The Grey River Argus THURSDAY May 13, 1943. GREY HARBOUR’S NEW ASSET.

Grey River Argus, 13 May 1943, Page 4

The Grey River Argus THURSDAY May 13, 1943. GREY HARBOUR’S NEW ASSET.

The Greyniouth Harbour Board, which little more than two months ago received with some enthusiasm. the. rehabilitation report of its Engineer, Mr. D. 8. Kennedy, fcr a new deep-water harbour at Cobden, had before it last evening fresh evidence of his enterprise, and awareness of the needs of the port in the proposal which he placed before it for a slipway, suited to the needs of the Board’s tug, but a'ble also to take other small vessels of up to. 120 tons. There is not, of course, any comparison between Mr. Kennedy’s harbour scheme and the present proposal. The former was of so large a scale that it probably would not have been suggested but for the possibility of generous Government assistance after the war; the present proposal is one which involves an expenditure not so very much in excess of that involved annually in the slipping of the dredge at Nelson, and it is to'the credit of the Board that it adopted it unanimously. The immediate occasion for Mr. Kennedy’s report was the necessity for the tug to undergo again within the next few months its annual survey and docking. The facts which lie produced relating to this were, briefly, that the tug could be beached or it could be sent on to the slip _ at Nelson. The cost, of preparing the site for beaching would be about £75, apart from the expense of the survey and overhaul itself; and it would cost, something over £4OO to send the vessel to Nelson. It is not difficult to understand why Mr. Kennedy should have been anxious to avoid the first of these possibilities. Beaching a vessel for repairs is a notoriously dangerous and unpleasant operation, and one in which it is not possible to carry out really satisfactorily any major 'work Particularly this may be said of holed on damaged hull plating or propeller shaft work, for which it is usual and proper to dock small vessels. Yet up to the present beaching has been the only way open if work of this sort was to be carried out at Greyniouth. These considerations, no less than the immediately expensive item of docking the tug at Nelson, no doubt influenced Mr. Kennedy in his survey of the types of slip that would, suit the needs of Greyniouth and be built here at reasonable cost. The result of: that survey was a slip which, even if used for the tug alone, would save money in two years and be a permanent asset to the port. Most of the other Harbour Boards in New Zealand have end-on slips, 'but the side-slip which Mr. Kennedy has suggested for Greymouth is less expensive to build in that it is not necessary to employ a diver for under-water construction work. This consideration is no small one in these times 'when the services of a diver are not always easy to’ secure. It is less expensive also it being of the free-roller type—it runs on. something not very unlike roller-bearings in which friction is less than with end-on types and haulage costs are accordingly reduced. The slipway at Bluff, installed about three years ago, is of this type, and it has given every satisfaction. The difficulty sometimes experienced in manoeuvring vessels into the cradle of such slips is not likely to be encountered at Greymouth, where a sheltered spot has been chosen. Air. Kennedy has done a service to the port in advancing his timely and economical proposal. More frequent surveys of the dredge will now be possible, and its life will be lengthened as a result; and many small vessels in the future may benefit similarly from having ready access to a piece of plant which the port of Greyniouth badlv needed.