THE KENNARD CASE.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume XIII, Issue 563, 26 March 1868, Page 3

THE KENNARD CASE.

(From tlio TTciiincioa Independent, Ittli 3lnrch )[ As most of our readers will not have cifhr-r! time or patience to peruse the lengthened reports of the evidence taken in the case of Kcnmrd v Featherston, we propose to give a short history of the affair. In 1862 the first portion of the wharf was Hiilt in] timber, from designs by Mr J. T. Stewart;] and in 1864, the Panama route being' mooted, it was proposed to extend (he wharf outwards so as to give a depth at low water of 25 feet. The Government, unfortunately, ns it has turned out, decided on having the extension constructed in iron, I and sent home to London for that pur-1 pose a sketch of the dimensions of the proposed addition, showing the depth of] water and general requirements ; stating al-o in order to give a general idea of the site, that the timber piles of the wharf then existing had been driven 13 feet deep into a bottom, (he nature of which was “ stiff blue clay.” The sketch referred to also showed pointed screw piles; and stated, to begin with, “ that this sketch is merely intended to be suggestive as to the requirements of the wharf, and the design, details, and strength of, piles and framing are wholly left to the engineer in Great Britain.” It was further stipulated that the extension must bo equal to the strain produced by ocean steamers lying alongside. There was no suggestion made as to cylinders at this time. From these particulars, the Messrs Kennard offered to design and erect the extension of the wharf at Wellington, and supply a steam crane, four mooring?, railway with turntables on the deck, for the snm'of 31,813 ; stipulating that all the timber was to bo provided by the Provincial Government, which timber, however, contractors were to fix and put together upon the wharf. On beginning to screw in the piles, the contractors had several breakages of the screwing gear ; bnt, as was clearly brought out in evidence, and illustrated by a model pro 'bleed by the defendant in Court, these breakages were caused by the system of screwing ; the turning power being applied by a key introduced into the inside of the top of the hollow cast iron pile, and evidently tending to burst it open; and all the piles thus broken wero found to have given way exactly where the strain was applied by the key. The key itself was turned by a capstan fitted on its upper end, worked by manual power, applied to the capstan bars—grooves in the key allowing it to slip down through the capstan head, as the pile serened into the ground, as it was turned. After repeated breakages the power was applied to to the outside of the piles by flanges connecting key to the pile head, and hy this plan the piles went in with no great difficulty ; in fact, only one pile was broken afterwards, which was loss than the average breakage

in similar structures. Now, the p< iufc in dispute was, that (lie contractors attributed these breakages to ilia nature of the soil not hi mg what it was represented; while iutf vju vt-?rauient engineers said it was ow* iug to the faulty screwing apparatus at first used, and to a defect in the construe* tion of the screw flange of the pile, which, when nltered by a slight operation of cuttin or Qir a poi i ion which overlapped in the screw flange, made a vast difference in the case of inserting the screw piles. The contractors in this action street tor damages—on account of alleged raisrepresenration as to the nature of the bottom—to the extent of £7757. In this sum was included the extra cost they alleged they were put to in sinking the 25 cylinders in tlie outer face of tlio crosshead, as well as that caused by tlio extra difficulty of screwing in the 96 piles in the structure. The contractors gave terrible accounts of the gravel andstones they had metwith, and 'one of the professional witnesses described his calculations as based upon a bottom of “ broken stones and gravel,” which description the contractors had given him, and the accuracy of which he did not apparently take any means of judging for himself. But the Government produced in Court specimens of the bottom, taken during the sittings of Court, by borings on the site, which effectually dissipated these vague and mysterious descriptions of the stratum on which the wharf was erected, and showed the bottom to consist of three feet loose surface deposit of sand; small gravel and shells ; then seven to eight feet of sandy clay plastic when wet, and with here and there a stone or two varying in in frequency in different parts, but none larger than an egg ; and underlying this, down as fur as the borings went, viz., 13 feet, was stiff blue clay and yellow clay. His Honor the Judge had intimated as the evidence went on, that all that the data sent home by the Provincial Government in 1861, implied, was a bottom into which screw piles with a closo point could be, with ordinary means, put in; and there was no denying that here was a bottom agreeing with this desorption. Thus vanished tho large claim for contractors’s extras on account of nature of bottom. In fact, it soon became cvidtnt there was no foundation for this claim of the sre Messrs Kennard. Then another sum sued for in this action was the balance of the contract price withheld by tho Provincial Government on account of the contract not being completed. This amounted to some £BOOO, and failing success m this claim, they sought to vcover tlio actual value of the work as it stood. Tho evidence, however, brought forward by tho defendant as to tho value of the work as it stood, was of a very damaging nature. It told of what the contractor’s agent called “ cheap turntable,” which ia fact were useless; and screw moorings with less chain than the depth of water over them ; of a 5 ton steam crane that threatened to capsize when loaded with 2f tons ; and cylinders with Jin plates instead of In plates, filled with an incoherent mass of sand and gravel and bad cement, instead of solid concrete. I Then there were bolts where lin bolts should have been ; and altogether, it appeared as if the Government would make a bad bargain even if they paid no more than the sum of £21.500, which the contractors had already received to account. However, when tho evidence on both sides Was completed, and counsel were proceeding to address the jury, a proposal was made by the plaint iff, and a compromise ultimately arranged that the contractors should receive the balance of contract, money, less £2OOO, and give up all claims Ifor extras on account of tho foundation. This is satisfactory, as it closes litigation, and although the Government will probably be put to some expense before tho , iron extension is fit for large steamers to u c, yet wo hope it will soon bo open for traffic. The evidence of nautical men showed that the wooden wharf is much sounder, stronger, and better fitted to resist strains from vessels lying alongside in rough weather, than the iron extension as it now stands : consequenily some strengthening of the latter will probably be found necessary even after the damage caused to it by tue colli;ion of the Otago steamer is repaired.