COUNCIL PAPER—No. 27.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XXI, Issue 1230, 3 May 1864, Page 5

COUNCIL PAPER—No. 27.

Letter from Mr. Bray with reference to further information required by the Lyttelton Wharf Commissioners in England:— Londpri) Feb. 24,1864. To His Honor the Superintendent of Canterbury, > $Tew Zealand-.,. Sir,—ln accordance with the instructions, contained in your letter of October last, to H. S. Selfe, Esq., the Commissioners are inquiring into the nature of the works that will best carry out the first resolution of the Provincial Council. But, as your Honor considered that the question of immediate accommodation (according to the sixth resolution of the Provincial Council) might probably be dealt with at once, the Commissioners have seriously considered the subject, but find that the additional details referred to in the sth resolution of the Provincial Council have not yet reached them, nor have any of the borings and sections suggested in the 47th clause of the published report been communicated to them. The depths of mud are figured on Mr. Dobson's plan, but no information has been sent as to the consistency of the mud passed through. At the time the borings were made, it was stated to me that the rods sunk into the mud by their own weight, but on this point no authentic data are furnished to the Commissioners. They are therefore very doubtful whether screw piles could be used without being screwed down to the rock which is 30 to 40 feeTTMow . low water, and they hesitate in sending out without further information so large an order as 600 feet of jetty. It is desirable that careful borings be at once made in the line of the proposed jetty due S.W. from the Custom-house, shewing the depth to the rock, and also that the stiffness of the mud be tested at 20 feet below that depth and at 5 feet intervals below that depth. This should be done by attaching a screw 12 inches in diameter to the boring rods, screwing it down to the required depth, then weighting it with half a ton, one toir, and one and a half tons at each depth, noting the sinking caused by each half ton. If the sinking is great, a screw two feet in diameter should be similarly tried. These details may easily be obtained in time to be sent by the May or June mail, without the delay and expense of sending an engineer over from England to obtain them as indicated in your Honor's dispatch to Mr. Selfe. I have, &c., W. B. Bray.