RETAINING WALL AT ORIENTAL BAY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 504, 11 May 1909, Page 8

RETAINING WALL AT ORIENTAL BAY.

THE PAST AND, PRESENT. The filling in of the landward side of the retaining wall at Oriental Bay has been completed, and tlio additional roadway, thus provided, properly formed. There is a big gap—! about three chains—between tho present terminus and a portion of.the wall alroady constructed at Clyde Quay. Tkt/ water is deep at this point, and the work will bo very heavy, and probably take some time to complete. It is not likely that the concrete revetment, sloping from the wall to tho embankment, will l be proceeded with for a while yet. i In conversation with a Dominion reporter, an. Oriental Bay resident expressed dissatisfaction tho present wall and suggested an improvement. : His mind was carried back to.*the days of 1860, when many mothers took their; children to the To Aro beach'or Oriental: Bay, and many a boy and girl laid tho foundation of strong and healthy constitutions playing on the'water-side. The'speaker was tho eldest of a family of ten, and they had had no sickness worth This,' he put down to their frequent and invigorating pilgrimages to the sea shore. . A-change had taken place, and, in his opinion, not to tho benefit of the locality. ; 9 n i en^a l staining wall had' been erected, but it./was straight up and down, and at springtide ho considered it one of the most dangerous traps for childlife in Wellington. The sea hits the wall- and splashes 12 or 15 feet *over to the embankment, to . the great danger, of any children in the vicinity. His suggestion jto remove , tho danger was that the City Council authorities should arrange with the Harbour ■ Board for some of the white sandy shells now being placed on the reclamation tip 'beyond the King's Wharf to be dropped as near tile wall as possible. This would, he said, have the effect of "making-up" the beach, and an excellent playground for tho children would thus be provided..; Tho effect of the wall was to cause a little silting up, but what accumulated was harbour rubbish and other undesir-' able matter. •; Inquiry on the subject was made at the engineering- department of the City. Council, and; the reporter was itold that, it was impossible to prevent harbour refuse from floating on to . ithe beach. 'It was considered 1 improbablethat the Harbour Board would allow spoil to be placed at the seaside oft tho present wall without having a protective wall outside to keep it from, silting back into the harbour.