A BURST SEWER

Dominion, Volume 33, Issue 69, 14 December 1939, Page 11

A BURST SEWER

Damage At Ohiro Bay

One of the consequences of the storm at the beginning of the week was that all Wellington city sewers became overcharged with storm-water. In theory sewers should not receive storm-water, but unfortunately in practice it cannot be prevented, and this trouble has always been with the city engineer’s department in time of heavy rainfall. Such was the rush of water into the sewers on Monday, during the heaviest ■fall, that some of the man-hole tops, many of which weigh about a hundredweight, were not only thrust upward, but were kept suspended in cases for five or ten seconds. Many of the sewers stood up to the test very well, but one 18-inch earthenware sewer burst and carried away for a distance of about two chains opposite the Ohiro Bay school, a few hundred yards from the beach. It takes the whole of the sewerage from the Brooklyn and Mornington districts. A gang was immediately assembled and sent out to effect repairs. Better and Bigger Culverts. One instance in which the provision of better and bigger storm-water culverts proved worth while was the lowlying part of the Island Bay district. During a cloud-burst in September last year Herald Street, Island Bay, was so badly flooded that the residents of some of the houses had to be evacuated till the waters receded. The city authorities were very pleased to find on Monday that the new culvert constructed in that area proved equal to all demands.

A fairly large fall of earth has occurred on private property near the top of Hay Street, off Oriental Bay. The city engineer said yesterday that during the past three days the depart-

ment. had been kept extremely busy answering telephone calls in connexion with flood damage. In most cases the damage was on private property, which was not the concern of the department. However, the officers had been doing all they could for property-owners by giving advice and help, recognizing that in such an emergency aid had to be given to those in distress. Numbers of minor slips have been reported, most of them on private property.