GISBORNE HARBOR.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIV, Issue 1918, 30 October 1906, Page 3

GISBORNE HARBOR.

MR MARCHANT’S PRELIMINARY RE PORT. The usual monthly lnooting of tho Harbor Board was held yesterday afternoon Present: Messrs J. Townloy (Chairman), Hepburn, Harding MatthowI soil, Sievwright, Clark, Whinray and Captain Tucker. Mr Marchaut was also present. Tho Chairman read Mr Marchant’s report to the Board, as follows : I have tho honor to inform you that I arrived hero on September 29th, and immediately commenced the investigations and surveys necessary for tho purpose of soke ting a site for an outer harbor in P . urty Bay. Examination of tho bay showed that there is but one site at which

a well-sheltered harbor at a moderate cost

could be constructed capable of serving the large class of shipping desired, and this in tho bay immediately to the westward of Pah Ilill.

This site also has the groat merit of aving a clear entry from the open soa

without any obstruction from tho foul ground of the middle roof, which would occur if the site wore fixed nearer tho river entrance.

At the site selected the soa bottom

is perfectly clear papa, and free from any deposit of silt or sand, so that it may bo safely predicted that no expense for maintenance and dredging will bo necessary— a very important factor With tho construction of a breakwater on the lines proposed shipping w uld" be in perfect calm water, land locked on all sides except where the breakwater would be built.

Westerly winds only could raise a short choppy se=». To this ih-j wha/f alignment would cause vessels to bo bow on, and as tha basin is sheltered by a natural reef on tho western side, no westerly enclosing Wall would be uecossarv.

Attached hereto is a statement compiled from official returns showing bow Shis harbor proposed for Gisborne will oompare with two other well known aud prosperous ports oq the East Coast. Tno whole countryside has been examined for possible stone deposits fit for use as rabble in breakwater construction, and the Waihirere reserve has been se leoted as being an excellent deposit of limestone yielding latga blocks aud effacing first-olass facilities for mining operationp. The only defect with it is that it rtquires a tcamway line of about 101 miles in length. It is, however, all on a gentle down grads and of V3ry easy construction.

It depends on the manner in whioh tha quarry would open out whai tho oost of tno proposed harbor would bo. • If, as there is every indication, really Ja'ga blocks could be obtainsd, so that ooncrate could Blithely be dispensed with, then the whole of the harbor wotks, tramway, wharf, etc,, could be oonstruoted for about L3OU,OjO. If oonertta blocks had to be used to supplement a deficiency of large rubble, taen the cost would probably bo L 39.000 to L4O 000 more.

Tna lioacoial aspeoi of the question ia one foe iho Board to deal wish, bus I stata the cage from my own paint of view. Suoh a harbor bs proposed would save She eoet of the present iighsersg-, which may be put down a! about j 6 10,000 per annum. Eventually it would probably bo found desirable to abandon she present river port, tbe maintenance of which probably ooats £3OOO yearly. I advocate the imposition of a passenger tax on all pardons landing from or embarking on vessels in tbe new harbor when Gisoorne is their terminal port or port of departure. It always seemed to me an anomaly that goods of the smallest value have to pay wharfage while passengers usually eacapo suoh a charge. At the new harbor at Dover, where there is an enormously heavy pas soDger traffic between Eugland aod Franco, such passengers pay 2s 6d wharfage. At New Plymouth 2s a head is charged, bringing in a large revenue, Suoh a ohfirge oatohea all sorts cf persons besides ratepayers, and my advice to your Board is that you should adopt the principle, Then again, lam given to understand that oertain reserves held by your Board will shortly yield largely increased rentals. So that with ooe thing and another it oould safely be asserted that quite apart from the value and convenience of a harbor such as is suggested, it would be a fioaoeial suocess, no; causing any heavier levy on tbe ratepavers tban is now madp.

In connection with the working of the ;oo<ls traffic, lam a strong advocate for he retention by the Board of the receiv-

ing and delivering of goods and not allowing the Bailway Department to manage it as is clone generally. In thus reporting, it is to lie understood that' this is

but a preliminary report, ail indication to the Board of what my proposals are and a rough estimate of the cost of effecting them, It was arranged that such a preliminary report should be made, and accepted or rejected by the Board before proceeding with the finished plans and report of the works proposed.” Attached was a comparison of Lyttelton and Ximaru harbors, with the outer harbor proposed at Gisborne : Lyttelton harbor : Bunge of tides, oft neaps 7ft springs; total area enclosed about 100 acres. Of this total area about

1) acres, has depths varying from 14ft to

9ft at low water and about 60 acres are iijiintaincd at 25ft. Vessels averaging Ifjft leave the inner harbor at high water.

