THE HARBOR.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 79, 22 August 1914, Page 2

THE HARBOR.

•SAND-lffilFT QUESTION". ■ A VERY SATISFACTORY EXPLANATION.. The question of the sand-drift at the harbor was 'brought up at the meeting of tlie Harbor' Board at the works yestcrday by Mr. Hughes asking the harbormaster whether, through the dredging, there had been any increased accumulation. The harbormaster replied that he was satisfied from the soundings that he has made from time to time that there was no increase, and that there was nothing to trouble about. >Mr. Marx asked for; information as to whether there was any 'fear that the drift .was .excessive, or that the Board would not be able to cope with it. '.Mr. 'Maxwell went fully into the position. He stated that when Mr. Marchant was engaged by the Board about 1895 tlie whole question of sand accumulation and drift .was gone into okhaustivcly by Mr. Marchant and himself_as chairman. Mr. .Jones' survey of j 1H77 was taken as a 'basis, as it whs prior to any, constructive work at the harbor, to find the gross accumulation and tlie cubit contents of the difference between the depths over the whole area in 18M and those sin 1887. To this was added the total removed by dredging from the commencement up to 1895, and the grand total was divided by the number of years since the .first constructive work was commenced. This gave, lie said, speaking from memory, an average annual drift into the harbor of about 80,000 cubic yards. Mr. Maxwell, continuing, said that at the time this investigation was made (in 1895) there was, it would be remembered hy flic older members of the Board, a very great accumulation of sand within the harbor area. The greatest depth in the entrance channel—then a winding dhannni much shoreward of the present—rwas Oft (Sin at low spring tides, and much of the area which Is now deep water was quite silted up. The dredge Thomas King, then converted to a sandpump dredge, during the period between 1595 and the date jf th 6 advent of the Paritntu, not only overcame the annual drift, but in addition greatly reduced the accumulation all over the harbor area and cut, through what was then a sandspit, the direct entrance channel, and maintained it at a depth of delft at low spring tides. These facts, and the knowledge that the conclusions were based on data collected from a period covering over 30 years, should be a complete assurance that the average annual drift, coming into the haflbor presented no difficulty whatever, and was easily overcome, even by quite a small sandpiimp dredge such as the Tliomas King. ''Of course," said Mr. Maxwell, "whilst the very deep berthage, etc., is being dredged out by the Paritutu, a very con - sidera'ble amount of sand from all round the deepened area will be washed into the bottom of the basin, as it were, from its edge, but whenever the deepening is completed the normal conditions will be reverted to, and that there will be only the average annual drift of 80,000y<ls or under, which is little over one-third of what, the. Thomas .King has proved herself 'capable of (Ming with, if necessary." This should remove any doubts on the subject. The work of dredging out the swinging ■basin and dtep channel is going on most satisfactorily.