DRAINING THE SWAMP.

Shannon News, 1 September 1922, Page 3

DRAINING THE SWAMP.

PROGRESS OF BIG MAKERUA

SCHEME

BANK BUILDING AND DREDGING IN FULL SWING.

SOME INTERESTING DETAILS

The, great drainage scheme under-

taken by the Makerua Drainage , Board in close proximity to Shannon will have an important bearing on the future development of the town and the following special article by a News representative describing the work will therefore be read with wide interest.

The increased activity of the Makerua Drainage Board along the Manawatu River in the vicinity of the big flax swamp is becoming more and more evident and this is emphasised by the .construction of a dredge at Kara Creek to assist in a scheme ol banking to stay the inrush of water over the Makerua swamp lands during the flood periods. .-Willi a large area of the famous swamp losing its flax growth, principally through disease, the owners of the land intend to turn it to other uses, and in time it is hoped to see dairy larms occupying, the land which is no longer profitable as 1 flax-producing country. To permit farming operations, however, provision must be made to render the land proof against, floods, as this particular locality is rapidly inundated when the Manawatu overflows its banks. To provide an effective safeguard an immense scheme-of protective banks had to be 1 undertaken and this work is now in hand under the direction of the Makerua Drainage Board. The gigantic nature of the proposition and the immense sum of mqney that is involved in the work give some idea of the calibre and courage of the landowners forming the Board, and it is not too- much to say that their undertaking deserves the success which it rightly merits.

OUTLINE OF THE SCHEME

During the week a "News” representative was shown over the country where the Board’s operations are in progress and the plan of the work was explained. Shortly, it is intended to bank the south-east side of the Manawatu from Linton down to Shannon, whilst the same class of protective work will be thrown up on both sides of the Tokomaru River from its junction with the Manawatu up to Where

it crosses the railway south of the . Tokomaru township. The scheme will also* take in the Kara Creek on the

Main road between Shannon and Makfrua. A straight cut will be put in

from the point where the creek crosses the road and will continue till it joins

the Tokomaru River. Both sides of the Kara creek will be banked, joining up on the*north side with the Tokomaru River works and on the south with the continuation of the Tokomaru system and further on will merge with the main Manawatu river bank, which will then continue to the Shannon —Foxton bridge over the river, and sweep round in the vicinity of the road and -finally reach its objective along the Otauru creek just below Shannon. The work will enclose an area of 22.,000 acres, and the cost of the scheme is estimated at £60,000. Payment is secured by a special rate struck over the whole area, the system of rating being onj a sliding scale, the land most affected, the A class, carrying the heaviest rate, whilst the B and C classes are lighter in proportion, and the D lands are not rated, but in places this class of land will be utilised in order to get’ straight lines for simplilytng operations. . '.

SIXTEEN MILES OF BANK. COM-

£leted

The. main bank on the MahaWatu was commenced 21 months ago at Linton, and the Board’s excavator has been employed on the work ever since. Up till now 16 miles of banking las been completed, the machine having reached a point opposite Mr Ross’s mill at Moutoa. This excavator wd! continue the construction of the mam bank to Shannon, whilst the Kara creek dredge will be used in that ueek and then on the Tokomaru River and subsidiary-'works. At the conclusion ol the banking scheme, both machines will be employed on the drainage oJ the big area that will be enclosed so that- a considerable programme ol work still lies ahead, the banking alone being estimated to take from eighteen months to two years.

UP-TO-DATE EXCAVATORS A trip round through the Moutoa \o Mr Ross’s mill and across the ManaWatu on the mill aerial brought the visitor to the Board’s excavator busily at work building the bank on the south east side. This machine, known as a Marion drag line excavator, is of the same type as those used on the Panama Canhl, and fairly eats up the eartn around it. It is constructed on caterpillar wheels, whilst the main machinery is on a revolving stage which may

swing round in any direction. The bucket, worked on an arm, has one and a half yards’ capacity, and besides its immense speed in shifting material ,a great feature of the excavator is that it can work to 16 feet below its ow r n level. Its working capacity is 1000 yards each shift- or 2000 yards per day of 20 hours, the only stop being from 2.30 till 6.30 each morning. At night the work goes cri under the illumination of electric light generated by the machine itself. «he bank being built is 40 feet at the base and between 9 feet and 10 feet high, which is expected to eventual'y seuit down to 6 feet 6 inches. When it is

necessary to move ahead, power is put on the caterpillar and the excavator goes ahead and is soon tearing up

mo'e earth and piling it on the bank. The whole thing is operated by two men on the machine, one on ihe bank and another one or two to clear a road for the tractor and attend to the pumping gear. This machine cost £IO,OOO, but this cannot be. regarded as excessive when it is stated that, with

horses and scoops it would cost 2/ per cubic yard to build such a bank, hut the mechanical worker is doing it for one-third of that sum and making a better job, not. to mention the speed with which’ the work is being done. THE DREDGE. The dredge that, will put the cut through at Kara creek is of the Marion dipper variety. The hull which has been launched, is 80 feet long with a beam of 22 feet, and the machinery is now being installed. Power will be supplied by a 45 h.p. Economic boiler, and a bucket of 1$ yards capacity will be operated, capable of moving •65

yards of material per’Tiour. The dredge has to "eat” its way through one and a half miles of country to the Tokomaru River, and when that is done the Kara creek will be turned through the cut. This work will drain a large area on the south-east side of the ShannonMakerua road, and be an immense benefit to that particular locality. The dredge is being built at a cost of £9OOO and it will be In operation In about six weeks.

A OVERFLOW CHANNEL To get the full benefit from the scheme, it is considered an overflow, channel should be constructed. It is reasonable to suppose that when the hanks are completed and a flood occurs the water will he confined to a large extent with the banking system on the Moutoa side of the river. The proposed overflow would therefore tap the Manawatu right in the middle cl the flpod area just to the north oi Ross’s'mill, and going straight across country strike the Manawatu again before it reaches Foxton. This channel would relieve the river ol a large body of water, and obviate any danger of isolating the bridge on the Slicipnon-Foxton road during a flood The matter of the overflow channel will be one lor consideration by the River Board which is to be formed shortly to control the whole river channel from Palmerston North to Foxton, taking in Koputaroa, Moutoa, Makerua, Tokomaru and other places. Whatever proposals the River Board decide upon will be made to conform with the presen twork of the Makerua Board and the result should be a decided step forward in the progress ol the districts affected and a benefit that will have far-reaching effects on the future of the whole Manawatu basin. In the meantime the Makerua Board, as the pioneers of this particular iorm of enterprise, deserve well of the community and the full fruition of their endeavours to improve the productive capacity of this large tract of country.

PERSONNEL OF THE BOARD

The members of the Makerua Drain age Board are as follows: Messrs Jo seph Liggins (chairman), H. Akers, R. T. Bell, R. L, Tippler and A. Seifert. Mr A. H. Grant is the secretary. The

members of the Board are the principal owners of the land affected. Messrs .Tickell and Gilmour are the Board’s engineers and planned the operations now in progress.