THE RIVER SWEEPING.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 19195, 29 December 1927, Page 7

THE RIVER SWEEPING.

TO TBI SMTO» OF TOT f»*S». Sir, —A rcmarkablo effusion regarding tho above appeared in your correspondence column on the 23rd inst. over the nom-de-plumo "Progress \yith Economy"— remarkable in many ways, chief of theso being that the whole of the statements made therein are contrary to fact. Tho Drainage Board's Enginoer is credited with being, or was, virtually against the proposal to clean tho river bv tho method adopted. It would be interesting to know from whero your correspondent obtained his information. Secondly, "Tho Board is faced with the problem of dredging thousands of cubic yards of mud and silt and carrying it away to some low-lying land at an enormous cost" —an absolutely absurd statement to make at the present juncture, as thero is no evidence to prove that tho rivor-swooper will not continue as it has done for over four milos, leaving a atroam behind it that jg a credit to tho inventor, tho Drainage Board, and tho City of Christchurch. I understand that Mr B. T. Stewart, when reporting to tho Board on the cleaning of the Avon river, undertook to build a machine that would clean the mud and silt from tho upper reaches to the tidal part of the river, but from thero onwards, he stated, a, different hydraulic attachment might be roquired to deposit the spoil on low-ly* ing lands adjacent thereto. The sweeper has now worked down to the East Belt bridge, and from present indications the secondary attachment will not be required for some time to come, perhaps never. Evidently your correspondent's knowledge in connexion with the work of river cloaning is very limited. Ho appears to bo all at sea, where the mud flats ho mentions will be when tho sweepers have aomploted their work. —Yours, etc., A. SNAG.