FLOOD DAMAGE AVERTED

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 7, Issue 84, 23 June 1944, Page 5

FLOOD DAMAGE AVERTED

WAIRERE STREAM DREDGED WEDNESDAY'S DOWNPOUR

On Wednesday, Whakatane was saved the damage and inconvenience of another flood in the Strand—a flood which might have reached the peak of. the last one had precautionary measures not been, taken. The flooding of the Strand last time, was caused mainly through the Wairere Stream —the stream which takes the excess water from the waterfall to the river being •choked up with gravel and refuse and having insufficient clearance to accommodate the volume of "water which surged down it when the waterfall broke through. As a direct result, trees and logs were piled up at the entrance to the culvert and formed a natural dam causing the •water to-overflow and sweep down the Strand in a surging torrent. The necessary action taken by Mr iW. S. Henderson,, Borough Foreman, in. clearing the debris from the channel caused the flood to subside quickly but many pounds worth of. -damage were left, behind the receding waters. It was at once realised that unless immediate action was taken the -Strand would suffer heavy flooding every time the stream rose, and was forced to carry more water than the -bed could contain. As a result., an. angle dozer was •obtained and the work of. clearing and deepening the bed of the stream -commenced. Difficulty was encountered from the outset as the dozer could not do much more than dislodge the gravel and debris from the sides and bottom and push it to one side. It was necessary therefore to ,-use trucks to cart the material away, .and as no lifting apparatus could Tie obtained, the lorries were forced to back down into the stream and J iiave their load shovelled on to them by hand. A further difficulty Avas :inet-when it. came to clearing under -"the culvert. With little more than .two feet clearance it was impossible to drive the blade underneath to bring out the shingle. However, JYTr Henderson with that peculiar in.■genuity seemingly possessed by civil • engineers invented a drag attached by wire ropes to the dozer, and succeeded in clearing beneath the cul--vert. If the creek had not been broadened and deepened to such an ex--tent in time there is no doubt that, the Council would again have had iieavy flood damages to meet.