Srisan feninj <Paii WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1907. THE HAR3OUR WORKS AND THE DREDGE. CAN COMPLETION BE EXPEDITED ?

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLII, Issue XLII, 8 May 1907, Page 2

Srisan feninj <Paii WEDNESDAY, MAY 8, 1907. THE HAR3OUR WORKS AND THE DREDGE. CAN COMPLETION BE EXPEDITED ?

THE harbour improvement scheme is now approaching completion, and it is beyond question that the new cut would have been available for traffic se\eral weeks, if not months, ago had it not been for the extreme care with which the Harbour Board dredge has to be "nursed." It is obviouß that while the vessel can do the work required of it within the harbour and under ordinary conditions of shelter, she is not suitable for outside operations. She has done very well, and under the care she has had bestowed upon her by her master and by the Resident Engineer she has overcome great difficulties and held her own till now. But it is obvious to all who observe that she may fail just on the point of the completion of the work for which she was designed. The - present conditions seem to be that there must be almost dead calm weather to enable the dredge to proceed with the finishing task of cutting out what is left of the bank in the new entrance, dredging the channel outside in accordance with the plans and completing the new cut generally. Under such conditions of good weather, which have not been vouchsafed recently, the new cut would have been completed by now, and the dredge would have been available for inside work, that is, in the navigation channel within the harbour. Bnt the very least bit of heavy sea "sticks her up," and thereby much loss of time is entailed. It is understood, also, that such dredging as has to be done in the Bay beyond the cut cannot be undertaken till a new rope, now supposed to be on the Ruapehu, arrives in the course of a few days. In any case, at a critical period of the history of the harbour, when' a very little steady and continuous work of dredging might, overcome most of the few difficulties remaining, conditions over which the officers of the Harbour Board have no control are preventing unfortunate hindrances. Beyond doubt the further improvement of the harbour may entail works other than mere dredging. The question of a northern mole may have to be considered shortly, and there may be full use for the £13,000 of loan money not yet raised by the Board. But the present issue is solely confined to the completion of the new cut and the navigation channel to enable vessels of ordinary draught to enter and lsavo the port virtually at any tide. The Harbour Board's dredge may do the remainder of the necessary dredging in time, in spi^e of her obvious dsabilities. But the question arises whether it will not pay better in the long run to engage a self-propelling dredge to finish the outside work and present to the people an entrance and navigation channel suitable for present requirements. It may be contended that the' : Harbour Board should have

secured in a veitsrf costing over £15,000 one Which would have served all practical purposes. But it has beett 'demonstrated for months that a jd,redge constructed differently from the olie built for ilvo IJ'oaYtl should have been nslnted upon. The Board, however, has been in the hands of experts; ami it is too late now to incriminate. The fact is plain; that the remaining work of hnfboVir improvement, at least for the present, might be completed in a 'very short time if only a self-propelling dredge was employed ; nhrt the sooner the Hal'boi)V Board laces this issue, the Witler it will be for the interests ot the Port. Of course it &eem§ an Irony thai t> V6Bsel costing such .a Jargi pvbtabfMott Uf tho rnptfej ren.ViSr(# ioV the Vyhoje harb&nT ,VmV\rt)Vem<irit .scheme should .not Bft suitaD^e to finish the jjj.vt . sha was intended to play. But cohsidorjiliohfe of this kin^ .will ,not, -tVieml .Jrnd.ttc^s. 'Kk a bus'uiess-like^bodjy ihlS-Wi^'oii 1 " i>uard has, . slniji'y lv lace the problem of rupid or slow completion of the now entrance — whether it will pay better to do the work with its own dredge, accepting delays as inevitable, or whether it will be more profitable in the long run to got other assistant. Tile question may 68 ii'nstoerd and tfre problem partly solved before the next mqnlhly meeting of. the B^ard is held. J'hiit. in to say, if the W^ather.corttvmiiis i'uitablo for ojily s few flays the actual work of tuinpleting the cut to its present width will be done by the Board's, dredge. But the. design of harbour jnyi'yovomMH, contemplates dredg^n*. t'9 some extent beypnd tH etil, and this work it is to be f dared the Board's dredge may not he able to do, even in moderately fine weather. Any disaster to the vessel in the fairway might entail consequences which would undo much of the gooM Vile Board has achieved (lurittg r several years, and th« Cohtemplation of "such, a calaStrbWle makes one shudder. . : ,Yei the position has to. be, faced, anrl )»- i% obvious %o .all 'ivho fq»'oft . anything aboi^t the SveclgS mat unless she be very caret u'ty nursed and bad weather be guarded against, ■ it would "take very little sea to .wceck .her., , In all the circumstances, it seems to us that the safest and soundest policy Viould be to see about procuring a ,Beltpropelling dredge on liire -,as soon .as possible to do the outside hayboUv. improvement work. , It ipuit bo aggravating, to all w.Ko.lVave helped towards tile eiirVyiny out of the scheme to think Wiat just at the last moment unforeseen difficulties may arise — that at any time the dredge may sink in the fairway and cost more to remove than' the hire of a safer vessel. Even a thousand pounds spent in such hire would be worth tho advantages to be gained in speedy completion and ease of mind. It is ro'v the Board to consider ways aliu means, and we are Hot ill a position to say whether a Pr'iestman dredge hired from UlB Marine Department or some.,pther vessel would do the work, AH . *\vb have before u.^js that wea\tler conditions only a. little out of the ordinary hartjj up the Board's dredge from time to. lime outside the cut, and that such delay and risk are not worth while\