DAMAGE DONE BY HEAVY SEAS

Press, Volume LXXV, Issue 22768, 21 July 1939, Page 4

DAMAGE DONE BY HEAVY SEAS

SEWERAGE OUTFALL . PIPE SNAPPED COMPLETED SECTIONS NOT HARMED Undermined by heavy easterly seas on Wednesday morning, the piles supporting the outfall pipe from the Oamaru Borough Council’s settling tank at Orwell street were washed away at high tide about 5 o’clock on Wednesday night, and a large section snapped - off. Most of these piles and the pipes were recovered by the council’s staff yesterday morning at low tide, when a traction engine was used to haul them from the foot of the clay cliffs. The sea at this spot washed away the clay to a depth of about 15 feet. An inspection of the damage yesterday morning showed that the foreshore north of the engine-sheds had, suffered the worst. In one place the sea has taken out almost 25 feet, and many of the protective piles driven along the foot of the cliff have been uprooted and washed away. Because of the spring tide the seas were exceptionally heavy, but dropped considerably yesterday. No damage could be noticed to the section of the foreshore opposite the railways yards, where the rock apron has been completed. A few sections of the temporary railway line used for the protection work were lost, but these were recovered yesterday with a winch. The line was moved back on Wednesday about 12 or 15 feet from its former position, but at high tide on Wednesday night it was again undermined in one or two sections. Gangs of men were engaged yesterday in tipping rocks and • spoil where the sea had taken out its larger bites.