HARBOR WORKS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXII, Issue 9997, 28 April 1925, Page 2

HARBOR WORKS

PROGRESS OF DEVELOPMENT

ENGINEER’S MONTHLY REPORT. The progress of the harbor development works during the month of March was indicated by the following report by the Engineer to the Harbor Board.meeting yesterday: Dredging: The !Lvorna continued dredging operations in forming the channel between the deep water at the harbor entrance and the existing deep water .at the Haiti wharf. This channel was completed on April 17 ar.d the dredger then continued dredging the berthage at Ivaiti wharf towards the construction yard. During the mouth delays have occurred in dredging operations duo to the iol-low-ing causes: Three days wore lost owing 5 to the necessity to change the hushes in the bottom tumbler; three days in replacing broken clutch in engine-room; three days owing to weather; and three days'Mas holidays. Good progress was made during the time tiie vessel was dredging. The average output per day exceeded that of the previous month. AVith reference to the damage to the clutch, breakage of which occurred twice since, commencing operations, I desire to state that the existing, arrangement for driving the dredging gear is not that which was originally designed for the vessel, but is an alteration made by the Navy Department., 1 -am in communication with the designers regarding the reason _ for the change, stating our experience with the present arrangement, ;whf> h ,1 consider to-be* less satisfactory than the original design.

Construction . Yard : Work of manufacture of the various reinforced concrete units has proceeded satisfactorily and consignments of materials for concrete are coining t > hand in such quantities as are necessitated by the output of the work. _ A temporary gantry has been utilised in connection with the transfer of the piles from the seasoning yard to the storage area, .pending the delivery of the steam, crane, fi ll is crane, which was ordered under Contract No. 20, item 14, lias now arrived from England and is being assembled far use in the yard.

Training Wall : Work in connection with the construction of the temporary staging has shown suitable progress. The various items of plant for the construction of this work are nova reaching a satisfactory stage, inasmuch as the two steam pile-driving hammers, Contract No. 19, item 7, have been delivered and or.c of them has been fitted up for use on the pile frame specially constructed for that purpose—the other frame being now one of the two winches. Contract No. m course of erection. The boiler and 19, items 8 and 9, have been assembled on the travelling carriage in readiness fir use in* connection with the steam hammers, the boiler having been lagged and roofed over. The jib crane for lifting piles, etc., on the staging has also been constructed. All nile-driving plant has been inspected and approved by the Inspector of Machinery and pile-driving has commenced. New Slipwa> . Tim driving of piles for the'construction of the cofferdam lias been continued during the month the plant fir this purpose consisting of the pile driving frame and driving winch, which have been taken from off the punt and temporarily erected on the travelling staging to carry out this work. It was found advisable to utilise the Board’s plant for this purpose, in lieu of the hired oil driven winch. Delay in the driving of the piles has occurred from time to time owing ti the run of the papa strata forcing some of the piles out of lino, which necessitated recourse to the use of the jumper as a preliminary measure to ensure the piles being correctly driven as rcuqired Heavv timber in the way of piling also had to be cut through by the same means. Diversion Chit: Good progress has been made with the drilling and bhvW ing operations during, the. month, the drilling machine proving itself a very efficient tool. In order to quicken up the work still further a second machine has been ordered and notification has been received fromi the manufacturers that it is now being shipped. In . addition to the operations carried out by machine drilling, work has been continued by manual labor, three gangs having been employed at the 'beach end of the cut, and ending operations have now been extended on the site of the existing slipway —blasting on this portion will be Ucl’erred until the necessity arises to put the slipway out of commission. Drilling and Blasting in Channel: Three gangs of men have been employed in l connection with tnis Vtork, operations being carried out on the papa rock on the Kaiti side opposite the Board’s workshops. No. 3 Groyne: This work is nearing completion, delay being carnet! through the contractor having to slip his punt in order to repair and overhaul before continuing the work, and again through stoppages for repairs and replacements to various units oj plant. The piles have been stacked and should be of great utility m the furtherance of the necessary temporary works attendant to the harbor scheme. The totnra forming the ivalings is valuable timber and .is being sawn into scantlings and useful s.zes as required. Contract No. %—Railway Bridge: The whole of the reinforced concrete piles have been manufactured and are aowi seasoning pending driving. ADVISORY COMMITTEE.

