HARBOR WORKS

Gisborne Times, Volume LXIII, Issue 10096, 8 September 1925, Page 3

HARBOR WORKS

ICORUA TO DREDGE LARGER berthage.

TRAINING WALL WELL ADVANCED. *

That marked progress is be'n" made in the construction of the new harbor, works is ‘the opinion of the • authorities in charge of the project. At any rate the construction of the various sections has proceeded so fast, particularly on the training wall and the diversion cut, that it has been found impossible to supply the piles for the former work at the present time, ana the Harbor Board authorities have had to suspend operations in the diversion cut owing to the fact that thedredging was outpacing the remainder of the scheme. . The construction of the training wa’l shows remarkable progress, the piles have ah been driven to a point almost opposite Nesbit Road, and the temporary staging is already erected as far down the river as the Harbor Board’s offices, while the capping of the piles is now advanced about halfway 'over the section of the wall that lias been erected. Pile-driving operations have boon temporarily suspended on the training* wall on account ot driving outstripping: the number of piles that were matured and- ready for driving. This shortage has had, 'for a time! the effect of diverting, operations in the construction yard to the fabrication of piles for the wall, and now a large number of pres have almost matured and are practically ready for driving, which work will he recommenced again very shortly. It is stated that within two months the wall will he completed to the diversion cut and the capping will proceed more slowly but should he finished in three months. The work in the cofferdam has been pro" res sins steadily and is now practically finished. B’asting is, of course still proceeding, hut excavation work lias been completed and the trenches have all been filled with concrete and the rails HUd in readiness for further operations. It is anticipated that the work in this section will be finished in a day or so. The pneumaticspade which has been used in the excavation work ha’s proved economical and labor-saving, and has speeded up the work appreciably. In the construction yard, the work of making piles and concrete slabs of nil shapes and kinds is proceeding, and the output of the yard is more than exceeding the expectations of the authorities, both in quality and number. All the piles that can be completed at the present time for the training wall have been finished and are now maturing, so operations in tlio yard have now been directed to the making of piles for the diversion cut on the Read’s Quay side, and these should be ready for use very shortly. After clearing a strip m the channel, the dredge will re-commence operations from the deep water m the diversion and will excavato her wav to the sea. ~ , It will he remembered that, some time ago, the engineer advised the Board that it ,wouid be a fallacy to dredge the cut right through to the sea without having some protection in the form of a breakwater and. apparentlv, this conclusion was 'mpressed on the minds of the Board, winch is now calling tenders for the construction of the breakwater, clos.ng on September 21. It seems obvious that, without the protecting breakwater walk with the diversion cut dredged through to the sea. and the river in its present condition, that the first southerly and a heavy sea would cause it to silt up and the whole, of the work carried through mav be wasted. It is stated that the inside sections of the works can lie carried on in accordance with the prooress of the construction the breakwater and that it wou'd depend on how fast the contractor expedited the work. But it’ is certain that tlm diversion cut cminot be pushed ahead too rapidly until the breakwater is started*. Whether, or not the Harbor .Board will receive (any tenders for the breakwater contract is as yet a matter for conjecture, for the authorities in charge are exercising every effort to secure tenders and are not inclined to commit themselves on the point, being content to state that- they cannot say until the tenders dose at noon on September 21. , t , It is known that the Board has had very few inquiries concerning the p'-oiect-. Mention has been made or the pos.s bit dies of Mr. Goodman being a tender on account of his having the plant here and his knowledge of local conditions, but nothing is known definitely as yet. The representative of Messrs Armstrong, •Avhitwoitli Ltd., was in Gisborno recently and gathered a cons tlerable amount of information concerning the scheme and, with the data he gathered, the op nion is expressed in authoritative quarters that, when the firm s chier engineer returns to the Dominion and he is expected ba-.-k to New Zealand about now—it would be only about a fortnight’s work working out an estimate for the project. At hi sc not express'ng any opinion whether or not Messrs Armstrong, Whitworth, Ltd., wou-d tender for the work, one gentleman stated that, in Ins opinion, this firm’s engineers were not used to this type of work and. apart from that he understood that the firm had their own troubles, for he su’d that these big schemes are not all licei and. skitt’es.” , . Some time ago the shipping agents of Gisborne, with vessels plying m and out of the port., made a. request, to the Harbor Board for better berthage facilities which had been deplcteu by the recent silt ng m the river, end the Board has now decided, to accede to this request. It has been lound that the dredging in the diversion cut has been proceeding too fast and, accordingly, the Advisory Co mm at tee yesterday deeded to dredge the sandspit from the end of the training wall temporary staging down the river p .the dischargng po.nt of the Haiti works. It is-* proposed to excavate the spit along the Kaiti whqrt to a depth of 10ft., which--will afford several hundred feet of extra berthage for coastal vosse’s. Tlie Korua. whose operations are. to a arge extent, hampered by the t clal conditions, in to start on dredging the sp.t to-day and will he engaged on this work for about a week or two when she will again be started dredg ng m the diversion cut. The fourth gear wheel for installation, in the Noma, is expected to arrive here from Australia about the middle of the month, and the dredge will then be hud im for a dny or so while it is fitted up. Ihe gear wheels operate in the same way as the top and second gears of a motor-car and the installation- of the fourth wheel will mean that. the dredge will have a. greater speed ol delivery on top and increased m the second. ,