A GREAT WATERWAY.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 14 January 1929, Page 7

A GREAT WATERWAY.

THE RIVER MURRAY. SCHEME FOR. DEEP-SEA PORT. SYDNEY, Dee. 27. There has been renewed interest of late in Admiral Sir William Oresswell’s scheme for a port at the mouth of the River Murray in order that full advantage mav be' taken of this great waterway. The Murray has a navigable length, with its tributaries, of 3000 miles, and serves an immense area of Eastern Australia, to the benefit-' of thre-e States —New 'South Wales, Victoria. and, particularly, South Australia. For various reasons, including the competition of road and rail transport. this immense potential system of the cheapest transport in the world, is not yet available to a country that is crying out for cheap transport. No other country with such a. great length of navigable waters would fail to provide an outlet to the sea. and it is certain! v a. reflection on the efficiency of Australia that nothing has yet been don.,, in this connection as far as the Murray is concerned. Other countries, such as America with its Mississippi, France with its Rhone, Egypt with its Nile, Austria, and a string of Balkan countries, with the Danube, are utilising their immense river system and canals to the utmost. It is pointed out that river traffic on the Mississippi has increased 300 per cent, in recent years, a fact that is not surprising when it is remembered that river traffic is carried at tile rate of about a farthing a ton per mile. And so it. is that the Murray, without a direct navigable outlet to the sea, is failing to do its duty to Australia. Hitherto, the great cost of constructing a port at the river mouth, tile immense engineeirng difficulties, and the uncertainty of ultimate success, have deterred the Governments concerned from undertaking the construction of a- Murray port. 'Admiral Gresswell, however, claims that if his -scheme is adopted, the whole problem will be solved on the most economical and efficient lines. Previous schemes for a Murray port have been directed towards-works to be undertaken in the vicinity of Goolwa, where the Murray debouches into the sea across a bar "that is generally obstructed by a raging surf. The admiral proposes another route altogether and would construct a canal 90 miles long running parallel with the shore until it reaches Laeapede Bay.

Lacepede Bay is one of the marine curiosities of the 'world. Though an open roadstead, and, presumably, 'therefore, exposed to gales, it affords safe anchorage in all weathers, there being tolerably smooth water even -when a westerly gale is blowing right into the bay.' The Admiral states that, although the gale blows home to the shore there is ir.i swell whatever for miles to seaward, and lie attributes this strange calm to the gradual slope of the seabed, and to vast forests of kelp, which reach the surface, even iu 120 feet of water. The canal would follow’ the course of the iCoorong River which, itself. is navigable for 40 miles. Tf the remaining 50 miles were dredged to a depth of 10 or 11 feet, and a cutting made to the open roadstead of Lacepede Bay. nothing further would remain to be done lo give access to deepsea .ships for the whole of the Murray River transport service. It" is contended that the scheme is simplicity itself, and deals with conditions that are settled and permanent. It involves no disturbance of natural conditions, no costly breakwaters, and no extensive port works. Admiral Cress well believes that Lacepede (Bay is so calm that the river steamers would be. able lo lie alongside the ocean liners in the bay, and if this were not -always feasible. iie suggests the use, for loading purposes, of an aerial ropmvav with a capacity of 509 tons an hour. It is. further emphasised that no piloting system would be required at the bay, and no expensive lighting, and that loading could be carried out night and day in ail weathers, except, of course, when it w‘as raining hard. Remarkable confirmation of these conditions is given by the fact tlic.t in pre-railway days wheat ships were loaded at Laeepode Bay by small, open, sailing lighters. and that the bay itself is a -wellknown shelter for small boats which run into its calms during heavy gales.