TERRIFYING AVALANCHE

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 603, 4 March 1929, Page 1

TERRIFYING AVALANCHE

Million Gallons of Water

ROAR WAKES RESIDENTS AT 5.30 A.M.

Lives and Homes Miraculously Spared

With a roar that startled residents from their sleep at 5.30 this morning, the City Council reservoir, built on Mount Eden in 1912, burst and emptied 1,000,000 gallons of water down the steep slopes. Carrying with it earth, rubbish and immense boulders, the flood tore through the plantations, swept away footpaths, gouged out portion of the mountain road, and flowed to a depth of several feet into the main Mount Eden Road The onrush turned at the lower end of Hillside Crescent and, held to its course largely by the pavements and the stonewalls protecting the majority of the residences, continued for well over half a mile before it subsided. Debris was strewn along the whole length of its path, and the road blocked for early traffic. At that early hour the path of the onrush was clear.

Ji N extraordinary feature of the occurrence was the way in which the hurtling water and debris missed the houses and gardens of nearby residents. The damage to public property was great, but with remarkable consistency the avalanche avoided the homes and other buildings clustered at the foot of the mount on the northwestern side.

This point was fully three-quarters] of a mile from the source of the I deluge. WORKMEN’S FORTUNATE ESCAPE Had the break happened two to three hours later it is certain that the loss of life would have been heavy. The Fletcher Construction Company has a gang of up to 40 men working on the job at the new reservoir. These men would have been trapped without means of escape in the swirling turmoil of water, broken wood-work and concrete. Even traffic on Mount Eden Road would have been in grave danger, especially that on the road up the mountain-side. Roots of trees were laid bare, huge erosions several feet deep were made, while rocks, iron-work and scaffolding were strewn weli down the hill. Two to three feet of rocks and debris was. heaped up in the tram shelter in the Mount Eden Road, while debris here was fully three feet deep in places. Silt, small rocks and pieces of woodwork were carried well down the road banking up in the side streets, Esplanade Road and Sylvan Avenue suffering particularly in this respect. CARS LOST IN DEBRIS Although the Mount Eden Borough Council rubbish dump and yards proved a blessing in disguise in the fact that they took and absorbed a large portion of the onrush, the council sheds suffered severely. Rocks, scoria and mud poured over the hill behind the sheds which house part of the council’s roading plant. A Karrier road-sweeper was almost completely covered in the rear portion with debis half way up the bonnet. A light truck was almost completely covered and appearances are that it will be ruined. A steam road-roller was also submerged in the torrent of debris. LITTLE DAMAGE TO RESIDENCES Residents along the path of the avalanche were particularly fortunate in the fact that the water was kept confined to the roadway. The damage to house property, as a result, was negligible. Only at one point on Mount Eden Road did the water threaten to leave the road. This was at the bend on the corner of Point Street. A stone wall surrounding the corner property turned the water back on to its original course. Four or five inches of water entered the shop of Mrs. E. Taylor, draper, the corner of I Esplanade Road, leaving a thick deposit of silt. No damage was \ done to the stock. M. S. Mildon, of Sylvan Avenue,, was a fairly heavy sufferer. His front gate was broken and a thick deposit of silt left upon the lawns. ENGINEER’S STATEMENT | “No responsibility rests with the i Mount Eden Borough Council,” said i Mr. W. E. Bush, city engineer, in a ! brief statement made this morning to The Sun at the scene of the break. Mr. Bush hastened to Mount Eden at an early hour and remained there for some time taking stock of the situation and supervising emergency arrangements. “The making of the new dam was a City Council job, being carried out by j the Fletcher Construction Company,” |he added. “The old dam which broke 1 and caused this trouble was built in j 1912, by contract for the City Counl cil.” i Mr. Bush was unwilling to make even the broadest estimate of the j damage done by the rush of water and ! the hurtling debris and boulders. | “The whole question will be the subI ject of a close investigation and ! probably an inquiry,” he added. “I ] have yet to make my report, after i which I will be in a statement to make a detailed statement.”

The break took place in the reinforced concrete wall separating the reservoir from the site of the new construction work, the excavations for which were on the point of completion.

Tearing a hole 20 feet high and nearly a chain wide the water roared through the new excavations, out at the lower end, and down the mount through the plantations. A wide asphalt footpath in the track of the flood was entirely demolished, great 3cars, some ten and twelve feet deep, were torn in the ground, small shrubs carried away and trees scarred and denuded of bark and lower limbs. When it reached the mountain road on the north-western side the crest topped the bank and plunged into the gully below, leaving deposits of debris and gaping holes on the surface. A river of water, mud and rock swerved and raced down the mountain road until the main Mount Eden Road was reached.

