TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 1089, 31 March 1883, Page 3

TIMARU HARBOR BOARD.

At a special meeting of the Harbor Board held last Thursday the following report on the extension ot the Breakwater was submitted by the Engineer:— ‘ To the Chairman, 1 Timaru Harbor Board,

‘Sir, —I have the honor to inform you that I have made the necessary survey and taken the requisite soundings for ascertaining the advisability of altering the direction of the proposed kant of the Breakwater from the angle of ISO degrees at the extremity of the present works to the angle of 185 degrees, and beg to report that the depth of water on the proposed line, to a distance of 1000 ft, will be 22ft at spring low tides, and from 1000 ft to 2000 ft it will increase to 23ft. The proposed line will run about north and south, and will be nearly parallel with the shore at a distance of over half a mile from the beach, and give immediate shelter to the port from the east and south seas. The extent of shelter from the proposed kant will be more than double as much as would bo obtained from a similar length of the kant already authorised, as may be seen from plan No 1. Plan No 2, shows the practicability of making a large harbor at any future time by adopting the proposed alteration For example, in this plan the kant is shown as extending 2000 ft, and enclosing an area of 180 acres of water by a north wall extending from a point about five chains south of the Wairaataitai Lagoon to near the extremity ofj the kant, leaving a sufficient opening for the passage of vessels. Were it desirable, there would be no d ifficulty in extending the h&rbor to an area of even three ©v four hundred acres. From the plan of barber as shown it will be seen that there will be 30 acres ot water ranging 22ft in depth, 38 arces from 20ft to 22ft, 28 acres from 18ft to 20ft, 44 acres from 12ft to 18ft, and 40 acres from low tide to 12 feet in depth, making a total of 180 acres, and deducting the 40 acres between low water mark and 12ft, there will be 440 acres of water ranging from 12ft to 22ft, available for shipping. Should greater depth of water be eventually required, the harbor will admit of being dredged to any require! depth, and as the height of ordinary spring tide-! is about five feet the available depth to dredge will be five feet, and were a portion of the harbor having a depth of 22ft deepened by that amount, there will be 27 feet of water at low spring tides, which will give accommodation to vessels of a very large class. ‘ I heartily agree with the proposed alteration, as it not only gives greater

| area of water with immediate and a

greater amount ol' shelter to the port, without incurring any greater cost limn would have been necessary for the kant as authorised, but the scheme will also admit of a very extension whenever required. ‘ I am etc., ‘ John Goodall,

‘ Engineer, Timaru Harbor Board.’

Plan No 1 accompanying the report showed (1) the proposed kant extending SOO feet at an angle of 135 degrees with the present work, the kant starting at the end of the present contract nt that angle, and (2) the same length of Mork, but running in a curve of ten chains radius, until the work reached the direction given by the angle named, when it was continued straight. The line of the kant at an angle of 135 degrees, crosses the Ninety-mile Beach about two hundred yards north of the wreck of the City of Cashmere. The direction of the principal sea? was marked in this plan, and the areas of water more or less sheltered by the present work, and by the alternative proposals for extension were indicated. It was shown that a kant 500 feet long sheltered, and more effectively sheltered, more water than 500 feet carried straight out would do, Soundings taken in the line of and beyond the present uork weie shown on the plan as follows :— At 500 ft, 231 t ; at 1000 ft, 23ft 6in ; at 1500 ft, 24tt Gin ;at 2000 ft, 25ft: The soundings along the line of the kant at ithe same distances were respectivaly 22ft 22ft, 23ft. (The adoption of a curve of six chains radius to lead to ‘he kant, Mr Goodall has explained, would throw the kant about 100 ft further seaward, and the curve would he about 200 ft long ; a curve of ten chains radius would be nearly 400 ft long, and would throw the straight kant about 150 ft beyond where it would be placed it stalled from au elbow. The end of a kant 500 ft long at the angle proposed, and commencing directly at that angle, would be about 36Cft inside the liao of the present work ; if commenced with a curve of six chains radius, about 380 f t; and if with a curve of ten chains radius, about 240 ft)

Plan No 2 showed how a complete harbor could be made by extending the kant to 200 ft, and carrying out a rubble wall about 50 chains long from where the wreck of the Benrenuo lies, its line of direction cutting the extended kant at a right angle about 200 ft from its free end, a narrow entrance being placed a a short distance from the Breakwater by carrying out a short wall from this work to meet the north wall. The acreages of the different depths of water mentioned in the report were shown on the plan. Atter a good deal of discussion the proposed plans were adopted unanimously .