Further information relating to the new harbor works was supplied by the Advisory Committee in the following report:—. . , The Committee rreeivcd a clepntat:on from the Laborers’ Union arxl discussed working conditions on the Board’s works, and agreed to authorise the chairman and Engineer as follows: At their discretion to arrange from time to time tlmt men employed at stacking cement and on other dirty work such ns 'working m the river mud, shall be pa.nl 1 -fcl pel hour extra. Also that the man workin o’ in the tunnel at the construction yard should he paid lid per hour extra. , , The committee decided to recommend the Board to authorise the Engineer to increase the wages oi )»!'- vidual laborers as warranted up, to 2s per hour limit, and to make this retrospective to April 1. . The Committee agreed to authorise payment of 2s 4d per hour to the lower paid carpenters who prove themselves worthy of this higher rate. The Committee considered a letter from the Carpenters’ and Joii.tis Society protesting at the dismissal or L. A. Gardiner, who had been employed as a carpenter on the Board s works. The chairman explained the circumstances leading up to Gardinor’s dismissal by Foreman Craven, and the Committee agreed that .a reply should be sent stating, that the Committee has investigated the matter and has satisfied themselves that the foreman: was quite justified in the dismissal. ' „ . .. ■ The. Town Clerk’s letter of April R, stating that the Council cannot accede to the Board’s proposals rogaruin o- Kaiti Esplanade, was considered, ht” wias agreed that further negotiations regarding the jnatter should be hold over until after the May meeting. Q The Town iC’lerk’s letter or April o, suggesting a conlerence regarding the Board’s reference to the necessity for improved booth accommodation at the next election, was considered. Ihe secretary was directed to reply that the Board does not desire any conference on the matter, but merely draws attention to.. the, general, dissatisfac- . tion that tliey know existed at. the last election, when .there’ was. nvuen congestion . in' the booths ' A letter, dated April 2, from the Secretary of, the Marine Department,

referring to piles in tho Turanganui river was considered. Tile writer enquired if the Board would approve of the suggestion of the 'Department’s Resident Engineer and Marine Engineer that there is no necessity to remove the piles, but that if there are any signs of scour developing or any nuisance due to the piles being apparent, then the Borough -Council should be called upon to take immediate steps to remove them. The Committee decided to recommend the Board to approve on the understanding that should scour develop or should the piles. become a nuisance the necessary action to have them removed will be taken by the. Marine Department. Owing to Messrs. Clare and. Clare having refused to carry out their contract for the supply of 1000 tons of coal as accepted by the Board on March -23, fresh tenders were called and the Committee, after considering tenders received from. AV. E. lies and J. W 11. Holmes authorised the EngirJeer to accept the latter’s tender at £3 2s*oer ton for unscreened coal dclivercS&it the western groyne in 200t)u lots more or less ; or at £3 (>s 3d per toil -for delivery ex supplier’s yard into bunkers or punts as and when required. Before calling for fresh tenders, Mr. W. F. lies was given opportunity of taking up the contract at his previous quotation, but he declined to do so. The Committee authorised acceptance of this tender owing to the urgency for obtaining coal, and also authorised the Engineer to endeavor to purchase 50 tons of coal ex s.s. Inga at approximately Cos per ton. Dealing with the recommended increase in) wages, the chairman stated that, when operations were started, employees wore paid the •minimum Wage, but increases in the wages offered by private contractors had caused five men to give notice, so the committee had to recommend increases or lose the men. The Engineer and foreman were to recommend the emolovees due for an increase. Dr. Collins: There is nothing more that causes trouble than an exertion wage, which has been universally condemned. The .Chairman: It's been tried by the Board. Mr. Sherratt: But is it going to cause trouble. The Chairman : I don t see hew it can. Mr. Corson: But are the carpenters receiving 2s an hour now ' The chairman said that the increases were designed to obtain the best results out of the men. who \\cue encouraged bv extra money. Ido fuither explained that the Board was forced to pay 2s 4d an hour, as private -employers were offering that money. Consequently .it wars either a question ol holding up the haihor works or giving the men who ueie worth it the extra money, and the Committee decided on the lattei course. Employees who were motworth the extra, money were stu. on the minimum wage. . Replying to Dr. Collins, the chairman stated that the statutory wage for laborers was Is lOd per hour and carpenters 2s 21 d per hour, and the Board could nay ns much over those amounts as it- liked, and the lineman a.nd Engineer must be the sole judges of the earning power ol the coup!cyccs.—The report was adopted.