GREY HARBOUR BOARD

Grey River Argus, 14 March 1940, Page 11

GREY HARBOUR BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING Mr W. Clayton presided at the monthly meeting of the Greymouth Harbour Board last evening, when there were also present Messrs J. A. Murdoch, G. Perry, J. B. Kent, J. Mulcare, J. Ryall, J. Smeaton and P. J. McLean. An apology was received from Mr A. H. McKane. Mr A. H. McKane was granted leave of absence and the secretary was instructed to forward a letter expressing best wishes for his early recovery to good health. The Treasury Department forwarded wharfages £487 5s lid; wharfages on State coal £534 16s; royalties £95 12s and £257 6s 7d; rent £4; weather reporting services £6 5s and £5 4s 2d. J . . The Treasury Department advisea that the issue of debentures securing the principal sum of £40,000 in return for the sum of £39,150, for the grabhopper tug dredge, was deemed to be an exercise of the full borrowing authority under the loan. Copy of the Ship Repairs and Docking Emergency Regulations, 1940, was received from the Customs Department. Henry Hughes and Son, Ldt., advised that the echo sounder, exclusive of ship work, was priced at £467 10s sterling, or £584 7s 6d in New Zealand currency. The matter was held over until tenders for the sounding vessel were being considered. After hearing correspondence from a number of boards, it was moved l.y Mr Kent and seconded by Mr Ryall, that berthage charges be made from the time vessel are securely berthed at the wharf. An amendment by Mr Murdoch, seconded by Mr Parry, that the harbourmaster present a report to the next meeting, was defeated by 5 votes to 3, Mr Kent’s motion being carried. The Harbours’ Association of New Zealand advised that at its conference the Greymouth Board’s remit re election expenses, was referred to the executive for consideration and the remit regarding registration of leases was withdrawn. The Comptroller of Stores, Railway Department., wrote offering to purchase cast iron and scrap brass. The request was left in the hands of the Engineer to negotiate. William Garnett advised that he would be unable to comply with the building requirements to be included in Coast Road leases, for 18 months, and requested that his year-to-year le*>se be renewed for the ensuing year.

The request was granted. Miss E. D. Martin’s application for a lease of i-acre of the reserve on the north side of the main Grey Reefton road, between Wall’s Creek and railway tunnel, at Brunner, was granted, if the board has the necessary power. The application of Charles Findley, Brunnerton, for lease of the area known as the gravel reserve adjoining his property at St. Kilda, was granted. F. J. Waters applied for lease ot section at Nine Mile on the Coast Rc.ad. north of G. Brady’s lease, the request being left to the secretary and engineer. The application of Stratford, Blair and Co., Ltd., for milling timber on coal mining lease adjoining Mr Goehegan’s secton at Dobson, was granted subject to the approval of the engineer and secretary. An amendment by Messrs McLean and Murdoch, that the secretary and engineer report on the application, was defeated on the chairman’s casting vote. It was decided to offer no objection to the applications for prospecting licenses over 100 acres near the junction of Stillwater Creek and the Grey River, forwarded on behalf of Toni Learmont, by Hannan and Seddon. s Benjamin Tindale’s application for prospecting license over 100 acres between Stoney and Langdon’s Creeks, on the north side of the Grey River was received, the board deciding to offer no objection. ENGINEER’S REPORT, The Engineer (Mr D. S. Kennedy) reported that the following works were carried out by the engineer’s department during the month of February, 1940: Cobden Quarty was worked on eighteen days when stacking stone and drilling was carried out. A blast was fired on the top benches on the 23rd, and a large amount of first-class stone dislodged, including a block of over 1000 tons, which appears to be one of the biggest ever brought down on to the quarry floor. Drilling and breaking of the large)' stone is proceeding, ready for loading by the cranes. Steam Shovel: The steam shovel worked on eight days, but a break-down of the travelling gear delayed operations for a time until repairs were made. It is now again working satisfactorily. . North. Breakwater: The heavy seas, which in severity and duration have probably been without parallel in recent years, and combined with the persistent flooding caused a considerable amount of flattening to the end of the tip-head and along both the river and sea sides for a short distance. The concrete block which we have been waiting 'a suitable (opportunity to

