BAR CONDITIONS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 83, 22 September 1947, Page 5

BAR CONDITIONS

DEFINITE IMPROVEMENT EFFECT OF GROYNE WORK In an interview with a Beacon representative Mr T. Hall said that conditions at the bar were very good and no trouble was being experienced getting vessels into port. The new groyne work recently constructed at the Heads was in no small way responsible for the improvement. Function Of Groyne The work of the groyne is to hold back a portion of the waters within the harbour so that most will go out the channel instead of taking other routes. This would appear to have the effect of flushing material from the bar instead of allowing it to pile up and become a menace to shipping. At present it appears to be doing its job very well. What Of The Future Summer, with its spells of dry weather, is coming on and it is then that the groyne will be most useful. Its capacity for keeping the bar workable will be tested to the full. The Harbour Board is to be congratulated on making this move to ■ ensure a reliable and efficient freight •service between Whakatane and the main ports. There is every reason to hope that vessels carrying muchneeded cargoes will no longer have to wait outside the port until the •clearance on the bar improves -enough to enable them to enter.