The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1880.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1174, 21 January 1880, Page 2

The Oamaru Mail WITH WHICH IS INCORPORATED THE NEW ZEALAND AGRICULTURIST. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 1880.

The report presented by Mr. M'Gregor, the Harbor Board's Engineer, at the meeting of the Board on Monday, is deserving of more than a passing notice. The scheme for forming a harbor at once safe and sufficiently capacious to accommodate a large fleet of ships is one deserving the earnest consideration of the Board and all who take an interest in the future prosperity of North Otago in general and of Oamarn in particular. That Mr. M'Gregor has carefully thought out the scheme he has propounded to the Board is evidenced by the care with which •aK the details are treated upon, and that it is within the power of the Board to carry cot as much of the work as will be necessary to meet the requirements of the trade of the port for many years to come is .dearly shown by the figures given. Hate we come to the moat important feat we of the question. It is highly impcobable that the Board will be likely for same time to come to again enter the money market with another loan, and it is therefore necessary that it should so shape its course as to steer clear of any hidden financial difficulties which might make shipwreck of their whole undertaking. That a course is open for adoption which will enable the Board to carry mat the main portion of the scheme, leading the minor portions to bo dealt witfb as necessity may arise and funds become available, is very clearly demonstrated. At present the Board is bound to a. contract for the extension of the breakwater and Macandrew Wharf, involving the outlay of a large share of the loan of the floating of which we may ■ dailyexpert to receive intelligence; but .one condition of that contract, framed •.with the view of altering the plan ■of operations, a&oitxld a broader scheme •of harbor works be decided upon, l

expressly gives pewer to the Board to determine the contract after so much of the work has been completed- This power Mr. M'Gregor thinks the Board should use by stopping any further extension of the Macandrew Wharf and substituting in lieu thereof a farther extension of the breakwater proper. By adopting this course, the Board would be able to carry the breakwater to the length which the engineer deems necessary for the purpose of his new scheme, and the balance of the loan would be available for the construction of the north wall, its most important feature. The adoption of the course suggested by Mr. M'Gregor would, as we have shown, necessitate the abandonment of the concrete whaif alongside the breakwater, and herein lies the only argument that can be urged against the scheme. Many people have looked upon the wharf as the backbone of the breakwater —as the great point wherein lies the strength of the wliole structure —and with this conclusion fixed upon their minds, they may, and, in fact, some do, cry out that the neglect to add this support to the breakwater may prove fatal. They seem to think that, while the breakwater wa3 built for the protection of the shipping, the wharf wasbuiltforthe protection of the breakwater. That there is little or no cause to fear that, deprived of the support afforded by the solid wharf, the breakwater would be unable to withstand the onslaughts of heavy seas, has already been proved. During the past year some of the heaviest seas that have ever been known to roll into the bay have brought the whole force of their merciless artillery to bear upon hundreds of feet of breakwater not supported by the wharf without having the slightest perceptible effect upon the structure. Not a block has been moved, and, save at the extreme end of the wall, where the work was in an unfinished state, there was nothing to remind the most careful examiner that a heavy storm had been experienced. Besides this, we have the positive assurance of the engineer that the breakwater, as at present constructed, iscapable of withstanding the heaviest pressure to which it is likely to be subjected. Could anything bemore positive upon the point thanthefollowingremarkseontainedinMr.M'Gregor's report: —" Since the use of rubble pockets in the centre of the wall under low water line wa3 abandoned, and three rows of solid concrete blocks substituted for the foundation, the breakwater requires no artificial support from any structure built inside, and I am of opinion that the design as now being carried out is capable of resisting successfully the heaviest waves that roll into the bay at Oamaru." Is it possible that an engineer, engaged upon an undertaking of such magnitude as the breakwater, and whose scheme has so far proved to be one of the. most successful undertakings of the kind ever entered upon, would stake his reputation upon the matter, and run the risk of losing the credit he has already gained, without feeling thoroughly convinced that he was treading upon a safe path ? Then again it is urged by some that the further out to sea the breakwater is carried the greater will be the force of the waves, and therefore the greater necessity for rendering the i breakwaterthemoresecure. Butprecaution- | ary measures have been adopted, as is shown I by the quotation from the report given above. The substitution of solid blocks of concrete for rubble pockets must I afford a vast amount of additional strength to the structure. Unsupported oortions of the breakwater, constructed ' upon the old system, and unsheltered by I the friendly reef outside, have already ! shown an undoubted capability to withstand ! the force of the waves ; and if this has | been the case so far, it will certainly be the case now that additional strength is ! given to the wall by the substitution of : solid concrete blocks for rubble. Thus, ' we think, the only objections that can be ; raised against Mr. M'Gregor's scheme are : demolished, and all fears as to the capaI bitities of the breakwater set at rest. | Jfow we come to the advantages which ' the adoption of the proposal will ensure, j Not the lea3t of these will be that a well- | defined scheme of harbor works will have : been decided upon. Hitherto, the Board j has been working entirely in the dark ; : they have had no really definite end in view, and have had to devote more than an ordinary amount of consideration to j each new contract, with a view of ascerI taining how the work proposed would fit I in with any final scheme that might be adopted. We need scarcely say that the | want of definiteness of purpose has en- | tailed the outlay of money that might 'have been saved had the Board started with a cut and dried scheme, We do not blame the Board for this. Few people who saw the harbor works initiated for the purpose solely of isjirin" shelter to a small fleet of coast- ! jug vessels thought the work would | so speedily be developed into a scheme the carrying out of which will provide a harbor unrivalled in Otago for its accommodation, the easy entry and exit it will afford, and its safety. The construction of the proposed north wall will give to the works the nature of a secure harbor instead of, as at present, the character of a simple protection to shipping from the vagaries of the sea. This in itself should be sufficient to ensure its construction; but in its train will follow many advanI tagea that could not be secured under the scheme now being carried out. The reclamation of land along the foreshore, which it is proposed to carry on concurrently with the north wall, in order to provide a means of using the debris obtained from the quarries, forms an important clement in the scheme, and one that renders the adoption of Mr. M'Gregor's proposal the more advisable. This reclamation can be carried out at small cost, and should provide the Board with a valuable property—an estate that must, as years roll by, secure a handsome revenue and provide the meafl3 of still further developing the scheme and arriving at the desired end. It would also, when completed, with a breastwork running round the bay, form, if we may use the expression, one continuous wharf, at which Bmall vessels might discharge and load cargo within a few yards of all the grain stores in town, while from it could very easily be run out a number of wooden wharves, as shown ou Mr. M'Gregor's plan, capable of accommodating a numer-

ous fleet of vessels of all kinds. The proposals for dredging are not new, and, as we have already treated upon the matter, we need not deal with it again at present. The whole scheme proposed -by Mr. M'Gregor is one that has everything to' commend it to the Board, and nothing, so far as we can at present see, that can cause it to be- condemned. We therefore hope that the Board will lose no time in taking the matter into consideration. It i 3 true that at present it has not the funds to carry out Mr. M'Gregor's idea, but it will not, we are convinced, have long to wait for funds. The success which attended the Wellington waterworks loan the other day augure well, for the successful floating of the Oamaru harbor works loan j - and the -Board should therefore, in order to be prepared for operations as soon as the tooney is * obtained, carefully consider its ways and means, and definitely decide upon a course of action. Thus vexatious delays may be avoided, and the public will be satisfied that the Board kuows how.it is going to spend the money when it is obtained.