place, had the unexpected affect of fully protecting the hearting, and it would appear tjiat it has been the means of saving some hundreds of tons of stone from being swept away by the heavy bachwash from the breaking seas. The south mole is showing some signs of subsidence also but this is not of any extensive character and need cause no worry in the meantime. All plant is in good working order. The quarry output was as follows: Spoil filled by steam shovel, 926 tons 1 cwt to north tip dump. Exceptionally bad bar and weather conditions retarded the whole of the month’s dredging operations with the result that only 4500 tons were lifted and discharged. Minor repairs to the dredge were, however, _ gone on with, and chipping and painting on the deck houses and in the. engine room were carried out. Quarry plant The steam shovel travelling gear was repaired. The 7-ton crane also required minor repairs to the steam connections, etc., and the same on the B. 11 loco. A steel beacon was made in place of a wooden one on the south breakwater and is ready for erection. The daylight signalling lamp was completed and is now erected ready for use. Preliminary tests show a few minor adjustments may be necessary but it is anticipated that when these are made the direct shore to ship communication will prove of great assistance to ships working the 'port. The painting of the wharf cranes is now complete. The wharf is at present being cleaned of ah growth and dirt and it is proposed to experiment with a portion of the decking by giving it a coat of tar or emulsion and chips. The toxic effect of the tar should arrest the decay that is now becoming evident in certain parts and help prolong the •life of the decking. The floor of the 1 watersiders’ hall was partially refloored and also the leaks in the roof ■stopped. During the month the sec•‘ond engineer on the dredge, Mr D. Gibb, resigned from the engineer’s staff to take up another appointment in the district. Our fitter, Mr McLean is at present acting second engineer 'until another appointment is made to fill the vacancy. Applications for the position will close in time for consideration at the monthly meeting of /the board on March 13. It is also with regret that I have to report the death of one of our quarrymen, Mr M. Kelly at the Grey Hospital on the 24th. The report was adopted. A report by the Engineer on the spare parts required by the Mechanical Departmenc was read and approved, the Engineer being given authority to make the necessary purchases. HARBOURMASTER’S REPORT The Harbourmaster (Captain H. Moar) reported as follows: During Eeoruary the bar maintained exceptionally good depth and tne weatner 'was most unseasonable, pressure remaining low with the westerly type of storms and all previous recoids of ram being broken. Freshes were continuous through the month and cumulated in a high Hood on the 29tn. 'me depths at high water were:— springs, February 8, bar 28ft 6in, river 22ft 6in; F ebruary 23, bar 29it 4in, river 23ft 4in; neaps, februaiy 1, bar 27ft 2in, river 21it 2in; February 15, 27ft Bm, river 20ft Bin. The montn's mean average: Bar 28ft 10m; river 22ft 3m. Rainfall for the 'month was 17.41 inches and fell on 24 days, tne maximum fall tor 24hrs. was 2.73 inches on tne 29th. Snipping returns tor the month were: inwards, 15 vessels, 10,332 tons; outwards, 15 vessels, 8725 tons. Dredging: Only three days during the whoie month were suitable tor dredging and lull advantage was taken to dredge ino. 2 berth which was filled in 12 hours afterwards with a strong fresh. During the whole month berthage and river were constantly changing their depth from day to day. This is the first occasion to have two large vessels deeply loaded at lower end of wharf and it seems with disastrous results lor lower reaches of river have shoaled considerably. Dredging will be done as soon as weather permits. February 10 Captain Harle, Deputy Harbourmaster, resumed duty after J. Walton commenced his hoii'day. There is nothing else of importance to report, the usual routine duties being carefully attended to. The report was adopted. HARBOUR SCHEME. Mr Kent said that he had been asked to bring before the board the Captain Cox scheme which Cr. H. Herring considered would assist in relieving flooding difficulties. Mr McLean said that Mr Milne did not think the scheme feasible, and Mr Gordon Nichol 1 was of the same opinion. When the bar depth was Bft 6in there were various schemes put forward, but he thought it was not a layman’s job to decide what was fiest. Whilst others opinions were appreciated, investigations by the best engineers all indicated that the scheme was not feasible. The chairman said the scheme was ‘to create an inner harbour by walling the river off. It was a problematical scheme if.it were feasible at all. All would agree that, despite shoaling, the Grey harbour was better than ever before. Mr Smeaton said that he understood that the Borough Council was

more concerned with the protection of the town. The board had .no power to borrow, so any scheme would have to be left to the far distant future. No further discussion took place. The report of the Finance Committee stated that the following accounts were received since date of last meeting: Shipping dues £321 18s 4d, royalties £352 18s 7d, rents £95 9s, hire and sale plant £ll Os sd, accident compensation £23 17s 4d, weather reports £ll 9s 2d, wharfages £1022 Is lid, miscellaneous £1 15s; total £lB4O 9s 9d. The Harbour Fund Account has a credit balance of £l3lB 4s Id. Accounts amounting to £1563 4s lid, were passed for payment.