DRAINAGE WORKS.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4542, 21 March 1923, Page 2

DRAINAGE WORKS.

PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT. TOUR BY HON. J. G. COATES. $ During the Ministerial tour of public works on the Waihou River oh Thursday last an object of interest to be seen was the huge houseboat which is safely anchored in a snug bend in the river. This house-boat’ is 48ft. long by 20ft. wide, and has a draft of 3ft 6in. In tjie centre of the boat is a huge living and dining room, capable of holding thirty men at a sitting. Leading fore and aft from the living room are the sleeping quar- / ters, divided' into cubicles, each one holding two men. The whole struc- . ture is comfortably fitted up. Hot and cold water is laid on also. This boat provides accommodation for the men specially engaged on the river work. The house-boat moves forward as the work progresses. \lt is fitted with auxiliary engines, and is capable of developing five knots an hour. WAIHOU STOBiBANK, From the point onwards down the river the Waihou stop-bank can be seen. These works are intended to be the principal protection against the flooding of a very large area of country. The stop-bank, when com- 1 pleted, will be five miles in length, and the whole section is to be reinforced by silt, which will be lifted from the bed of the river by means of an hydraulic dredge. The work being done at present on this bank is principally levelling and shaping, before the dredge comes along. The work of levelling is being done by contract. About a dozen horse scoops and ploughs are engaged. WAIHOU DREDGE. Some miles farther down the river the Waihou suction dredge was reached. The dredge was boarded by the / party, and the services of the launch were disposed, of. The dredge was duly inspected,'and proved very interesting. The engine room was scrupu- . lously clean and shining, reminding one of an engine room on an ocean liner. It is interesting tp record that this dredge was designed in the Public Works Office, Wellington. The functions of this dredge are twofold. It deepens the river channel and builds up a stop-bank in the one operation. The mud and silt is drawn up by suction from the river and is conveyed by means of lOin iron pipes on to the river bank .where the debris is pumped out, thus forming a bank of sand and silt which very quickly consolidates. The iron pipes are supported on the river by huge pontoons at. the rear of the dredge. They are then taken at an angle up on to the bank, being supported by trestles. , When finished this stop-bank will be of great benefit to the low-lying'conn-try around Tirohia. The ear was again requisiitoned near the foot of Cadman’s Road, and the party returned to Paeroa shortly 1 after 5 o’clock.