HARBOUR BOARD.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19690, 6 August 1929, Page 6

HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. A meeting of the Lyttelton Harbour Board was held yesterday, and was attended by Messrs H. Holland, M.P. (chairman), R. Galbraith, J. Leslie, H. T. Armstrong, M.P., E. J. Howard, M.P.. F. E. Sutton, W. T. Lester, H. M. Chrystall, F. L. Parnham, R. T. McMillan, W. G. Gallagher, and W. J. Walter. Lieutenant-Commander Claude E. Kersley, Executive Officer Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, wrote asktng for free berthage accommodation on the cutter Deveron for use as a training ship. The request was granted. The Harbourmaster reported that during the month of July 135 vessels aggregating 175,852 tons register, entered the Port of Lyttelton, as compared with 131 vessels aggregating 144,664 tons, in July, 1928. Good Name of the Fort. "The good of our port has had some prominence lately," said the chairman (Mr H. Holland, M.P.), in his monthly report, ' 'and I want to correct a statement which was published in connexion with it, namely, that in Wellington, for instance, a big ship frequently berths in from fifteen to twenty minutes, or at the outride, in half an hour without danger or inconvenience, whereas in Lyttelton the delicate operation frequent.y takes over an hpur. Our Harbourmaster advises me that at Wellington pilots board vessels about four cables length from the wharf and at Lytteltoi pilots board vessels at the heads, 4J miles away. From the heads a vessel should be alongside the wharf in 40 to 50 minutes, depending, of course, on the class of vessel, wind, etc. From four cables off, the berthing time is from 15 to 25 minutes. "I mention this in justice to our harbour staff, and because it shows how the reputation of a port may be damaged by unqualified statements, whereas Lyttelton is, in my opinion, one of the safest and best ports in the Dominion," The Cattle Jetty. Regarding proposed improvements to the cattle jetty, the engineer reported that in 1922 the length of this jetty was increased from 61 feet to 182 feet. In the centre was a receiving yard 43 feet long by 59 feet deep, and alongside that a ramp 18ft 6in wide for landing cattle. The disability of that arrangement appeared to be that the larger vessels carrying sheep, which usually discharged at the oil-tankers' wharf would, if compelled to berth at the cattle jetty owing to the other wharf being occupied by an oil-tanker, be unable to discharge sheep at more than one hatch, since the receiving yard was not long enough to serve two. That drawback could be overcome by extending the receiving yards along the whole length of the frontage of the wharf. If the new yards were made with a depth of 17ft 6in, the present sub-structure would suffice and it would only be necessary to deck this over and erect the necess.ary fences and gates. The largest vessels engaged in the trade would then have equal facilities for berthing and discharge of sheep at either the oil-tankers' wharf or the catt»« jetty. A good deal of the work could be carried out with second-feajrtd timber, and the cost was estimated at about £945. Some repairs were required to the present structure. The receiving yard should be redeckcd with 2in sheath- j ing, and while this work was being done it J would probably be advisable to renew some of j the piles. , It was decided to adopt the report and to j instruct the Engineer to go on with the work. Engineer's Report. The Engineer's report for July was as j follows: — j Dredging—The suction dredge Canterbury has been engaged in the outer channel and turning basin, whence she removed a total i of 114,689 tons of spoil. The contractors for ] the work of lengthening the ladder of the 1 dredge have in hand the manufacture of some of the parts. Patterns for some of the castings have been made and the suction pipes are being welded up. During the same period the grab dredge Tewhaka has been engaged { in deepening operations at the oil-tankers' wharf and at No. 3 jetty east. The total ! quantity of spoil dealt with was 4200 tons. Reconstruction of No. 3 Jetty—On the west side of the jetty, bearer piles have now been j driven for a distanc of 500 feet from the outer end. Caps are :aid and fastened for 430 feet, and floor beams bolted down for 400 feet. Lower decking has been spiked down for 170 feet. The laying of upper decking between the railway lines on the east side of the jetty is proceeding. During the month a further length of 100 feet of the old work on the west side was dismantled, j Signal Station—Some repairs are being ' carried out to t!-e houses at Little Port Cooper, including the improvement of the drains and renewal of some of the water tanks. A new floor has been laid in the look-out station on Adderley Head, and repairs to the track leading to the station from Little Port Cooper are in hand. ■ j General Repairs—Minor repairs have been carried out to No. 6 jetty, No. 7 jjtty, No. 1 breastwork. No. 7 breastwork, No. 5 store, and the cool stores. ( The report was adopted. j Finance. The following is the treasurer's statement for the Finance Committee:—Since the Board's last meeting, and up to July 31st. the sum of £10,144 7s lid was paid into the Harbour Fund Account, as compared with £11,019 18s Id for July. 1928, nad £BOI2 0s 4d for July, 1927. The total ordinary receipts for the first seven months of 1929 are £78,562 lis Bd, as compared with £66,243 Is 5d for the correspnoding period of last year The bank book shows the Harbour Fund to be in credit £5865 13s 4d, and the unpaid accounts to be passed for payment to-day amount to £968 8s lOd, which will leave the account in credit £4897 4s 6d. In addition to this credit balance the sum of £4718 has been placed on fixed deposit to credit of the Harbour Fund Account to meet debenture interest due in Svdney on January Ist and .Tnlv Ist next The cred ; t balance in the Harbour Fnnd No. 2 (loan account) 5s 511.631 8s sd. During tv, e month of July the total tonnage handled was 62.667J tons.