THE DRAINAGE OF AUCKLAND.

Auckland Star, Volume XL, Issue 248, 18 October 1909, Page 5

THE DRAINAGE OF AUCKLAND.

OFFICIAL START NEXT MOSTDAY. After many years of waiting, anxious thought, frequent reports, and careful consideration, the important work of starting a comprehensive scheme for the drainage of Auckland and its -suburbs will be begun next Monday, provided that the weather is fine. As far back as 1870 the question of a comprehensive drainage scheme for the whole district was considered, and again 20 years later the matter was revived; but it was not until within the last few years that a really definite move was made in the direction of combined action being taken by all the local bodies interested in getting a drainage scheme to carry the whole of the sewage out to deep water. Following upon this, a Drainage Board was set up for the whole district, and, finally, the scheme submitted by Mr. Midgeley Taylor was adopted, and a week ago the first tender was let. The chairman and members of the Auckland and Suburban Drainage Board have decided that there shall be an official opening of the drainage work next Monday at Orakei, and invitations are being issued to about 250 guests, as the function will be purely an official one. It is proposed to carry the visitors to Orakei by the Kestrel, which steamer is to leave the Devon-port ferry te-e at 2 p.m. The chairman of the Drainage Board (Mr. C D. Grey, Mayor of Auckla-nd) is to turn the first sod in connection with the tender that has already bwn let. The eucccesful tenderers are Messrs. Mays and Gordon, who will construct the first section of the main intercepting sewer from Orakei, across Okahu Bay to Hobson Bay, the price bring £ 12,524. It is quite evident that Mr. Bush (engineer to the Board) is not going to lceo any time now tiuit the money is available, as already tenders have been invited for the second section of the main sewer to Campbell's Point, aiso for tii-e first section of the Arch Hill Gully sewer, from the abattoir site at Richmond to L'om-m-ercial-road at Arch Hill, and for t.ie second section of that work from Com-mercial-road to the city boundary at the bottom of Newton-road. The e;tim;it'd cost of these various works is about £55,000. The first section is to be completed dn twelve montihs, and the second section in two years. The Arch Hili Guliy should also take about a ye:.r, so that for the next couple of years there should be a lot of work for pick and shovel men. After the ceremony of th-e official turning of tne sod has been completed, the visitors will return on board the Kesirel, where afternoon tea will be provided, and the party should reach town about 5 p.m. 'J he invitations to be issued will inciude members of the public bodies interested and their wives, the chairman and members of tlio Harbour Board, the Supcrinundent of Marine, and the Collector Of (_UStOP'.S. It may be mentioned that the second section of the ma.in intercrpting sevrer, which crosses Hobson's Bay, will be raised on re-inforced concrete piles. There is provision in the Act that the Board must eroct outside the sewer a wall faced with bluestone pitchers, which will entail the expenditure of about £5000, but this may not be required until the Harbour Board is prrp.iied to undertake the reclamation of Hobson's Biy. The- pians for the three tanks at Orakei are now r«*ftdy, but require to recoive the approval of the Harbour Board and the Marino Department, so it Us ex;>ecti il lenders for this work can be called in about a eo'.iple of months' timr. This will probably mean the expenditure of bet-.veoii £50,000 acd £00,000. These Uinks are to receive the sowage and retain it until the time of the tide most suitable to discharge the matter into the tide. As to the tanks overy care has been taken that they shall not l>e a nuisance, as they will be covered in, ami there ie to be a GOft road on top. H will therefore be evident that sucn tanks can be no more nuisance than a main sewer under Queen-street, .-i.* to i the question <-f whether the si wage will lie a nuisance after it is deposited into t.he -ea, anyone who has inspected the results of the elaborate series of float i tests submitted to th-e Board will ccc that there was no tendency to flow up the harbour. These tests were most exhaustive, and were made not only to ascertain which was the best, but also what wa.s the most unsuitable time to allow the sewage to escape from the tanks. Another object was to ascertain the moet suitable place for discharging the sewage, and the diagrams submitted all show that Oka-hu Point is tiie best, and that from there the sewage will lie carried rigiit out into R:ingit.;to Channel. It is of special interest to note that none of the Qoats ever went baekwmds to Hob«on"<3 Bay. The tests were made at ail limes of the tide, and have demonstrated that two hours before and four hours after high tide, it is absolutely safe to let tJic sewage run into the sea, as it will be carried clean away. As to the reeult of present harbour works changing the run of the current, it is considered that when Freeman's Bay is reclaimed the run will be straighter down the harbour, and therefore all the better for the sewage discharge from Okahu I'oint, where tihe water is deeper near the shore t.han at any other point in I the harbour that would be suitable for i feuch a purpose. It will be seen, there- ! fore, that every precaution has been j taken by the Board and the engineer to Eocure the harbour from pollution, and there is even - reason to hope that in a i few years' time Auckland district will I possess a proper, effective, and e<*m»--I tensive rtr«i«