HARBOUR BOARD'S YEAR.

Press, Volume LXIV, Issue 19503, 27 December 1928, Page 11

HARBOUR BOARD'S YEAR.

PROGRESS OF THE PORT.

The port of Lyttelton was maintained during 1928 in accordance with the Harbour Board's policy of steady progress.

The Christchurch City Council's account for £729, being the Board's share of the expenses of the election of members in April, 1927, having been held up subject to its approval by the Auditor-General, it was agreed at the February meeting to pay only on the basis set out by the Auditor-General. At a later meeting it was reported that the reduced account totalling £6OB had been paid. An interesting and important statement regarding alleged delays in the delivery of cargo was made at the March meeting by the chairman (Mr R. Galbraith). In the particular case dealt with, the steamer Port Caroline, it was shown that the vessel arrived at Lyttelton ten days ahead of the shipping documents for the cargo, thus placing the Railway Department and the Customs Department at a disadvantage, and preventing delivery of goods. Regarding the reconstruction of No. 3 jetty the tender of Andersons, Ltd., for the ironwork, was accepted, and tho engineer was empowered to finish the jetty in two years if he could see his way to do so, and to employ as much suitable labour in order to expedite the completion of the work. At a special meeting on March 22nd it was decided to apply to the Local Government Loans Board for its sanction to raise'an instalment of the £300,000 loan authorised by the Lyttelton Harbour Board Loan Act, 1926, totalling £85,900, to be spent on 10 electric capstans, and four electric portal cranes for the Gladstone pier; and the enlargement and reconstruction of No. 3 jetty and four electric portal cranes for that jetty., At the April meeting a small Standing Committee, consisting of Messrs R. Galbraith (chairman). Miller, Storry, Walter, Hayward, and Monro, was set up to deal with matters of urgency and matters not of sufficient importance to refer to the Harbour Improvement Committee, or the Finance Committee. A special meeting, held on May 2nd, by-law No. 269, amending the storage charges on grain and produce, was adopted. It became operative on the 16th of the same month. The request of the Sumner Borough Council to have vested in it that part of the estuary foreshore between the tramway causeway and the Sumner road, as a site for a bathing pool, was granted. „ ~ From Mr C. Hastings Bridge, surveyor, the Board accepted a plan showing the harbour works recommended bv the Lyttelton Wharf Commission m 1863, and it was decided to convey the Board's thanks to him. . At the May meeting the engineer reported that the "Foamite Firefoam plant had been delivered.. This com- I prised generators for equipping the tug and the oil tankers' wharf,. and also hand extinguishers for the petrol stores. A test demonstration was made on April 26th, when some pet-rol-soaked straw was quickly put out. ( In May, Mr C. H. Clibborn, formerly assistant secretary and treasurer and acting secretary and treasurer was formally appointed secretary and treasurer and chief executive officer to the Board. Mr P. W. Fryer, formerly assistant engineer and acting engineer, was appointed engineer to the Board. Later, Mr Clibborn also was appoini> ed one of the Board's Sinking Fund Corw'iissioners. , The annual inspection of the harbour by members of the Board was made on May 10th, -when attention was paid to the dredges Canterbury and Tewhaka, working together in the outer harbour, the Tewhaka acting as a hopper barge to the Canterbury: There was * workincr demonstration of the oil-fire tight-, in! plant at the oil steamers' berth, and on the tug Lyttelton, man expressed the opinion that in order to complete the plant an additional unit should be ordered for .use with the Tewhaka's fire pumps, similar, to the unit installed on the tug Lyttelton. The engineer's repul* set out that the results of the expe>**ent with the Tewhaka acting as ah* .per barge had been distinctly favourable, though the disparity in length between the two vessels caused them to pitch unusuallv when a swell was running. He suggested a continuation of the experiment so as to give the system a thorough trial, as the application ot this method, if successful, appeared to offer an economical solution or tne problem of increasing dredging- capacity in the future. , t . , ~, At the June meeting it was decided that a deputation should wait on the Minister for Railways,, and urge that ■the Department should pay the cost or maintenance of the capstans, and the electric current used in operating Upon the request of Messrs R. Hatchwell and J. A. Collins, representing a number of yachtsmen, it was decided to improve the boat and yacht dip accommodation at a cost of about In order .to strengthen the Sumner ietty, repairs were effected, lhirtyfour piles* that had been ™dem»«J by the sea were replaced by longer ones. The material/ costing £166, was provided by the Board. On July 2nd at a special meeting.a deputation was received from the Port and City Committee, the members of which outlined the commitWs pro; posals for a vehicular traffic tunnel road to Lyttelton. At its August meeting the Board resolved:- 'That this Board assures the Port and Citjr Committee that the Board will have.the port ready to receive. any additional shipping that may be induced to eivu.r Lyttelton harbour as » rffiutt of *£ improved road transport between the ,(S S S/to-a deputation represent was decided to endeavour toget; legv lntive authority to give theß° Council an area, approximately -» and one-third acres, on the JNaval Point reclamation for recreation pnrP °o^ B 'ju!v 27th a fire occurred, on the waterfront, completely destroying tje Shaw, Savill, and Albion Company's wool store. No damage was done to any of the Board's property. The tug assisted at the extinction of the fire with her fire pump and hoses. At the August meeting the chairman reported on the satisfactory position ot the Board financially as proved by the fact that the loan instalment, ot £44,600 had been taken up and considerably oversubscribed. The hrst part, £21,900 was taken up in one block immediately upon issue, and tne second part £22,700, which was issued on Julv 21st, was all taken up by August* 2nd. The oversubscriptions amounted to over £II,OOO. The question of a site for a new dock to be built in the future was the subject of a report by the engineer at the August meeting. It set out that the reclamation area, from a constructional point of view, is unsuitable. It was difficult to suggest an alternative, but if a large dock is ever required the most promising solution lay m opening up a suitable area by quarrying in connexion with possible extensions, to the harbour works in the future. ■

It was decided at the- September meeting to vote £2OO -out of unauthorised expenditure for the purchase of a new motor lifeboat for tho Sumner Lifeboat Institute.

At the October meeting it was decided to support the agitation for the

establishment of a regular and: more frequent service between Melbourne, Hobart, the Bluff, Dunedin, Lyttelton, and Wellington. The death of Mr James Storry was referred to at the December meeting, and a motion of sympathy was agreed to.- Mr Storry had been a member of the Board since February, 1909, and was, chairman from May 1921, to May, 1923.

During November the work done by the craneship, Rapaki, included lifting three electric locomotives weighing 48J tons each from the steamer Hertford. These constituted, it is believed, the heaviest single lifts made from a ship to date in a New Zealand port. The engines, which were fully assembled on their own wheels, were landed on the rails on No. 7 Jetty.