Lyttelton Gateway To Christchurch

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31088, 17 June 1966, Page 30 (Supplement)

Lyttelton Gateway To Christchurch

Lyttelton was the first part of metropolitan Christchurch , that the Canterbury Pilgrims and their followers saw, and for years it was the place of entry for the settlers in a new land and the port for all the goods they needed. x t

No longer does it fill the need for passengers coming to Christchurch, except for those who travel on the inter-island steamer-express, which has been an important North-South link since the 1890’s; but Lyttelton is the place where about a million and a half tons of cargo are handled every year.

While it is primarily used for imports, it is an important outlet for the primary produce of Canterbury going overseas and for the manufactured goods sent to other parts of New Zealand. To cope with the increased trade there have been some dramatic changes in the harbour, and the Lyttelton Harbour Board faces more changes in the future as methods of cargo handling change; but Lyttelton has always been a place of change. Rival Ports Once it had rivals in Heathcote and Kaiapoi, and tt was only when the railway tunnel was put through that it took on the character of a main port. Where the railway station stands was once just part of the beach washed by the sea. Today the ground goes about five chains from the station. To the east there is the more recent reclamation to make Cashin quay.

The first harbour work was a jetty, 150 feet long and 16 feet wide. At high water there was a depth of 12 feet at the end berths and at low water only six feet. This jetty was widened and lengthened within a year or two of the arrival of the main body of settlers, but larger ships could still not berth there and used to lie out in the harbour, often in the shelter of Diamond Harbour. Better shelter was obviously needed, and the building of two moles, one from Officer’s Point and the other from Naval Point, was completed by 1877, some of the work being done by prison labour. After the moles had been built and the bay filled tn more wharves were built by the Provincial Government.

As the size of the shipping increased the harbour had to be dredged, and the first dredge and two hopper barges were bought in 1874.

Control of the harbour passed from the Provincial Government to the Lyttelton Harbour Board in October. 1876, and in the next year the board ordered its first dredge. The first tug Lyttelton arrived in August of 1878. By 1904 the effect of the dredging was noticeable, for vessels drawing 26 feet could enter at low tide, and those drawing 28 feet at high tide. The port had electric lighting. at least on the wharves, long before Christchurch. Gas lighting was used on the wharves from 1877 until 1884, when electric lighting was installed, power being supplied by the board’s own plant until 1917 when Lake Coleridge came into operation. For many years the port was tied to rail transport, but as it became obvious that the long-awaited road tunnel was to be built the board began preparing a scheme for harbour extension. First tn 1955, there was a

scientific investigation of wave action to see if a plan for the eastern extension was feasible. When it was shown to be so, the board went ahead with the work itself instead of calling tenders. Rock was quarried to be dumped into a seabed of liquid mud and 61 acres of land was reclaimed. A new dredger was bought to carry out the displaced mud. New Land

Over eight years the new land was buitt out, along with a finger breakwater and the new wharves. The first of three transit cargo sheds which wil cover nearly six acres was completed for the official opening early last year, and the the second is well on the way.

The quay has had its critics and it has at times been in difficulty, but those times were forecast when the £6.5m scheme was first prepared. However, it is now making an important contribution to the work of the port and helping the fin-

ances of its complementary amenity, the road tunnel. With the extension completed except for the second and third transit sheds, the board has turned its attention to the modernisation of the inner harbour. This is work that has been going on steadily for some years, and includes the overhead bridge, but it is gaining in momentum. The introduction of rollon roll-off ships to the interisland service, new methods of cargo handling and road transport are all reflected in the need for future work. A large fishing fleet works out of Lyttelton. Recognising the growing importance of the fishing industry, the board has plans for better accommodation for the fleet.

It is also negotiating with yachtsmen for a possible boat harbour outside the inner harbour. Christchurch has had a long association with Antarctic exploration, and today United States Navy ships use the port on their way to and from the Antarctic, just as in 1901 Captain Scott used it for the Discovery and in 1910 used it as his base before setting off in the Terra Nova on the ill-fated Polar expedition. Sir Ernest Shackleton also used Lyttelton as his New Zealand base in 1908.