WANGANUI BAR

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 140, 15 June 1928, Page 11

WANGANUI BAR

SCOURING A CHANNEL DANGERS OF THE GROYNE In reply to a letter from the Wanganul Harbour Board requesting that the captains who petitioned the board to remove the groyne at the mouth, of the Wanganui River should submit for the board's consideration ; the grounds upon which their objections were based, the Merchant Service Guild has submitted the following objections on behalf of the petitioners. "The navigable channel has been docreased by 150 feet. This we' consider a retrograde step. In rough weather in the past vessels have had great difficulty in negotiating the entrance owing to the easterly set and the run of the sea carrying them ■ over to starboard. At night time under these conditions the width of the entrance appears very narrow with the ship yawing. "The object of the groyne is to set up a scour. To set up a scour one accelerates the current or deflects the water in a certain direction, which in this case is westerly. "The groyne is too close to the seaward end of the moles for the reason that a vessel running in on a sea has v. .it sufficient time or room to square up. If it is ebb tiao you will have the most natural forcos acting to turn the ship round, namely, pressure on the starboard bow from the water deflected off the groyne and pressure on the port, quarter from the easterly set. "Although it has been stated that several master mariners wero consulted before starting this groyne our members trading to the port say that they were not consulted, but we have been informed that at least three experienced masters constantly trading to your port have voiced their objections to officers of the board."