EROSION BY THE SEA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 23381, 24 June 1939, Page 14

EROSION BY THE SEA

THREAT TO MAIN HIGHWAY PASSENGER BUS BOGGED SERIOUS WEST COAST PROBLEM [by telegraph —OWN correspondent] GREYMOUTH, Friday Heavy seas which have prevailed during the last few days have played havoc with a section of the main highway between Greymouth arid Westport on the Greymouth side of Barrytown. This section lias been a source of trouble for many years, but its condition at present suggests that it is in danger of being washed away entirely in the event of a heavy sea occurring at the same time as a high tide.

A service bus which left Greymouth for Westport last evening with mails and passengers became bogged on this section and three hours elapsed before it was extricated. It proved necessary to jack up the bus and to place planks under the wheels before a motor-lorry could pull it on to solid ground. Had the tide been full at the time the task might have proved impossible. The bus had about 18 passengers on board.

A deviation of the road is the solution of the difficulty. It is considered impossible to protect the present road from the action of the seas, except at a cost which would be much higher than the cost of a deviation, for a solid wall of concrete would alone resist the erosion. If this section of the road falls to the inroads of the sea it will mean that the direct highway between Greymouth and Westport has been cut.