PORT EXPANSION

Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 149, 27 June 1938, Page 13

PORT EXPANSION

AUCKLAND PLANS

PASSENGER TERMINAL

New passenger accommodation claimed to be unrivalled in the Southern Hemisphere, and equipment for handling , cargoes brought by passengercarrying ships, the whole to cost about £275,000, are proposed by the Auckland Harbour Board as the second part of its ten-year plan to spend upward of £1,000,000 upon development, of which the recently begun £483,000 export wharf forms the first, states the "New Zealand Herald" of today. Mounting trade , and continually increasing passenger and tourist traffic through the port have necessitated expansion and as soon as practicable the Queen's ,Wharf will be remodelled and possibly extended and a passenger and cargo terminal on modern lines built to fulfil every requirement.

Since the introduction of the Matson Line service in 1931 and express liner schedules If' the Union Steam Ship Company's liner Awatea, coupled with the greater number of tourists, the trade graph has steepened beyond all expectations, and the board found itself impelled to make plans for overcoming the congestion on wharves and the danger and inconvenience to passengers and their friends through cargoes being worked from nearby ships. TWO-STOREY STRUCTURE. The new export wharf will probably be finished in 1940. Ships will be diverted to it,- the pressure on Queen's Wharf will be relieved, and the board should then be able to begin the construction of the passenger terminal. When that is finished, passengers and cargoes will be dealt with as separate units, in consonance with the practice followed at other major ports in different parts of the world. It is practically certain that this new accommodation will be located on Queen's Wharf. The plans provide for a graded roadway approach to an upper level of a two-stoeey structure. Passengers will land or disembark on this level, which is planned to be as high as the gangways, and instead of having to go down a gangway, cross a wharf lane, and enter the wharf for Customs examination, they will step from the ship to the high-level covered approach, cross in safety to the terminal, ans find themselves in a commodious assembly hall. There is provision on the upper floor for Customs examination, railway, postal and telegraphic, banking, and other facilities associated with passenger and tourist traffic. Motor and foot traffic will be amply catered for, and general cargoes will be handled only on the lower floor of the terminal. In this way the present hazards, delay, and inconvenience will be obviated. All these desirable features are to be incorporated in a building that will be impressive to the eye and in keeping with modern trends in the handling of transport. Right along the whole length of the terminal, and parallel to the ships, will run a wide balcony level with the average gangway, a feature that should commend itself to the public. INCREASE IN SIZE OF SHIPS. The original length of Queen's Wharf was determined as far back as 1904, and although there was evidence of foresight in the preparation of plans, revolutions in marine engineering brought about the building of very much larger and longer ships than were expected 35 years ago. It .has been pointed out to the Auckland Harbour Board that in making: provision for special passenger accommodation, serious consideration must be given to the lengthening of the wharf, especially in view of a prospective'increase in the size and number of vessels of all types that will use the port. Cruise ships stay longer at Auckland than at any other port in the Dominion, and the port is better equipped by natute and development to meet any demands made upon it.

Authority to raise a loan for the building of the terminal has already been given by the Government, and at the proper time the board will take steps to carry into effect its plans to make Auckland the most efficient and convenient port south of the Line.