Had the full force of the flood gone in that direction the damage to houses and property at the foot of the mount would have been serious. As it was the first rush appears to have emptied itself into the gully while the river, two feet deep, which flooded the Mount Eden Road and deposited a great heap of debris by the tramstop at Hillside Crescent, was the residue. The rush of water down the roadway continued with diminishing volume until about 7 a.m. RESERVOIR BUILT IN 1912 The reservoir was constructed in 1912 by J. T. Julian and Sons, designed to hold up to 1,250.000 gallons. It is a ferro concrete structure about 120 ft square and slightly over 20ft high. Portions of the walls at the place where the break occurred were 13iu thick. Recently the City Council let a contract to the Fletcher Construction Company for the construction of a new reservoir adjoining the old one. The contract necessitated the excavating of a hole approximately ISO feet square on the top side of the old reservoir. This work was completed on Friday and one wall of the old dam left unsupported. CRACKS NOTICED ON SATURDAY Workmen on the job allege that cracks in the old wall were noticed last week. On Saturday they were visibly widening, and, it is alleged, particles of concrete were seen coming away from the widening fissures. It was from here that the water burst this morning. A solid block of ferro-concrete, approximately 20 yards long by seven yards high, was hurled into the site of the new reservoir and broken up in the onrush that followed. The water rose to a depth of approximately 10ft in the new reservoir, | tearing down the scaffolding around j the walls and undermining a ferroI concrete partition wall which had just been erected. PATH OF THE WATER Scouring a path, in parts several I feet deep, the water poured down the j hill on the lower side of the tea kiosk I carrying rocks, scaffolding, ironwork j and 'other debris before it reached the | main road up the mountain-side, j Here the waters divided. Although i the road, with a substantial fall and banked-up pavements could hold t ! torrent one to two feet deep, for tunatelv for the houses below, it was ! not sufficient for the force of the I onrush, part of which swept over, tc ! fall into the Mount Eden Counci i yards 50 feet below. The river on the road turned | into Mount Eden Road and continued down the tram track until, after backing up against Messrs. Snow and Co.’s garage, the final traces of the flood waters were found in Sylvan Avenue. Here the ! waters backed up in the property of Mr. S. Mildon, fully four feet I high, after bursting open the gate ! and hurling a garden seat several feet across the lawn. I

A close examination of the locality shows that the principal damage is confined to the broken dam, the site of the new dam, which is strewn with debris and channelled in parts, the asphalt footpaths and roadway on the side of the mount, and the Mount Eden borough dump and yard in the hollow j near the foot of Hillside Crescent. This does not take into account the expenditure necessary to clear the immense deposits of earth and rubble in every hollow and bend, j nor the serious damage done to

the grassed and wooded slopes of the mount. During the morning a total of 90 emergency men were working on the roadways, particularly the Mount Eden Road. The contractors had released 20 workmen, 20 were supplied by the waterworks and 50 from the City Council gangs. RESERVOIR’S SUPPLY AREA Mr. G. Carr, waterworks engineer, explained that the broken reservoir supplied Mount Eden high levels and city high levels. Including Grafton. By keeping the pumps going at the Symonds Street station the supply could be maintained on the western side. On the western side the reservoir supplied Remuera, Tamaki, Epsom and Mount Roskill, although the water gravitated to the Mount Hobson reservoir 50ft below the level at Mount Eden. This held 1,000,000 gallons and was full yesterday; therefore it would last several hours. The relief gang working at {he ttam . on Mount Eden was labouring at tor Speed throughout the morning, joining up the inlet and outlet at the old reservoir site with , the object of enabling water to be pumped through to the eastern district, where it was hoped that a supply would soon be available. By 11.15 the join was complete and an iron pipeline, over a foot in thickness stretched across the mud and debris of the new reservoir floor. OFFICIAL PRONOUNCEMENT Cr. J. A. C. Allum then issued the following statement: “The temporary connection between the mains and the Khyber Pass station has been completed and water is available for the affected districts.” “This is a temporary measure to bring immediate relief and further

steps will be taken immediately to ensure a continuous supply. “Residents are asked particularly: to [be economical in the use of water lor the next 48 hours, as it will tel about two days before the supply ca:x be brought back to normal.” One particularly unfortunate feature of the happening was that the excavation work was practically complete, the mechanical excavator having beer removed on Friday last.

Now a great deal of extra work will have to be carried out in the new reservoir apart from the repairing <f the immense gap in the older reservo:,' wall. Two huge sections of reinforced concrete which were torn from the' wall by the oncoming water lie mor. ‘ than a chain away and near the middl of the excavated space. One section measured 24ft by 20ft, with a thickness of 13in. GAVE THE ALARM MILKMAN FIRST SAW WAVE OF WATER POLICE WANTED HIS INITIALS “It was the biggest fright I have ever had in my life. My first thought was that the mountain had gone up in eruption again.” Mr. C.R. Sinfield, milk supplier for Amburys, Ltd., who was the first to see the oncoming water, told The Sun of his experiences at 5.30 this morning, when he was near Hillside Crescent. Hearing a terrible roar, which grew rapidly in intensity, he looked up the mount and saw, in the half-light of dawn, an undulating wave coming swiftly down the slope. His horse and cart were at the other end of Hillside Crescent and he stood at the foot of the mount road. “I think I must have been crazed for a while,” he said. “I thought some awful disaster was imminent and those people not roused by the roar of the flood were surely wakened by my shouting. “My next thought was to issue some sort of general warning, so I got to the telephone box and rang the Mount Eden Council. I could get no answer so I telephoned the police. “They asked me my name and initials; they were persistent about the initials. “I thought they would want to know whether I was married or single and who my father was. All the time the roaring was growing louder. A great grey mass was sweeping past the box and out on to the roadway. “They said they would Took into the matter.’ “When I came out I saw the mass was water, mud and boulders.” From then on Mr. Sinfield went on his rounds in Mount Eden Road, urging his frightened horse through the flood and undergoing a trial that'" ook his nerves considerably. Through water and mud he splashed his way to every gate. They may have lacked water, but Mr. Sinfield’s customers received their morning milk just as usual.