THE NEW FERRY TEE.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 114, 13 May 1908, Page 7

THE NEW FERRY TEE.

ADVEBSE CRITICISMS. The new ferry tee which was' erected by the Harbour Board at a considerable outlay does not appear to be giving very general satisfaction. It has: been known for a long time that the Ferry Company are ■ dissatisfied with it, and. judging by the views expressed in. our correspondence columns, the company's views are shared by others. Mr. P. McElwain, writing on this subject, says:— "Sir, —Your correspondent "Shipping" in Friday's issue of the 'Star,' had a word, or two to say about our new up-to-date ferry wharf. But he did not say enough. I say unhesitatingly and unreservedly •that the structure known, as the new. ferry wharf is the greatest misfit in the shape of a wharf- that any man could conceive, and I know nothing about wharves. Up-to-date! It is 40 years behind the times. It is only a short time ago that there was a great outcry against the licensing of the p.s. Takapirna. as a ferry boat, on the grounds that she was not up-to-date; and what do we find? She is the only ferry boat in the harbour to-day which will berth comfortably at this new and up-to-date ferry wharf. If members of the Auckland Harbour Board would take the trouble to walk down this imposing mass of ferro-concrete when the high spring tides are on, they would see at high water the tide flowing over the low landings. They would also see the sponsons and the belting 3of the large ferry steamers riding on the top of the irou bollards on the low landings. Then, if they -will stroll down some night when there is half a gale of wind blowing, and after a ferry steamer has been moored for the night, they will witness the novel sight of a man at intervals pushing the steamer off the wharf until the tide has fallen sufficiently low to prevent her hanging up on top of the fender piles. Stamp it as a failure, my dear' Shipping'? Not by any means. Kather let us look upon it as a creation which will last for all time as a monument to the progressive policy of the Auckland Harbour Board." INTERVIEW WITH THE MANAGER OF THE FERRY COMPANY. Th« general manager of the Ferry Company (Mr. Alex. Alison), when confronted with the above indictments, stated unhesitatingly that they were true in every detail. "I told them at the time," he went on, "that the principle of the thing \va3 old fashioned, but they would not listen to mc, and I don't feel inclined at this stage to go into the question." Asked as to -what he considered the most up-to-date system, Mr. Alison said the counterpoise slot system was undoubtedly the best. It originated in Denmark, and the rest of the world fol-io-wed. The idea of the Auckland tee was first given effect to at Battersea-on-Thames 300 years ago. There was this difference between Battersea and Auckland: In Battersea the idea was properly carried out, in Auckland it has been botched. Nothing can be done to prevent the water rising , over the landing stages when the weather is bad; but with a view to protecting the boats, the ■company's chairman had an interview with the Harbour Board's engineer, the outcome of which was that it was decided to place spring piles at the sides of the landings. This at all events, said Mr. Alison, will prevent the boats from getting on to the wharf, STATEMENT BY THE ACTINGENGINEEE. Mr. F. E. Powell, the acting-engineer for the Harbour Board, was asked if he thought the existing , ferry stages were the best that could be dev'i3ed for Auckland. In replying , to this question, Mr. Powell said he thought they were. The grades of the stages were approved by the Ferry Company, and the Board had not so far received any complaints. He •had not heard that the boats were in danger of floating on to the stages at high tide, and went on to say that the company's new boats were built with ■higher belting than formerly. There were plenty of similar stages in other parts of the world. Speaking of the merits of the different kinds of landings, he said that undoubtedly the floatng arrangement was the best, but it was enormously expensive. They could not have counterpoise stages here for a large number of boats, because one 'boat would monopolise the 'bridge at any particular moment. Floating stages were more imperative -where there was a much greater range of tide. For instance, on the Thames, at Home, the range of tide is 24ft. He thought the grades of the Auckland stages were suita.ble for all requirements, both passenger and freight traffic; at any rate, no complaints had been received. If it was found that the steamers over-rode the wharf, it would not be a difficult matter to put in piles to keep them off. The gangways, he noticed, were not inconveniently steep at the highest tides.