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WAIPU RIVER UNWORKABLE.

BANK FORMED ACROSS CHANNEL ICEW GROYNES BEING PLACED. BUTTER INDUSTRY AFFECTED. Owing to the condition of the Waipu River it is impossible for coastal vessels Jto work that port at the present time. . (Last week the Pono had great difficulty i in reaching the lower wharf and getting ■ I out of the river again. Though only a i! small vessel she was frequently aground ■i on the eandf with only about two feet i six inches of water between her and the I ! Tiver bed. It took her four days to ;! reach the open sea after completing I loading, and almost the only way tc . | make progress was to "kedge" along by 1 ! putting out the anchor and pulling the s vessel towards it through several inches .of 6 and. Evidently the river bed was i quite smooth, for an examination of the little vessel's hull yesterday afternoon > showed no damage had resulted beyond - , the wearing out of the stern bushes. . I The trouble in the river is that a. . heavy sand bank had formed right s across the channel inside the bar and .! a new channel will have to break out J ' through this bank before the port is , again workable. Workmen are now en- . gaged putting in groynes to direct the, - current to have this effect. The groynes, 1 which are 6tout ti-trpe stakes, are j driven firmly into the sand with about , three feet projecting and are then wired _ together. Bush ti-tvee is put in be- _ tween them and sand is banked up be- | hind to give strength to the structura. _ In this way the current can be directed _ ! with the object of facilitating naviga- ( tion; but when the groynes are allowed , to fall into a state of disrepair, as has t happened at Waipu. the water is liable _to break through them. The current gradually loses its force and the channel , silts up. , : The Waipu River is controlled by the _ Waipu River Board, which levies ratea k on the residents of the district and col- _ lects dues from shipping companies t entering the port to cover the expenses . of keeping the river open for navigation. 1 It is unfortunate for the district, and _ for the Waipu butter industry in par- ! ticular, that easy communication with 3 Auckland has been cut off; but the pas- , sage of the river lias become gradually 8 more difficult during the past two or j three months, and the present state of affairs was impending. The nearest outlet for the butter, which amounts to .' about 300 boxes a week, will now ba » Marsden Point, fourteen miles distant, 4 I where the Claymore and the WaiotahJ , i make regular calls. =

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/AS19230228.2.16

Bibliographic details

Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 50, 28 February 1923, Page 3

Word Count
451

WAIPU RIVER UNWORKABLE. Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 50, 28 February 1923, Page 3

WAIPU RIVER UNWORKABLE. Auckland Star, Volume LIV, Issue 50, 28 February 1923, Page 3