HUTT RIVER BOARD

Hutt News, Volume 3, Issue 28, 4 December 1930, Page 6

HUTT RIVER BOARD

ENGINEER'S REPORT

The following report was presented by the engineer (Mt. JH. Sladden) to. the,. Hutt, Biven Board on. ] Tuesday evening;—-•■ ...;.., ; .-"..:?;., ._ \ .- ,-' ;| .Flood.; —On the,, night of 27th inst a high^ flood., of/.short duration. • oceuxred../ Due apparently, to a. very..heavy: rainfall probably in^ the nature of a. cloud burst, ill tie upper watershed and perhaps to, melting ; snows, .the flood. appears to^ have risen. extremely quickly, the peak being somewhere about 3 a.m. At SilTcrstream and in the r Silverstream Grorge tie flood waters were several feet, deep ever the road and the deck of the suspension bridge over the Hutt Bdver at Ford Road-was submerged. The height of the flood here was some nine feet. Judging by the height of the flood in the higher reaches wiiere there has been no channel improvement j carried, out it is proibable that at the pealc of ,ttie flood the volume of flow was as high as it has been for many I years. ■ . . ■ ' • ■ « It is,gratifying to be able, to, report that in the lower Teaeires the height of the, flood in spite of the volume was not. nearly as high as for instance the high flood' of 1915. This I attribute very largely to the channel improvement in alignment and grade that is accruing as a result of the Board's operations^ and of the dredging ■•• by shingle companies. Other faeterrs were low tide at flood peak, short duration of the flood, and absence of southerly wind. Up to the time of writing this, the river has not receded sufficiently to make a detailed examination, hxA a general inspection has indicated that remarkably little damage has occurred, such being principally small damage, to willow and e&bie protection in various places, and destruction of fences It is anticipated, that in general tlie channel will be found to have benefited.. It is noticeable that the Dexton channel has as forecasted in t&e May re-< port been closed, indicating that some improvement towards the desired regrad ing of the, proper channel at the lower end of Giesen's has taken place. At Jones's camp the flood appears to have been the highest on record. This I attribute to the large accumulation of shingle between here and the shingle ? company's Belmont plant. Aa $be new dragline plant will soon be in operation on this beach a rapid reduction of theaccumulation, is contemplated. .... . • ' * Ffbm Kangdbn's. beach to the "estuary very .little has 1, occurred to indicate that there^ ha S a big flood. A small ero^Sn.at Gear'lsland just below Chapman^ trend has occurred, but it is : n"6t seridiis. One of /the bridle r piSes xt the Coutt's" plant-ISas scoured out. Perhaps the most serious damage" is the breaking away of the Board^s pileiffriv ing plant wMcix^as moored behind the boom" groynes at*Ctendon'a above the Hutt Bridge. 'It was thrown up. on one ot..^e i gToynss^a^.Stjaiid PaTK,and the teann^'a^ the tw^^^tip^i /pj^ th^ Jrtfit has torn* away some if the plankl. No flooding occurred in: Z the Awamutu oi at Moera, ". . ~"}[ ?:" '. ''"'.''. _. " *"""" ; "Waiwet«i Cemetery Wall.—The construction 1b l>eing pToceeded with by the NatiTes, and a fairly satisfac-

Tory job is. being done. A length of aiboitt 50 feet is completed except for rough cast facing, base for about another 100 feet laid, and excavation and partial boxing for the. base of about; another'-200. feet made.