PARTIAL COLLAPSE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 30 November 1945, Page 4

PARTIAL COLLAPSE

WHARF AT ONEKAKA DOLOMITE SHIPMENTS HELD UT During the heavy storm on Thursday of last week about a dozen iron piles about 30 feet from the seaward end of the Onekaka wharf were smashed or thrust out of position and a section of about 40 feet of the decking of the wharf collapsed. About 150 tons of dolomite waiting to be shipped to the fertiliser works at Huntly fell into 14 feet of water and since then ships have not thought it advisable to go in because of the danger of big limestone blocks lying on the sea bed. Another three to four hundred tons are stored on the wharf, which is a quarter of a mile long, but until repairs to the damaged part of the wharf are effected, shipments, which average between four and five hundred tons a month to the north, will be held up. Three shipments before Christmas were expected by the fertiliser works. Vessels as big as the Port Waikato work Onekaka, which has been little used since the iron and steel works closed down, except for the dolomite trade. The wharf was reconditioned during the war, when it was anticipated that the iron works might be started up again. Exactly what caused the damage is not known, but it is thought that a large log battered the piles. No one was on the wharf at the time. The Public Works Department has repairs in hand.