PUMPING A BAY DRY

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 590, 16 February 1929, Page 13

PUMPING A BAY DRY

HARBOUR BRIDGE IDEA DYKES ACROSS SHOAL BAY A suggestion that the roads across Shoal Bay and between Bayswater and Stanley Bay be used as dams and the areas be kept dry by pumping- stations, was received from a Mr. Robert A. Laidlaw at a meeting of the Auckland Harbour Bridge Association on Thursday. Mr. G. O’Halloran presided. The letter from Mr. Laidlaw stated that in looking over the plan of the proposed bridge and approaches and after reading recently that Holland was proceeding with another pumping and excavation scheme, which would add enormous acreage to the country, he was impressed by the use that could be made of Shoal Bay. “Shoal Bay is large enough for a great motor-racing area, an airdrome and football and cricket fields, and would no doubt return rentals far in excess of the cost of operating a pumping station,” said Mr. Laidlaw. “While we have not been educated to living on levels below sea-level, in Holland the land would sell readily as residential sites, and that country has proved conclusively from centuries of experience that it is quite safe to live on such areas. Of course, this idea may be quite ridiculous, owing to the amount of water which may drain into Shoal Bay, but my recollection is that only very small creeks run in here and there, so that the pumping of a canal running round the side or through the centre to take the drainage would be a simple matter.” the letter concluded. The suggestions were filed for future consideration. All candidates at the forthcoming local body elections in and around Auckland are to be questioned regarding their attitude to the harbour bridge proposal. Messrs. G. O’Halloran and O. Moller were deputed to endeavour, when in Wellington next week, to expedite arrangements for holding the investigations preliminary to testing the harbour bed by borings. Mr. Freeman, designer of the Sydney Bridge, is to be invited to attend a special meeting of the association in Auckland. The total membership now numbers over 800, 110 new members being enrolled last evening.