GISBORNE'S HARBOUR.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19141, 6 October 1925, Page 12

GISBORNE'S HARBOUR.

THE IMPROVEMENT SCHEME. ESTIMATED COST OF £750,000. ACCOMMODATION FOR SHIPPING. [by TELEGIIArB. OWN COftRJESPONBEJiT. ] GIBBOBNE. Monday The harbour scheme now fairly embarked upon by the Gisborne Harbour Board represents the culmination of many years of anxious research, inquiry, and experiment as to the possibility of making a safe and commodious port at this East Coast cent/re. Since Sir John Loode's report in 1881 many engineering opinions have been solicited and the board's pigeonholes are stuffed with plans and specifications of schemes which, though attractive on paper, generally failed to meet the requirements of shipmasters or to satisfy the public mind. It wa3 not until Mr. Leslie Reynolds brought down his design in May, 1921, that the bard and public were convinced that a scheme had been conceived which would overcome the principal difficulties hitherto encountered in the problem of silt, the possibility of range, and the navigability of the entrance. Hitherto such harbour construction as had been carried out had been executed at the entrance to a silt-laden river. The board had spent many hundreds of thousands of pounds in breakwater construction and extension, and the dredging of a navigable channel, but found the maintenance cost entirely out of proportion to its resources. The inner harbour and entrance were dry out to a depth of 20ft., permitting the berthing of steamers such as the Arahura, then engaged in the Gisborne-Auckland trade, but every flood brought down many thousands of tons of silt from the watershed of the Turanganui and deposited it in the harbour, reducing the depth in a night often to but a few feet at low water, and thus blocking the port for months until debris had been cleared away. Board's Forward Policy. After waging an unequal fight against the forces of Nature for a period of many years, the trade of the port meantime going to such an extent that improved conditions became imperative, the board decided upon a forward policy, and after full investigation of the harbour problem by a Commission of Engineers, the ap- ! proval of a commission of shipmasters, and the sanction of the Marine Department adopted Mr. Reynold's scheme, which was submitted to the ratepayers on a loan proposal for £1,000,000, with the understanding that not more than £760,000 would be raised and spent without further reference to the ratepayers. For this £750,000 it was, and is still hoped to provide a harbour of 120 acres in extent, although another half-million would probably be required for the development of the full scheme which gives another 100 acres of enclosed area and accommodation for the largest class of shipping visiting New Zealand ports. The scheme now in course of execution provides for the diversion of the Turanganui River on to the Waikanae beach, with a breakwater wall extending from the mouth of the diversion cut out seaward in a circular direction to afford shelter to the proposed harbour, which lies between this wall and the existing breakwater at the present mouth of the river. The board has made good progress with the erection of a substantia] training wall in concrete from the Turanganui Bridge, at the foot of Gladstone Road, down the centre of the river toward the sea, and its dredge Maui will presently be employed in excavating a new channel for the river through the Waikanae basin and across a narrow strip of sandy soil to the sea. Large Area For Berthage. When this cut has been completed the diversion wall will be pushed on, so as to send the river water out by the new | channel, leaving a large part of the j present river outlet within the confines of the new harbour, which, as already stated, will be 120 acres in extent and will be dredged at first to 25ft. and ultimately, it is expected, to 30ft. below j low water. Within the entrance there will be a swinging area of 1200 ft. diameter, and the berthage immediately proposed consists of 1100 ft. of 25ft. berthage, 2000 ft. of 18ft. berthage, _ and 600 ft. of 12ft, berthage. A further extension of wharfage and shed accommodation is provided for as the schema nears completion. The board has already accumulated a very considerable plant, including the powerful dredger Horaa, purchased from the Australian Commonwealth Govern mant, with three large barges for the deposit of spoil, and a handy tug. It is proposed to obtain the metal supplies for the breakwater work from Whareongaonga, a block of native land situated on the coast to the south of Young Nicks Head, where ample deposits of suitable metal are available. The stone will be brought over in scows and deposited in position on the line of the breakwater. It will be necessary to construct a small breakwater at Whare ongaonga to afford protection for the loading operations. The whole work is being executed tinder the direction of Mr. Robert Campbell, the board's engineer, who bits with him a strong and capable staff. The work so far done has been carried out in a most methodical manner, and at a cost well within the estimates. There are good reasons for hope that for the expenditure of the £750,000 for which the ratepayers' sanction has been given, Gisborne will secure a good and efficient harbour, accommodating all coastal shipping, the colliers, timber ships, and produce boats, and thus relieve the people of the district of an enormous sum now expended on lighterage, with all the attendant delays and inconveniences of roadstead working.