The shipping berths are maintained at whatever depths are necessary for the class of vessel using them- Total cost of the works is stated at about half a million sterling, Tiiuaru harbor: Bunge of tides, sft neaps, 7ft springs; total area enclosed about 50 acres, Of this about half has low water depths varying from 20 fo 23ft, the balance of 25 acres is shallow. The

shipping berths are maintained at whatever depths are necessary for the class of vessel using them; the greatest depth in the main deep water berth being stilted at 20ft, according to the Nautical Almanac. Apart from the extension of the rubble

breakwater lately built, the cost of the 50 aero harbor, with its wharves and fittings, W»s about 1300,000. Bcupuseii outgc harbor at Gisborne: Range of tides sft neaps. 7ft springs; total area cf calm water sheltered by breakwater and natural retfs nmouuts to 130 acres to low water mark, Of this, 35 acres would have depths varying from 30 to 40ft, and 40 acres from 18ft to 30ft low water depths, the remainder being shallow. Ojß main double-sided wharf would be

provided 1600 ft long x ,70ft wide. This would afford 2000fs length of shipping birtoage of BQft depth and upwards, and 1200'S of berthage of from 15 to 30ft low wator depths. This whatf would be built of frrro concrete, with special arrangements for cushioning any raDge of the vessels moored alongsid?. The wfco’e of ha Bea but sun bare is papa rook. I) would be somewhat expensive to deepen ihs water by the excavation of thimaterial, bus tho arrangement cf th_bisakwater wonldadmit of at least aDOsho' 80GQL of berthage being onnsiruoied for the ucocmmodrtion of deep draft vessels beioro it became necessary to extend

tho deep water iushoro by oxo-tvaiirg ttm papa.

Tho Chairman said tho break wator would bo 1.1 miles (rum tho present

wh-trios. Mr Matthowson itsltol Shu engineer whether it was possible to uso tho Mono from Pah hill. It would last well under wiiloi-.

Mr Marcliant said ho had considered this point. Tno atono thoro wan vory good, (nit was much inferior to Waibiroro, and it hr, kii up very email, The only saving tlmt would noortut by using thin atono was perhaps u'hhiS (id pot- ton. Tho expenses of quarrying, tipping, etc., had to bo taken into onnN'di ration. Tho stuns at Wttihiruru was the bout ho had aeon fit tho dis-

trict for tho pin-paoo. In fact it was tho bent prospect that could bo found anywhore, aud would be oasily worked.

Tho Ohtifiiuuu said tho stouo at Waihi roro was situated on n t-oenio reservu of ltiO not'OH taken by Government, and was realty at tho bottom of this reserve.

hit- Whinray asked Mr M-irohnnt whether, when tho proposod broukwater was oonstructi d, they wero likoly to bo truublod with u drift, and if so wbother it would not bo loiter to provide agains same.

Mr Marohnnt said tboro was not tho least possibility of a drift. Thoro wore no tracos of sand on the prepoaod site, tho bottom being quite cl nil.

are ssvs Mattliewson mid Hepburn both thought that there was no dt-ITI on that side of tho bay. JUi- Harding moved that (lie Engineer he asked to go ahead and prepare tho plans and .specifications for the work, He

thought the Board should go on with Mr Mareli.-ml’s proposal even if the cost was

much greater. The question was a hurtling otto here, and hail the support of the ratepayers. He hoped members of the Bottl'd should be unanimous on the question, Air Alatthewson seconded Alt-Harding’s resolution, IT had been tho dream of his life, for the last 25 or 30 years to see Gisborne possess a good harbor, It would mean a great increase of shipping at this port, lie thought a harbor scheme stieit as recommended could be easily carried out without a single penny extra rate being struck. They would not bo providing a harbor for to-day or to-morrow,

but for the future. Tho outer harbor would do away with the present expenditure on tlio river. tie had not tho 1 slightest, fear of the result. Mr Whin ray said ho thought before going on with the scheme another engineer should bo allowed to confer with Mr Alarehant, as it. would be folly to be too precipitous. t here were several tilings that wanted careful consideration One for instance was the possibility of a drift, and lie thought it wise to have another opinion. 'The scheme when carried out

