RAILWAY AND HARBOR

Evening Star, Issue 17365, 29 May 1920, Page 6

RAILWAY AND HARBOR

PROPOSAL TO STEAIGHTEN THE LINE FEOM BLACK JACK'S POINT. At the meeting of the Otano Harbor Board la=fc iiigiii the. matter of the straightening of the railway line between Duiuxlm and Black Jack's Point, -was introduced by an exhaustive report bv the board s _ engineer (Mr Wilkie). Later a ueputation representing a number of local_ bedios waited upon tho board concerning the same matter. The engineer's report v.-as as follows : As requested. I herewith submit a report upon the suggestion that the braid remove stone from the lv.ihvav land at Black Jack's Point raid construct a wail irom the Point to the Leith canal to permit of the deviation of the railway line. By an agreement dated .September 18, 1912, with the Railway Department, tlio board have undertaken -co remove approximatelv 13,700 cubic vim* of_st.ji!e from Black Jack's Point to ;..:>rmit. of an easier curve ill this locality. It was also provided for in the agreement that, after the reclamation of the Leith estuary had been completed t-lio Government would undertake the said cieviaton. To construct a sincdetrack wau from Black Jacks Point: to - it is estimated that .->.-.,..,1.0 cubic yards of si one would he remised Of tills quantity, the stone ' vb:ctt tao "board is under agreement to 0 ; 1 '- 0 7" The remain"I s . r '-7'''. ( ? Dlp yards would have to be obtained eitner br unnecessarily widening the railway track at the Point, or by reopening ms old qmrrv from which materia! was procured f or t| le boat, harbor walls in 1913. Tiie estimated cost o. removing and dumping the, miantitv Oi rock primarily cgreed upon is £4,%0 and the cost of constructing the whole v.-a,a worJu approximate £8.775 thu* o^oni." 2 au actional expenditure of over and above the amount for which hie board is liable. The forepng estimates are based upon a. singletrack line, winch, however, would "bo insufficient ,1 tae building of the wall is advocated with the object of expediting the duplication of .the Port Chalmers railway. A. wall to carry a double track ime would cost -approximately £l3 640 or £8 690 in excess of tie boards ptl liability. The building of the- wa" would entad either the completion of the Leuh canal or tha provision of a. bridce opening m the wall to carry the Leiih adopted toe bridge would bocom* u«= P W when the Leith canal was finished ' -'n e delation of the railway line vWd transfer about h> acres of leasable land in the v-cimty of Pelichet Bav en to J? oA ds ° f the line - but as there are some 20 acres ot .sections still Diablo m blocks 74 and 75, there can be no -arger.t necessity for placing the land on the market, nor would the rental* derived therefrom compensate for the heavy outlay. _ Should there fc a demand for land m tms vicinity occupation could be given at once by levelling and reading the sections and the formation of a level crossing at Albany street. It has also been suggested that the shifting oi the railway lino would allow of the cleaning up c f the foreshore, but this work can be performed satisfactory only by the reclamation of the Leith esaiary, and cannot be hastened bv the formation of the -trail. When it is" considered that a quantity of material equal m bulk to tnat of the proposed wal' could be dredged from the Victoria. Channel and pumped into the estuarv for approximately £4,0C0, the benefits to be gamed from the early deviation of the lino would require to'be verv considerable before one could recommend the construction of the wall. The Leith estuary was acquired by tho boawl essentially as a reclamation area £or channel dredgings, and it is against the best interests of the port that this, or any other reclamation area should be decreased in holding capacity by being filled in with, material other than channel dredgings. It cannot be too strongly impressed that the primary utility of reclamation areas lies in the fact "that t&ey jroride-an~l3se33penErm. method.-, -pi

