DEEP-SEA HARBOUR SCHEME.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2159, 27 May 1914, Page 16

DEEP-SEA HARBOUR SCHEME.

FOE four ■ hundred miles the Wost Ooast of tie South Island stretches unbroken from Cape , Farewell to Milford Sound. In

all that length there is not one natural harbour worthy of the name to break its long monotony—save only, perhaps, Jackson's Bay, in tho far south. A dozen or more rivers with"perilous'entrances were all that tho pioneers of tho sixties found, and oach of these' eoon had its toll of disaster. To-day tho visitor, to..the Coast finds the big river .ports of Westport and Groymouth, , with their fleets of colliers'and timber ships, and tho 'ong streams of traffic pouring in from the mines. Those ports have only been built-up by heavy expenditure and their maintenance is unusually costly. ■■■;' -•

Of all tlio rivors the Buller offered the least obstacle to navigation, and it , is ih'ere that tho Coast's greatest harbour has been built up. As Sir John Coode, tho great English engineer,' 'pointed out in his report of 1880, : thero' is a much greater approximation to a balance at tho Buller between tho forces which tend to heap up/ tho bar, and those which operate-to keep it down, than will bo formed at any othbr river entrance on the West Coast. This' is duo partly to the fact that -the Coast at the embouchure of tho Bullor trends in. until it is practically, east and west, and tho entrance is thus.sheltered from the heavy southerly , ■ weather. -'■ The power of tho sea to cast'up'sau'd, etc., is "thus much, less than.at the. other western rivers.. At tho sanie'time:tho : fresh water discharge is , ,much*greater.;.' Below. will be found somo account of-the various ports.on; tins',,coast and their trade.' 'Each'has its own.particu-' lar sot of. problems. The : greatest ■' of-, the. ritfers.is,!of oourse J ;,tho/Buller. This magnificent and far-famed stream' has a ,: watershed of 2340 square miles, and an averago annual rainfall of 95-inches. The Grey, which ranis'iiext.iii; import-/ ance, has a watershed of 1572 --square miles, and a rainfall of 90 inches per" annum. The watershed of the -Hokitika 'is only about a fourth that of the Grey, but tho rainfall is about 25 per oant. heavier over it. All the livers are subject to heavy floods, and in Mβ Buller the waters havo risen to-as much as 28 feet above-high water springs. /In. tho design!of the harbourworks special attention has been paid in'each case to allowing ample room for tho floor waters to get away, and line seldom hears nowadays of the disastrous Hoods that in earlier years wero a foatiiro of life on tho Coast./, , :As will bo seen from tho matter be-, lolv, Groymouth might to-day have had its harbour at Point Elizabeth had it not been for the objection of tho 'citizens at the timo to tho employment of,prison labour on tho work. Of recent years the etrongest advooate of this scheme was the late Sir Arthur Guinness. The advantages of this harbour are- generally recognised, but it is ■ questionable whether the timo has net now gone by when its construction would be feasible.- A great deal of money has been expended on tho present port, and though tho pressure on its accommodation is at present heavy, it will be very materially, relieved when tho Otira tunnel is opeiied. With railway access to Canterbury and Otago n,great portion of' the coal and timber traffic passing -. over tlie Groymouth wharves will undoubtedly go by rail across the island. Tho Coast is a big district, and tho advantages of a deep sea harbour are so obvious that tho project will probably not willingly be allowed to die.