THE PORT.

Taranaki Daily News, 19 March 1921, Page 7

THE PORT.

THE EXTENSION SCHEMES. SEEKING SUPPLY GF STONE. PARITUTU TO BE TESTED. Members of the New Plymouth Harbor Board yesterday engaged in a Jong discussion concerning the question of the supply of stone for the harbor works, and particularly as affecting the building of the extension to the breakwater. Much debate revolved round the possible sources of supply, those in sight being the Mt. Egmont .quarries, Moturoa island, and Paritutu. Opinion was practically unanimous that it was not feasible to secure stone from the mountain quarry, and after consideration the board instructed the engineer to make a blast to ascertain the quality of metal in ln the meantime the board defers tion of using Moturoa stone. The discussion was introduced as the result of a report made by the chairman (Mr. Newton King) on various inquiries made./luring the past month on securing stone. He stated that the engineer (Mr. G. W. Baxter Lowson) had writtea to the Public Works Department for information as to the probable 1 opening date of the mountain quarry, size of stone, and prospects of delivery. The following reply was read from the engineer-in-chief, Public Works Department (Mr. F. W. Furkert): “It is not possible for me to state when the quarry is likely to be opened, as this is a matter which is wholly dependent on the funds which the Government may be able to set aside for this work. I might also state that the response from local bodies as to the amounts of stone which they are prepared to take render it unlikely that the quarry will be opened at an early date. About onethird of the working time will probably be lost owing to wet weather. It will be possible for us to grade stone between certain limits as suggested, but until the quarry is in operation it is difficult to say what time would elapse between date of special order and delivery of stone. Special machinery woffid have to be installed. You will understand \that in quarry operations it is not always possible to foresee what proportion of various sized stones will be 0 available from ea’h blast. The questions concerning deliveries are matters dependent wholly on the railway department, and I consider it is extremely doubtful whether they would be prepared to make any promises as to setting aside certain wagons specially for this work, guaranteeing fixed and regular deliveries or providing special end and tip wagons.” EGMONT STONE RULED OUT. The chairman said that while in Wellington recently he had seen Mr. Furkert, who, in a verbal reply, expressed the opinion that it would not be any cheaper to get the big stone than the smaller grades. Though there was no crushing to be done much expense would probably be incurred in handling the big stone, ’such as for cranes and special trucks.

Mr. C. A. Wilkinson: Apparently the question of Egmont stone must be ruled out. The chairman; The board can take it that the Egmont quarry is practically eliminated from the possible sources of supply, as far as the requirements for harbor works are concerned. Mr. J. S. Connett said he had been one of the strongest advocates for securing stone from Mt. Egmont, provided it could be got at a reasonable cost, but he could see, from the information placed before members, that it was out of the question to consider Egmont stone any further. They would have to come back to the consideration of Moturoa and Paritutu. The former source, at any rate, wsjs impossible for .the time being until means could be devised of bringing the stone from the Island, as apparently the method which had Been proposed previously, namely by barging, was" .not now practicable, lie believed the stone could be brought from Moturoa by overhead wire, but the installation would take some time to arrange. Eventually he thought the board would have to resort to securing stone fiom Paritutu. Jt was a matter of vital importance to Taranaki that the board’s works should "be pushed on, and it seemed there was no other remaining course but to open up Paritutu to provide the stone for the extension of the breakwater. PROGRESS v. SENTIMENT. Mr. Connett said there was a great spirit of unrest prevailing throughout the district, and the farming community wae of opinion that very little was being done, although membars of the board knew that llv? preliminary work was going on in the work carried out under water. It .vas a matter of such moment that the board should have no hesitation in deciding to go to Paritutu to get the necessary stone. Mr. C. E. McGuinhess said that after last meeting-he had inspected Paritutu and he favored the proposal to quarry the hill. The board could not expect to get stone from the mountain within five years.

The chairman: At any rate the price is too high. Mr. C. A. Wilkinson said that the building of the breakwater was of very much more importance to the people of the province than the preservation of Paritutu, and when it came to the question of thj two interests he had no doubt as to which must be sacrificed At the same time he yielded to no one in sentimental regard for the historical value of Paritutu Members had yet to learn, of course, definitely that the board could get the required stone out' of Paritutu. Before they began to take it down they should be reasonably sure the stone was there. If the supply was available at a reasonable cost, however, the board should go ahead with the work, as they would be failing in their duty if they held up the progress of the harbor on a matter of sentiment.

