THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1925. NEW HARBOUR SCHEME.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 19196, 9 December 1925, Page 10

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 1925. NEW HARBOUR SCHEME.

A new scheme of works to continue expanding port facilities at Auckland was put before the Harbour Board yesterday by its engineer. It is designed to follow directly the programme authorised on August 9, 1904, and prosecuted steadily since. The whole face of the waterfront has changed in the intervening time. Wooden jetties, narrow, poorly equipped with sheds, cranes and other appliances, and subject to the constant attack of marine insects, have been swept away to make room for broad, solid quays, carrying great sheds, railway lines and cranes. The monolithic structure makes the wharf seem almost as solid as the land itself. Breakwaters and tide deflectors have created a sheltered pool for berthage. Constant dredging has deepened the water until the largestvessels entering port can push their prows almost into Queen Street itself. There have been difficulties and an occasional setback. Yet, taken all round, the works completed have justified themselves. As the engineer says, there has been no material deviation from the original design. The ease with which the port receives and accommodates great ocean liners, the expedition in handling cargoes, the smooth coming and going of shipping, unite to show that the work of the past has been, broadly speaking, sound in design and execution. Doubts have sometimes been expressed about it. The voice of the critic has been heard. Yet the answer can be found by comparing what Auckland was 20 years ago with what it is today, the shipping of the port then, and now. Memory should tell how the waterfront has changed. Statistics show that there has been an average increase of 31 per cent, every five years of the period in the merchandise handled, and of 20 per cent, in the gross tonnage of shipping entering the port. Increased efficiency is indicated by the fact that whereas in 1904 one linear foot of berthage was required for each 184 tons of shipping and every 57 tons of merchandise, in 1924 the figures for each linear foot were 265 tons of shipping and 115 tons of merchandise.

The progress of the past has been great. In the opinion of the Harbour Board's expert the time has come for a comprehensive review of development, possibilities and needs of the port. The result has been the scheme he has evolved. It is no small undertaking. The whole cost, if everything included in the plan is undertaken, has been estimated at £5,500,000. The figure is a huge one, but approval of the proposals does not commit the Harbour Board irrevocably to the expenditure of that sum forthwith. The programme is based on an estimate of needs for the next 25 years, and the works are proposed to be undertaken as they prove necessary. In its favour this much can be said. There will need to be further extensive work of development done in the period for which provision has been made. It is better that there should be a comprehensive plan to work by, than that a piecemeal patchwork system should be followed. Continuity and symmetryare essentia] if the best is to be iade of the Port of Auckland. This plan provides for it. It dovetails with the uncompleted part of the 1904 programme. Some items appear in it unchanged, some have been modified to meet changed circumstances, while there appear features which are entirely new. Also there is one notable omission from the new plan compared with that of the Hamer scheme. The latter provided for a graving dock just inside the eastern breakwater. It was to have two -caisson gates and thus be capable of accommodating three vessels simultaneously. The new scheme eliminates it altogether, proposing that, should the need for it arise, a floating dock should be acquired and moored in deep water near Kauri Point. It is an interesting departure, but obviously meant only for the distant future. As the eastern graving dock was not in immediate contemplation either, the w r hole question can be conveniently left to the time when further docking facilities are actually and demonstrably needed. i The new proposals which strike attention most are a railway wharf to be located east of King's Wharf, lengthening of the western breakwater, with provision for bulk oil storage, and the work preliminary to the construction of a boat harbour. These, together with a breastwork on the eastern wall between King's Wharf and the new Railway Wharf, are what the engineer suggests should be begun and finished without delay. They represent an expenditure of some £500,000. With new vehicular ferries, a viaduct for railway extension westward, a new wharf at Devonport and various other enterprises, there is propounded a programme calling for an expenditure of £875,000 in five years. It is no small responsibility for the Harbour Board to face. The engineer can plan and recommend. The board must consider ways and means, assess the possibilities of the future, and decide whether its funds and its credit shall be devoted to the tasks outlined. The question is one which cannot be lightly or easily settled. There is provided a mass of information showing how population and trade have risen steadily during the past 20 years, with bright prospects for continuance. There is the fact that the port revenue has risen without a break from some-

thing over £70,000 in 1904 to roughly £350,000 in 1924. There is the consideration that some of the new works are badly needed and have been long demanded. One of them, not concerned with ordinary traffic, is the boat harbour. That it should be included, on what seems generous lines, as part of other development is a very bright spot in the new scheme. With these things in mind the Harbour Board can begin consideration of the project seriously but without timidity, knowing that whatever be the exact decision on the details of the plan, a great future lies before the Port of Auckland, amply justifying courageous development to keep it abreast of the growth of city and province, and consequent expansion of trade and prosperity.