineer's Report
OTAGO
PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT
GAZETTE.
PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY.
All Public Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any official signature thereunto
annexed, are to be considered as Official Communications made to those persons to whom they
relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.
JOHN L. C. RICHARDSON, SUPERINTENDENT.
VOL. IV.] MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 1861. [No. 155.
ENGINEER OF ROADS' REPORT.
Dunedin, 11th October, 1861.
To His Honor
Major Richardson,
Superintendent of Otago.
SIR,—I have the honor of forwarding to
you the enclosed documents*. From the first
documents will be learned what expenditure
has taken place, and what is proposed; from
the second will be noted the manner in which
the works have been affected by the discovery
of gold; and from the third a general view of
the physical aspect of the Province, and the
manner in which this effects our internal
communication.
At the time I resumed charge of the Road
and Bridge Department, the discovery of a
paying gold field took place. The effect on
the department was so great as to totally dis-
organise it, with one or two exceptions fore-
men and men abandoned their work, demanded
their pay, and went off to the diggings. Much
of the work that was in progress had conse-
quently to be discontinued, and little could be
done with the remaining workmen to meet the
increased calls on the department for re-
pairs of roads.
Within these few weeks the great influx of
people has brought labour into the market.
All applicants have been temporarily employed
-
- Estimate for six months to 31st March.
- Reports of Inspectors of Works.
- Three Maps of the Province, marked A, B,
and C.
on daily wages, but this expedient is neither
thrifty nor satisfactory, and the sooner that
the Government can provide contracts of suf-
ficient extent to absorb the extra labour, the
better will it be to all parties interested.
The most important subject is the road to
the gold-fields. I will therefore report on it
as succinctly as I am able. The field now ex-
tends from Tokomairiro Hundreds to the
Watershed of the Tuapeka and Beaumont.
For its eastern half the road via Tokomairiro
is the best and most direct; for its western
half the road via North Taieri is the best and
most direct. It is therefore my humble
opinion that both roads require the attention
of Government. The portions of road that
became almost impassable in winter, are those
that run along or across the great valleys of
the Taieri and Tokomairiro; ascending the
hills from thence the dray tracks are passable
during the winter. It is therefore to the val-
leys of the Taieri and Tokomairiro that atten-
tion is required.
From Saddle Hill by North Taieri the
plain is left and the hills ascended, with a road
of eight miles in length. From the same
place by Tokomairiro the plain is left and the
hills ascended, with a road of thirty miles in
length; thus to make a winter road to the
gold-field by the former route, will be small
in comparison with the latter. But as the
latter possesses water communication via Wai-
hola and Clutha, the construction of a metalled
road is not of such vital importance as in the
case of the former. The measures that I
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Otago Provincial Gazette 1861, No 155
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏗️ Engineer of Roads' Report regarding goldfields access
🏗️ Infrastructure & Public Works11 October 1861
Roads, Bridges, Goldfields, Otago, Infrastructure, Labour, Public Works
- John L. C. Richardson (Major), Superintendent of Otago
- John L. C. Richardson, Superintendent