I would not bring in such a large revenue as many people thought, as two linns already had their own plant, He would move that another engineer be called in to consult with Air AlareltanC, Air Clark saitl ho would like to knowseveral things. The t ngineer had stated in His report that it would save TIO.OOO a year in lighterage. Ho would like to know how that sum was made up, how much wool, grain, and meat had to pay, Tho question in his mind was whether it would not be cheaper to lighter it as at present as to carry it .1 }■ miles round the head. He was not against an outer liar bur, but be thought they should get further information, as it might turn out a white elephant. Air Alarehant said he had no details to enable him to separate wool and mutton from other lighterage ; it was simply the amount given to him by competent authorities. Ho thought it would he cheaper to rail wool, etc., to the ship’s side than to lighter same. Air Chirk asked the Chairman for the real cost of wool and mutton going over

the wharf. He would also like to know the cost of tying up a steamer. He was told it would cost a large ship T2OO to tic up at the wharf. For this sum it was possible to lighter about 30.000 eareases, He had also been informed by shipping people that it would cost more for ships to come into the harbor than lightering as at present. Ho was not against a harbor scheme in any way. Air Harding had said it was a burning question, but he did not think it was a burning question with tho majority of ratepayers. They did not want to rush into something more expensive than they had at present. The Chairman informed Mr Clark that returns wore being kept so that at tho end of the year, it could bo ascertained exactly what different products had paid for lighterage. He said with reference to the harbor, it was tho desire of a large number of people to laud on a wharf. Air Clark: But wc are not going to spend i'Boo,ooo for that. The Chairman: Of course not. ITc thought that the scheme had been under estimated. It would in his opinion cost fully 41350,000. He thought the money could be got without diffiiculty. Mr Sievwrtgus stiougnt m was promature to ask the Board for an opinion, as they wore not in a position to approve or disapprove of the schema. He did not think they should support any soheme without sufficient dasa. There were many things to oonaider, A great many people would not have a harbor miles away. (Hear, hear,) He thought Mr Marchant a oapa'ole engineer, but it was not fair to ask members to give an opinion at this time without more details,

Captain Tucker said it was discouraging to hoar that if snore was a harbor ships would not come m. If tuis was true they had oause to dmis-iCe. Ii was doubtless a burning quest-ou wuh some people, but it was generally tiik d about most by least responsible p opio who were not ratepayers. Ho mought they should exorcise every care. Wim regard to haviog another engineer, ho was strongly opposed to bringing anyone from outside, Three gentlemen in Gisborne wrote O.E. afier their names and were oapabio men, and ia a case like this local knowledge was valuable. With regard to the scheme, he agreed with the previous speaker, the Board couid hardiy ba a-ksd to express an opiuion on somothiug that had not been entirely disclosed to them, Fortunately the Board had one safeguard; they had to consult those who would have tu pay heavily, and also unfortunately with those who had to pay an infinitesimal, portion of same.

Mr Hepburn at this stage pointed out that no motion was required, tho Board having ugceod that Mr Marohuni should prepare full plans and specification-, The Bjard oauld not dictate to tho Eogioeer whoro to pat the harbor, or that ii was in tho wrong place,

Mr Wninray explained that tho idea cf a preliminary report was to give the Bjard a ohaoce to make any suggestions to be embodied ia ihs plans. Mr Harding said that the Board at last meeting wore voey strong on tbo que-tion, and he understood they hid met to ap prove what had been done up to the present. He understood it was the whii cf the Board that Mr Marohunt was to prepare full plau3 and specifications.

Mr Murchant said ho had made the preliminary report so that the Board oould make any suggestions thereon, and disease the matter with him, Ho pointed out that to obtain the depth of water it wai impossible to briDg the harbor any olo3er, as there wero,great obstructions noar the middle reef. He had consulted nautioal men, who regarded suoh maita'3 from a nautical point, and they agreed with tbe proposals he made. The Board should in

its own interest when tbe plans were com plated oall in ano'ber opinion. He had no objection so long ob a oompotent engineer was called in. Wi<h regard to the paint raised by Mr 'Wbinray about the’ drift, bo did not think thrro was the least danger, There was not a grain of sand on the papa, as it wa3 swept clean. The Chairman asked if it was agreed that there was no necessity for a resolution and that it was understood Mr Marchaot was to go on and supply his detailed sohems. All present assented, aod the Board prooeeded to other business,