DOMAIN BOARD

Evening Star, Issue 17372, 7 June 1920, Page 6

DOMAIN BOARD

REPORT BY THE CITY ENGINEER.

ONE LONG GROYNE AT ONCE. A special meeting of the Ocean Beach Domam Board was held this morning; present—Mr J. H. Hancock (chairman) and Messrs J. Wilson, J. Dove, W. B. Taverner, and J. B. Shacklock. Mr W. D. R. M'Curdie (City Engineer) was present: The business was to consider the report of the City Engineer as to the urgent protective works on the beach. Mr R. A. Johnston (clerk) read the report as follows : " The work of stopping the inroads of the sea along the foreshore from Forbury road to Or M'Donald'e land, and includ"mg it, a total distance of six chains, was finished on Wednesday. Altogether there were used 850 loads of rock and 20 loads of scrub. All accounts are not yet in, but by the tally kept on the ground the expenditure has been kept to the amount of the vote. Mr M. Stevenson rang up on Sunday morning, saying, he would provrde as many horses an J carte for that day as we might require, free of charge, the board to pay the drivers' wages only. Ho himself worked in the quarry all day seeing to the loading and the despatch of teams, so as to keep thesupply of material at the beach steady. The number of horses and carts employed bv him that day was 18. Mr Stevenson should be thanked for his' handsome contribution so promptly given ip time of need.

! On the question of extending this stone work to Moreau street, the distance ■J, 4^™ I™. 1 ™. and tn e cost would be about I h£,bJJ. The sea has not touched the foot |of the sandhills all the way to Moreair {street since Monday. The work of push- ■ me: out the groynes will be commenced now m about 10 days if the contractor for the piles keens to his time. After all aspects of the matter have been noted and : considered, it is not advised that the stone ; work should be pushed any further ai i the present.

" With reference to the grovne work the single row of piles specified cannot well be worked to now, as storms mav come at any time and wreck the whoiV plant The lengths of the grovnes proposed are so short as to promise little or no result in the arresting of the coastal current that takes the sand awav and deposits it about the other end of. the beach It is recommended, therefore, that the groynes be of two rows of piles, and that the work of driving them be done from staarmg on the tops of the piles. The--e groynes can be pushed out as far bevond low water as funds will allow. It* can be seen from the shore bv the breaking of the waves that the water is shallow for about some 30 chains out. It is suggested that a whale boat be borrowed from the Harbor Board, and that soundings be taken, and the present section of the bottom be recorded, that we may see how far out a pile groyne may conveniently be built. It is recommended that the first groyne be run out from the end of Forbury road, and that 'the spacing of the groynes be widened in proportion to the length out it may be decided to push. " It is recommended that the authority be raised from £1,500 to £3.000 at once", as the work now specified cannot be done iorthe £1.500, and the Government will insist on the plan and specification being carried out, except in as far as modifications may be allowed in allowing length of groyne to count for numbers. I believe the Government will raise a subsidy in the present proportion—namely, £1 for £3—if applied to. " Work on the groyne at Forbury road will ba commenced as soon as the material comes to hand. The old grovnes will be salvaged, and the material used in the new ones now proposed reaching further out and further apart." The board considered the report clause by clause.

As to the question of extending the stone work, Mr Shacklock expressed the ooinion that the City E-sin err was working on right lines.—Mr Dove thought thev should specially watch the. spot behind Professor Dickie's residence, where the last big 6 ea_ took out a great bite of sand. —The Chairman said the first groyne would act on that spot, and there were several loads of scrub ready if wanted. Resolved to leave this matter of extending the. stone work in the hands of the chairman and the engineer, to act if necessary. The next question was as to the groynes. —The Chairman said, in answer to a question, that it was not finally settled how many groynes there should be.—Mr Shaddock said he supposed Mr M'Curdie's idea was to put in two and see how they acted.—The Chairman replied that the proposal was to start with one. It was urgently necessary to press the Government for further financial help.—Mr Dove remarked that they were only on the fringe of the work* Mr M'Curdie had told him that though Mr Furkert asked for four groynes there should be five more to protect the hills as far as Moreau street.—T"<e Chairman said his view vrae that if the erosion at St. Clair v.-as stopped the rest of the sandhills would be secure. However, that was not the immediate question. The first thing was to consider how to get more money to go on with the work that was agreed upon as necessarvAfter further discussion it was resolved, on the motion of Cr Shacklock, seconded by Mr Dove, that the City Engineer be instructed to proceed with the construction of one double groyne, longer than originajly proposed, to_ start from the end of Forburv road—this one groyne to be gone on with in any case, pending further financial assistance from the Government em to other groynes. It was further resolved that the contributing bodies be asked to increase their subscriptions to allow this to be done, and that the Government be asked to give £ for £ towards the whole work, this resolution being moved by Mr Wilson. Mess's Mondy and Stephens submitted the draft of a new clause in the Domain Board's Amending Bill, giving authority to councils to contribute. Mr Dove moved that the City Endneer be asked to _ prepare an estimate of the cost of erecting double groynes as far as Moreau street.—Mr Taverner seconded, and it was carried.

The board decided to meet the local members of Parliament this afternoon, and ask them to press on the Government the urgent need for an increased contribution.