HARBOR EXTENSION.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 98, 22 May 1909, Page 6

HARBOR EXTENSION.

MODIFIED PROPOSALS ADOPTED, r TENDERS CALLED FOR MATERIAL, j c The Xew Harbor Board r held an important meeting yesterday, , and practically eomp*«d tuc loan nc-,, goUaSons, ar/anging for.the delivery of t fhe debentures, the signing of them f . iZdon, and other matters incidental to I c KtoOon of. a big loan on the other | j, &of the world. The Board also r • t ceived and discussed the report of Mr ~ p ™ Marchant, C.E., its consulting .*- &*,*«* Captain J. E. Bone, > arm , SttDerintendent in the Dominion of the , , Ucw Zealand Shipping Company, wno , hid been consulting together as to tin t Sit mean* of providing for the increas- < iZ trade of sthe port. As the result o i fcUftfay deliberations Hie Board adopted , * new scheme, abandoning the project , »f extending the present narrow whar , ' in order to provide ocean steamers' , berths, and proposing instead to widen , fte presenter. *M dredge fresh ■ taH Wrtsoß»n REPORT Mt F. W. Marchant, C.E., consulting engineer to the Board, reported as fol-lo*Bmkwater.-The progress and execution of this work continues to he satis - factorv. The recent very heavy storui S& a of l«t of set concrete block work at the extreme end o the MWI« extension. Most of the blocks will be recovered Beyond this no damage was done. The undefended end of tie work under construction is ulwaye liable to this sort of thing. Allowing for this displacement, the total length of completed work on the cxten-

tion is 530 ft. . , •'lt has been represented to me that applications for «, supply of stone or JLrle are made to the Board from time to time. My advice is that these applications should always be refused. We are short of material as it is, and cannot afford to part with any. "Wharf Extension.—A large amount Of attention and discussion has been devoted to this very involved question. It appears that a sum of not exceeding - £109397 wiH be available for expenditure out of loan for the -w*ole of the worksofimpfovenientcontemplated. Tine is very much- less than was anticipated. -- The consequence is that the whole of the schume of improvement formerly proposed will have to he reconsidered. •'Of the sum stated, the dredge, dredg- . fog, sundries, and contingencies will absorb- £60jl)00 in round figures, or at any

'rate this sum should be strictly set apart to pay for them. This leaves under £50,000 only for breakwater and .wharf extension. -After much .consultation with Laptain Bona, Ihe and I have agreed that any extension of the wharf is wadcsir- ' aiMe. Instead of that, the berthage * should by .dredged to a depth of 30it - on the' eastern side, and the \wharf then widened over the deepened water so as to make it a total: width of 80ft, The * result of this would be that about 900 ft 'of berthage would be giwn on the east- ' erh side of the wharf having a depth of '3oft. The width of the wharf would then be sufficient to allow of the erection of transhipment sheds along the centre of it, and the greater width would give strength sufficient for the safe ■ mooring of the largest vessels. As a further result of this inshore deepening, / the extension of the breakwater need .not be carried out to the fullest extent originally contemplated, as by carrying - the berthage inshore it is'equivalent to extending the .breakwater as far a* shelter is' concerned. This widening of the ' wharf will probably cost £20,000, lcav- , ing about £2OOOO available for expenditure on the breakwater extension and also retaining £IO,OOO in hand for sheds and contingencies. We can thus add about..,36oft of:,.breakwater to that w now have for the amount of money

