SEA COMMUNICATION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVIII, Issue 18412, 19 May 1920, Page 7

SEA COMMUNICATION.

TO THE EDITOR.

Sir, —Mr Sykes continues to show his ignorance of the canal ho advocates. If he kept himself posted on current questions he would know that the Prime Minister has already publicly stated that the Railway Department will not oppose our access to the Lyttelton wharves. Mr Sykes says that tho latest estimate ia £718,620, but he does not realise that one mole alone would cost practically that amount. He is unaware that the sea off Sumner is so shallow that the north mole would have to be carried over a mile, and a half sheer out to sea to a point beyond Taylor's Mistake, and even then the effeotive depth would be less than the entrance to Lyttelton inner harbour. And this tremendously long mole must be built to withstand storms and heavy seas over the whole of its length. Your correspondent contends that the estimate of £3,000,000 ia only a "guess." Of course, all canal estimates are guesses to a certain extent, but so far the guesses have never been high enough. The Suez canal, for instance, cost 163 millions instead of 4J millions, the Manchester canal 14 millions instead of 8 millions, and, nearer home,. Port Chalmers to Dunedin over halt a million instead of £152,000. At the same ratio a two million canal would cost us six millions and a three million canal nine millions. Mr Sykes also does Mr Little an injustice in- saying that £718,620 is the latest < estimate. Mr Little's is the latest estimate and his scheme is to cost only about £50,000. We have estimates in plenty but only three are worthy of consideration—Mr Gyrus Williams's, the Canal Commissioner's and tho, British Expert's. As our enginoors pointed out even the largest canal would only get a portion of tho trade, while a small canal would never be_ used at all bi cargo carriers. That is why certain canalities boldly advocate tho scrapping of Lyttelton as they realise that sln'tpping will not risk the dangers a«id delays of the canal when they can use the "magnificent port .we possess. In &e early days when the Heathcote river was powerful enough to scour a fairly deep channel through the estuary mud, one fifth of tho goods was laboriously carried over the Zigzag rather than use the estuary. Below I give the present cost of tho canal which the greatest engineers in the world state "is on the only feasible lines." £ Estimated cost in. 1908 . ■. 1,925,000 Increase in cost since, 1-3 . SII,OOO Interest on half the loan during construction at 5 per cent . , • 641,500 8,207.500 I am. etc., COGNIZANT.