28 T. H. HOUGHTON. 



A source of trouble and expense to the Commissioners, 

 and annoyance to the public, has been the rapid wear of 

 the crossings, especially at such busy centres as the inter- 

 section of King Street with Elizabeth, Castlereagh and 

 George Streets. Manganese steel crossings of the very 

 best materials were used at these places, but that did not 

 obviate the wear and bumping which resulted from it, and 

 the delay to traffic which when a large crossing is being 

 replaced is unavoidable. Now, however, by means of electric 

 welding, it is possible to deposit a surface of tool steel on 

 the face of the crossing as soon as it shows any signs of 

 wear, and the crossing is thus made practically everlasting. 



Privately Owned Railways. 

 There are in the State 143J miles of privately owned 

 railways, the most important of those recently constructed 

 being the 33 miles of line connecting the works of the 

 Commonwealth Oil Corporation with the Government 

 Railway at Newnes. This line is interesting owing to 

 the heavy grades and the type of locomotives used on it. 

 An interesting description of the difficulties overcome was 

 given by our past President, Mr. H. Deane, m. inst. c.e.. in his 

 Presidential address in 1908. 



Roads and Bridges. 



On the passage of the Act conferring Local Government 

 on the country districts in 1906, the control of the roads 

 and bridges wag transferred to local bodies, national works 

 still being retained by the G o vernment, which also subsidised 

 the Shires to a considerable amount. So far there appears 

 to have been no material improvement in the main roads, but 

 the necessity for improvement is being forced on the public 

 in consequence of the great increase in fast motor traffic, 

 and although the outlay will be considerable, the gain will be 

 more than commensurate. 



