NEW PLYMOUTH'S POET.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18814, 15 September 1924, Page 8

NEW PLYMOUTH'S POET.

PROPOSED £600,000 LOAN.

NEW FERRO-CONCRETE WHARF.

EXTENSION OF BREAKWATER.

A detailed policy for the expenditure of the £600,000 loan for harbour .development at Now Plymouth was decided on by the Harbour Board last week. Authority to raise tho loan is being sought during the present session of Parliament, and a poll of the ratepayers will be taken probably about December. The works decided upon provido for a new ferro-concrete wharf, with shed accommodation, to replace the present Moturoa Wharf, which will be kept in a stato of repair until a good portion of the concrete wharf is available for use; the dredging of the eastern side of the Newton King Wharf to provide accommodation for coastal shipping; the continued extension of the breakwater; and the deepening of the fairway and the area between tho present wharves. It is the intention of tho board to call tenders for the construction of the new Moturoa Wharf, and if prices and other* essentials are satisfactory, to do the work by contract. The Newton King Wharf 'is not to be widened in the meantime. Four of tho largest overseas steamers trading to New Zealand and a fifth overseas steamer of lesser dimensions will find accommodation simultaneously when the proposals are carried out. There will be one berth on the western sido and two on the eastern side of the new Moturoa Wharf, and "one on tho western side of the Newton King Wharf. Tho fifth berth will be provided on tho eastern side of the latter wharf. The depths of water at low tide will be 35ft. at tho new Moturoa Wharf and 33ft. and 25ft. on the western and eastern sides respectively of the Newton King Wharf. In the swinging basin and fairway the depths will be 28ft. at low water. With a view to speeding up the deepening of the port, further inquiries are being made by tho Harbour Board as to (the best available plant, and a quantity of specimens from the sea bottom have been forwarded to a firm of dredgebuilders in Scotland, to enable them to give an opinion on the question. In the meantime the board will mako a test of a drilling apparatus to facilitate the blasting that' is necessary in places to loosen tho spoil so that it can bo picked up more quickly by the dredge.