The chairman said that since the last meeting he had given the subject a lot of thought. No doubt to many of the members of te hoard, and perhaps to the public, it might --eem that sufficient investigation of the possibilities of Moturoa had not been made. The engineer (Mr. Lowson), however, was of opinion that the stone from Paritutu would be the cheaper, and. in fact, was the only stone available at the present time. In conjunction with Mr. Lowson and the harbormaster (Captain Waller) he had gone thoroughly into the question of barging stone from Moturoa island. He found that conditions had altered since the original pronsial was brought forward Wmhart

would recollect that the idea was to connect the Lion Rock by a rubble wall to the breakwater ahd make a kind of boat harbor, but the blast that had been put out had tended to destroy the position where it was thought scows could be loaded. The only other method of conveyance was by overhead carriage which, Mr. Lowson had estimated, would cost from £140,000 to £50,000 to instal. If it could be worked there was as good stone in Moturoa as in Paritutu and he did not think the former should be left out of consideration till they had, exhausted every inquiry in regard to the probable cost of overhead carriage. In reply to a member, the chairman said that if investigations were made as to the nature of Paritutu, merely drilling into the rock would not be sufficient and a blast would have to be made. FINANCIAL POSITION. Mr. C. E. Bellringer said it was evident that stone from the mountain could not Tie used by the board on the ground of cost. They were indebted to the chairman for the inquiries he had made and the general information placed at the disposal of the board. He •was not prepared to approve of taking the stone from Paritutu, however, until every other probable source of supply was exhausted. He recognised that the financial position also increased the difficulties of the board. There were many people who thought the board was doing nothing because they could not spe the results of the operations which were nndtr water. At the same time he would not say that the members of the board had been quite satisfied with the rate of progress, but there had been many difficulties. The board would have to face the financial position, too, said Mr. Bellringer. Under the present arrangements they would not have money to carry on for much more than three months. A lot of people would feel the position keenly if the board had to quarry Paritutu, but on the other hand if it was the only course remaining the general feeling would be to regard it as an urgent necessity, and the public would probably support the board in any action taken. The chairman said he had received a surprise on enquiring from the engineer the relative costs of the stone from Paritutu and Moturoa, found that after installing the expensive overhead plant, as suggested, the material from Moturoa would cost more than the Paritutu stone. To put in the aerial way to carry the stone from Moturoa would cost £40,000 to £50,000, according to estimates, and this was somewhat of a knock for supporters of the island as a source of supply. In connection with present operations Mr. King said the engineers had informed him that little stone of any good size was available at the quarries now being worked. The board was really frittering away money and getting a small amount of stone. Mr, Wilkinson: Tlyjt is about right, The chairman said the latest soundings showed that the extension of thje breakwater was now up from one foot to seven feet below low water mark, and if they happened to encounter any of the gales such as had been met with last year he felt certain that a good deal of the wall would spread. BERTHAGE PROBLEM. Mr. E. Maxwell said he disagreed entirely with the whole course of the discussion for the reason that he did not think the problem before the board waa one for the immediate future. Mr. Maxwell proceeded to advocate further dredging and ipore accommodation as the most immediate problems. They had extended the breakwater under water about GOO feet, 400 of which had been raised quite as high as it was advisable by the present method. He thought the board had provided more additional protection by the wall under water —not all breakwaters were brought above the surface —and he thought that instead of continuing the work they should at once- secure what they had already done. All the board’s financial resources should be concentrated on this. Increased accommodation was very desirable, and for this they did not want any new source of stone supply. Ha was not arguing that they did not want more stone, but contended that they need not make the choiee of a new source that day, or even for several months.

Mr. Bellringer enquired what was the exact position of the conditions at the present quarry. The engineer replied that there was only about three months’ wtrk left at the' quarry and the amount of big- stone which was available was very small. What was required for the works was big stpne in order to bring the present foundation up above the level of low water in order to enable the concrete blocks to be put on. In reply to a question as to ths financial position of the board, the chairman said that on his recent visit to Wellington he had learned that tfyere was little prospect of getting any further money for some time to come. Mr. Wilkinson asked how the board was to continue working. The chairman: We are carrying on alright and can keep going for the next three months. Mr. Wilkinson said that it appeared they were practically at the-end'of their resources as far as cash was concerned, and he thought they should have a report on the financial position before going into the other question. The chairman, in reply, pointed out that an explanation of the position in regard to the supply of stone was due to the public in any case. SPECIAL RATE PROPOSED, The financial position of the board was fully reviewed in committee, but no decisions were arrived at. On resuming the board again discussed the quarries problem, Mi. J. McCluggage moving that the engineer be instructed to make a test of the possibilities of Paritutu storie by firing a blast as suggested. The motion was seconded by Mr. Wilkinson, and ensuing discussion turned on the subject of the possible objections which might be made to the proposal from sentimental reasons. Mr. Wilkinson said there was a smothered discontent at the board’s inactivity and surely, he said, the public would not again complain when the board was endeavoring to expedite the work. Mr. Connett said members ought to be in the best position to say what was urgently required, and should have the courage of their convictions, speaking straight out just what they thought The resolution was subsequently put and carried. Tn reply to Mr. Bellringer, the engineer said the test charge would mean blowing out the southern, shoulder of Paritutu. About 30,000 yards would be shifted. Mr. Wilkinson said in view of the straiflhtuned. hf t.hn heard he be*

lieved they should consider the question of levying a harbor improvement rate on all cargo handled at the port. The chairman promised to give tfn opportunity for u discussion on this proposal at next meeting.