getting rid of channel dredgings,. and they should not be looked upon as revenue-earning areas until, by inability to hold more dredgings, their primary object has been achieved. If the present dredging programme is adhered to, tho reclamation of the Leith. estuary can be commenced in five or sis years, and as. Victoria channel dredgings would ba utilised for this purpose, lrttlo time would be required for consolidation. In conclusion, while it is advisable to proceed, as early as possible, with tha deepening of the Upper Harbor, and! consequently the reclamation of the Leith estuary, there is no advantage to bo gained by the board which wan-ants a large expenditure, the only benefit accruing from"which would be the deviation of the railway line. The Railwav Department have not so far expressed any desire for the immediate prosecution of the board's portion of the agreement, however, that the 1^,(10! cubic yards of stono be removed. '•? Black Jack's Point, and that it be Mtuised m repairing the half-tide wall, this wont is necessary, and would prove. . of immediate benefit' in reducing tha maintenance dredging in the Victoria, channel. ,J u *|™\ to Mr Roberta, the engineer. (Mr \\ilkio) said that his estimate of cost did not include the bridge. A deputation waited on the board in connection with this matter, those so' attending being Mr W. Begg (Mayor) i and Messrs J. B. Waters W! Gow J Wilson, J. Inglis Wright, W B Ste4 i I .' K . lnilon > J - M. Stevenson, J. Tait E.' iambiyn, G. J. Errington, W. Connor, \'r e - v ; Youn S> M'Neill, and the Rev. Mr Bishop. The Mayor said that he appeared in the interests of the citizens to advocate.' the deviation of the railwav line from LlacK Jack s Point. The land in tha vicinity of Pelichet Bay had been an eyesore for 40 years, and the time had arrived to make a new work strong enough to carry the. straightened line. It was understood that the Railway Department was anxious to straighten the line, and to have tna way prepared for a double line, tn the near future the population would extend in that neighborhood, as a result oi utilising the sito of Lake Logan. Mr J. Inglis Wright said the Otago, Expansion Leagno had undertaken to j organise- this deputation because the i ;eague were convinced of the need for this improvement. ' The deviation proposed would be a great advantage to tha , City, in that it would add to its sccnio beauty and also shorten the Tailwav ap- , preach. The time was ripe for the'makI mg of this embankment, so as to give the i Railway Department an opportunity taj bring the trains straight into Dunedin. I the work would, of course, cost monev, but the State might be asked to help. "A. collateral advantage would be that Albanv: and Frederick streets would lead into thV fore.snore. ,N r ' T - B Waters, speaking for the Dunedin Chamber of Commerce, said that ho" sunpovted the proposal from the commercial and industrial standpoint. In the near future many hulk warehouses and : lactones must bo erected on the groundnow under consideration, and before anv> : mercantile community undertook the erection of lame buildings it naturally wished to be satisfied as to means of access to the railway and as to how their own lines? would be placed, and so forth. Besides, , tor lactones there must be a residential \ ere-a handy. Mr Stevenson (Mayor of Port Chalmers)' said that transport was a very big factor in the prosperity of any community. As tilings were, Dunedin was geographicallv handicapped. In this matter all concerned were at one. This scheme should ba pushed on as early as possible. It wa3 essential to have more rapid transport between that part of the harbor where the big beats would hi and the central point or commerce. The Harbor Board should' be regarded as the clearing house of tha--province, and make it easv for merchants.' to carry on to advantage' T'iw Chairman expressed appreciation .■ of the _ feelings that had prompted the ' deputation to appear before the hoerd. Tho board were glad to hear of thev promises to help in this matter. Tha deputation having withdrawn, Mr 1 M'Donald moved that the report of th& engineer and the arguments brought before the hoard by the speakers be referred to the Works Committee. The board should be very gratified to think that .such, a large number of gentlemen had taken sufficient interest in the matter of a necessary move ss to come along with tha deputation. It was •disheartening to him to hear the tone of the engineer's report. The hoard, by reason of their financial position, might have to abide by it. ?-ir_ DiVkson remarked that if anyone had the idea that the place was going to be filled in with spoil from the harbor he would point out that it would mean a delay of 15 or 20 years before the lino was straightened. If the work was to he p. great improvement to the City—and :t_ would he in many ways—then theCitv sho"hl assist. Mr M-jUer seconded the motion. Mr Wilkinson said it was news to him that the Government would be pleased to carry out. this work-. The position was considerably changed since- tho schemr was first proposed. The motion was carried.