available. "This policy seems to me the best that can be recommended to Mie Board, taking all the circumstances into eonsidera- !' tion. The only extra expense necessitated by this proposal is that a certain small ..increased area will have to be , dredged, and' the Hawea wreck must be ' This wreck must be broken up •.lit" detail by small charges of explosive i distributed over it and removed by the small dredger we have in use. I have similarly removed a wreck elsewhere, and it is not'a. very expensive operation. '•Dredging.—Work on the new dredge has been commenced by this time. The question of it's supervision whilst under construction should lie dealt with immediately. I have previously written to f&e Board on the subject. Her mime also should shortly be decided. I suggest 'Kguioht' as being a suitab'o one." .CAPTAIN* BONE'S VIEWS. Captain 3. E. Boue, Marine Superintendent of file New Zealand Shipping Company, reported:— "At the Board's request conveved to . me by Mr. F, W. Marchant, C.E., I have, on the' 18th and 19th instant, made an inspection of the wharf aud plans for its further extension. Two plans for the proposed extension were first submitted for my examination—one in a straight line with the" present wharf for an additional Jength of 300 ft, the other with an'additional length of 500 ft built at an angle of several degrees to the east | of the. present wharf—neither of which do I approve. My reasons against both are that' as the trade of the port increases all shipping- would be berthed at a single wharf; and with two or three ■ vessels on each side discharging or loading, satisfactory and economical working would be impossible owing to the difficulty in supplying and withdrawing rniiway trucks. Proof of this is to be seen at all ports in the Dominion where several vessels are berthed at the same wharf, and especially so when berthed on both sides. Moreover, a wharf of * the above length, including the cxtra--1 sion, is expensive in upkeep and liable to damage by a berthing steamer, and should'damage be done at an inner berth the outer berths may be rendered useless until the damage is repaired. "A second plan submitted by Mr. Alar, chant has my entire approval—this is to keep the existing wharf at its present length, and, after dredging, say, to 30ft for the safe berthing of oceanliners*, to widen it to 80ft, which will give a substantial structure to moor the ocean liner at, and on which can be, erected ample shed accommodation. Further, being closer to the tHiore, the long haulage of trucks up aud down the wharf would be avoided. The berth itself being . so far ill from the breakwater end, would , be less exposed tb an ocean swell, consequently a vessel would lie much quieter, and without that wear and tear to moorings that would happen if moored so > much further out. '■"ln, future years', should the increase , of trade demand it, I advii,,? that an additional wharf should be built to the eastward of the one now existing—3ooft distant from it—and Wiat no addition whatever to the length of the existing wharf should be made. The question of reclaiming ground along the foreshore .; has been suggested to me. This may be desirable and necessary in years to come, but t)ie greatest caution 1 should be exereis'ed in connection with it. The wall retaining the reclamation should lie of ruJiblc stone 1 formed to a very flat slope o_ij -the seaward side, and on which Hie wavc6 can spend without reflection. ' Many harbors have been seriously damaged by these reclamation works where these considerations have been neglected."

! The chairman stated briefly the result of the loan operations. The loini <>f £273000, issued at 08, would produce £269,000. Of this £143,000 had to be paid in Loudon to redeem the old loan, so that there would be £124,000 of the loan available for carrying out the work of harbor extension. They must not forget that already the Board had carried out a great amount of the work included in Mr. liarchant's scheme. For instance, it had been proposed to extend the breakwater by 1000 feet, aad 530 feet had already been built, at a cost of £20,800. Large sums had been spent, also, in widening the. wharf, an essential portion of the scheme, out of re- j venue and overdraft. Jlr. Marchant, in answer to a question, said that the most important thing in the report was with regard to the wharf. It had taken a great deal of time and consideration to arrive at the conclusions', although there didn't seem to ibe much. Captain Bone was a man who was deferred to by all shipping people in Xew Zealand in regard to the working of ships and cargo, and navigation of ports. He had had experience that no one else in the Dominion had had. Captain Bone was strongly in favor of short wharves. On long wharves trains and trucks were always in a . state of congestion, and there was' great trouble in providing them for the different steamers. He was quite satisfied to be guided by Captain Bone in these matters.

Mr. Wells said he had had a conversation with Captain Bone, and the latter had assured him that if the harbor were improved as suggested, by •wharf-widen-ing, dredging, and extending the berths inshore, any Home liner could lie there. The chairman said Captain Bone's assurance meant that when the haribur was completed there would be no objection raised by t'he shipping companies. Mr. Hughes was of opinion that this modification or alteration of plans was due to the funds being less than was anticipated. Mr. Marchant said the change was due to Captain Bone's advice. The original idea had been to extend the wharf, and that would necessitate extending the breakwater. It now appeared that it would be extremely inadvisable to lay big vessels alongside such' a wharf, for the dredging would tend to undermine the structure. Greater width, too, was required. To Mr. Huglies: Mr. Marchant said it would be unwise to dredge to within, Say, 00 feet of the breakwater. Cap-

tain Bone had not botlieied himself about the financial aspect. He was concerned with the securing of the best working of the wharves and ships in the port. Mr. Wilkinson expressed bis approval of the new proposals, which he believed r would prove successful. The only thing 'he was doubtful aliout was the advisability of placing sheds on the wharves. ! They would restrict the accommodation. He would prefer the sheds to be on dry land. Mr. Marclmnt replied that it would be a great saving in the cost of handling if goods be transhipped from liner to coastal boats without haulage to sheds. Haulage cost money. Mr. Price could see no need for all this hurry. He thought tlie adoption of the report would be deferred until there was' a full Board present. 3dr. Maxwell moved the adoption of the report, with the exception of the

