DIVER’S WORK IN POND OF THE ARAHURA DREDGE

Greymouth Evening Star, 20 October 1948, Page 6

DIVER’S WORK IN POND OF THE ARAHURA DREDGE

Nine descents by a diver into the murky depths of the dredge pond of the Arahura gold dredge over the week-end followed a serious mishap to the bucket-line of one . of the West Coast’s biggest gold-winners in the early hours of Sunday morning. As a result of the diver’s work, repairs to the dredge are now almost completed and it is expected that work will be resumed tomorrow, much sooner than might have been the case if it had not been possible foi' a man to descend to the bottom of the pond. • Owing to the difficulty of obtaining new equipment from overseas, the bucket-line of the dredge now comprises both new buckets and old ones which are considerably worn. At 4 o’clock on Saturday morning, the back eye of one of the old buckets carried away at the top tumbler and the bucket-line fell to the bottom Of the pond. 60ft of Murky Water The company, Gold Mines (N.Z.) Ltd., obtained the services of Mr J. E. Godfrey, of Greymouth, an expert diver, to assist in raising the broken bucket-line. In 60 feet of murky water, Mr Godfrey could work only by the sense of touchunderwater lighting was useless as the silt in the water would merely reflect any light in the form of glare. Mr Godfrey made in all nine descents to the bottom of the pond and in the inky blackness eventually succeeded in attaching a U inch diameter steel hawser to the bucketline. At the first attempt to pull up the bucket-line, which weighs many tons, the hawser broke and the difficult job had to be done again. Yesterday afternoon, the bucketline was raised successfully. and work was commenced immediately on replacing the broken bucket. Unless unexpected difficulties are encountered, this work will be completed tomorrow. Mr Godfrey has lived in Greymouth less than six months and, although he is now employed at a different trade, he hets already found that his diving experience is not being wasted in this district. Within a short period he has been upon to descend to the bed of the Grey river to assist in urgent repairs to the Greymouth Harbour Board’s dredge, Mawhera, and to the bottom of one of the deepest dredge ponds in the district. Assisted Immigrant An underwater welder and cutter is Mr Godfrey’s real trade, but he is now a boilermaker at the Dispatch Foundry, Greymouih He arrived from England six months ago as an assisted immigrant and his diving experience was gained in Great Bn-' tain. , , .. “I had been down to a bucket-line before the week-end,” said Mr Godfrey, today, “but it was the first time I had ever dived in a dredge pond.” He added that his previous experience in connection with dredges was in regard to conventional harbour dredges and not gold-winners, but the experience of making nine descents in the pitch-black dredge pond had ■ been interesting. An official of the mining company said that the fact that a skilled diver was available to attach a rope to the sunken bucket-line had been a great help. Otherwise, it would have been a case of attempting to attach the rope from the surface, by hit-or-miss methods, and the task might have taken a long time.