HARBOUR BAR AT WESTPORT

Press, Volume XCI, Issue 27638, 20 April 1955, Page 14

HARBOUR BAR AT WESTPORT

PROBLEM OF KEEPIN L PORT OPEN F MR MCALPINE OUTLINE! DIFFICULTIES (From Our Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, April 19. “A great deal of money will ha to be spent on the Westport harbo if it is going to be maintained as us ful.” said the Minister of Marine (ft J. K. McAlpine) in the House of Re res ntatfves today. He devoted me of his speech to discussing the ha hour. The Marine Dep? ment had recent taken over the entire responsible f for the control of the harbour—ar i a responsibility it surely was, he sai * The problem of navigation was accei - 5 tuated by the littoral drift nortl wards, carrying sediment from tl rivers from the alps to form Farewt Spit Incalculable quantities of s were being deposited on the bars * Westport and Greymouth, and at Wes port the deposit was estimated 700.000 cubic yards a year. The '*en~ral economy of the harbot was bonirl up with the transport • coal by colliers. Last year 215.(X tons was shipped, the railage fro? the mines to the port costing £105,00 If the coal had been railed to Lytte

ton the cost would have bee £589,000. Proposals to decrease the entrant width and to increase the scour wer estimated to cost £37,000, Mr Mr Alpine said. The problem was to kee a passage over the bar. The higl powered suction dredge Eileen War had now a limited life, of perhaps 1 or 11 years. The amount of spoil lifted was about-300,000 yards a year, although it had been assessed that in some years the amount of spoil dredged in a day was less than was replaced during the night Various schemes had been put forward. including a modern dredge to handle 600,000 to 700,000 tons a year. It would be a colossal dredge, and he could not see how it could work on the shallow bar. The problem would probably be dealt with by using twe or three smaller dredges, which would have to work with the tides. Daily soundings were being taken, and it was very difficult to be sure on the amount of information available, which of the schemes would be most successful Most of the engineers believed that with the narrowing of the channel sufficiently and with increased tidal compartment and freshes, sufficient depth would remair on the bar for the loading of the Kclass collies*. Dragline dredging was not supported by three contemporary engineers. Mi McAlpine said. Ten or 16 mastei manners and two marine superintendagreed that the narrowing of the entrance was a practical method, anc it was also agreed that it would bt necessary to do some dredging to stii up the bottom and allow the tide tc remove the spoil. It would appear concluded Mr McAlpine, that force* other than dredging controlled the bar. What could be done by dredging appeared to have little or no effect.

mt ivinseua was a iitue less enecuve in his speech on farming and the development of the Waikato river. All were good maiden speeches. Tomorrow afternoon Ministerial answers to questions will be discussed. There is no sign of the Address-in-Reply debate drawing rapidly to a close. So far 39 members have spoken.