HARBOUR WORKS

Press, Volume CII, Issue 30143, 29 May 1963, Page 16

HARBOUR WORKS

Australian Progress With the expansion of secondary industries in Australia. the port authorities there were having to face the provision of new facilities, including roll-on roll-off ferries. and sooner or later the same facilities would have to be provided In many New Zealand ports, said Mr A. J Charman, resident engineer of the Lyttelton Harbour Board, yesterday Mr Charman had just returned from a visit to the biennial conference of the port engineers of the Australian Port Authorities’ Association He was one of three New Zealanders to attend—the others were from Auckland and Wellington—and they were the first New Zealand engineers to be invited Cargo containei handling was another important point raised at the conference which affected every harbour board, Mr Charman said, and it had been brought home to the engineers jus» how little la_nd harbour authorities really owned. Ports were planned tn Australia and New Zealand when it was thought that the harbour boards neede< little more than the wharves and jetties jutting out into the harbour and a little land behind Now. with the need for cargo-handling facilities at ports recognised,- it . was realised how little foresight the original planners had. In the fortnight he was aw’ay. Mr Charman inspected port facilities in Sydney as well as m Melbourne, where the conference was held Papers on a variety of subjects. including the use of hovercraft hid been presented, he said The conference had welcomed the attendance of the New Zealanders. who were not just observers but full delegates, and there was, a mutual feeling that future conferences should include New Zealand engineers.