portion relating to naming the new dredge. He pointed out, in answer to Mr. Price's plea for delay, that at a full meeting of the Board the wharf had been discussed, several feeling hardly pleased with the proposal then before tile Board to have a long, narrow structure. The full Board had decided to act on Captain Bone's advice. The engineer, after going exhaustively into the matter with Captain Bone, and irrespective of the saving effected, recom-

mended the erection of wharfage accommodation iu this form. He himself had • questioned Captain Bone, and had ascertained from that gentleman that his uncompromising opposition to long wharves was on the ground of heavy cost,of maintenance, and the unavoidable congestion of traffic. If. all t"rc outer berths were occupied, the inner berths would have to be idle. It would be impossible to properly attend to vessels all along the wliarf. So that, in erecting a long wharf, they would be providing accommodation that could not be used. To a question as to whether the long wliarf, either straight or curved, would be available for ocean-going i vessels in all weathers. Captain Bone had replied in the negative, Stating that with such a wharf weather would interfere, in the use of the- outer liertlis and prevent vessels coming in. But the widening of the present wharf aud the dredging would meet all purposes so long as it was sufficient for the trade of the port. The Saw Zealand Ship-1 ping Company, which he represented,, would have no hesitation in sending their vessels here in any weather if this' latter si'heme were adopted, and they would be able to lie safely at any time. This plan would effect a great saving in the cost of maintenance and co.st of handling cargo. Mr. MclA'an, a former member of the Board, had always questioned whether Home .boats would call here even when the harbor was completed, but Captain Bone's assurance re. moved all doubt on that score. The question of shed accommodation would have to be seriously considered. Lack of ■shedding was already hampering the coastal trade. There was no site for sheds near file present berths, and there was little possibility of doing anv reclaiming .for some time yet. By widening the wharf as proposed there would lie T oom for several sheds of, s«v. 30ft by 100 ft, into which goods could be landed without using the railway. Mr. Wilkinson: You'd 'want sheds all along the wharf. The chairman: Captain Bone thought two would be sufficient, and by having proper.doors transhipment to* coastal boats would be "an inexpensive matter. Hoods for down the line could be sorted there, and riltunted on to the railway. They had lost a lot of passenger revenue by tile opening of the Main Trunk line, and to compensate for that loss the Board must foster trade in other directions. A large coastal trade could be worked up, using the port as a distributing centre. And by adopting this report the Board wouid, at one utroke. provide accommodation for that traffic! and safe berthage for ocean steamers at small cost. Captain Bone had informed him that there would be no difficulty in arranging so that a liner calling a ' t -New Plymouth for frozen produce' for export would not interfere with a Home vessel arriving to laud 'imports, Hie companies arranging the visit of the outward-bound vessel to suit the other T'.int was the practice elsewhere, aud it obviated the necessity for dredgim- out more than one berth suitable for that class of y,„scl. ,Ue urged n K . ])„„,,, „„ t to delay, but to adopt his motion, f„ r it was already time to take step- to inoci.ro material for the carrying out of the works outlined as soon as the new dredge had deepened the berths. -Mr. Wells seconded. In answer to Mr. Hughes, the chairman „aid that Messrs King and Council were aware that the engineer and Cant lone were to report, ami they would know of the necessity for adopting a lew expensive extension scheme. " Mr. Ward moved an amendment that tie adoption of the report be deferred "ntlafullmeetingof't,,,,,:,; fU ' : '//f*?" 1 '' 1 >';■,- '"'■ hi,ll "' t K™V** "I" met m,g of the report yet. and wanted furl her time to consider H. Mr. Price seconded. ■Mr. Hughes asked if Messrs Kj„„ ,„,, toinictt were likely. „|, c „. t| M , v -*,.,„„, ir • V,'-!!""' 1 ' fur a "" tllt ' 1 ' 'oan! "Mr. ■■ilknrsoiisMl that he was tired of hearing the term "full Board," and Of leaving matters over until all mem' hers were present. Surely lhe ,„„,„,,„., STr * m *-«-«1»W-' of deuiii.* with Bie Board's business. The chairman felt sure that the members who were awav would .rive this scheme their support, for it was i„ the foi the Board',, agents to come ba-k fr..m London Mr. Well, would be „, v av 'Mr. Wilkinson: I'll I*. awa- '.., * The amendment was lost. on'v " .«rs Ward ami Price supporting it' These members recorded the. onlv voles ■V'ainst the motion. It was decided to adhere to (he nrraiUßmeut made by which the r.S.S, Co.'s supervising engineer at Home should supervise the construction of the new dredge.