HARBOR DREDGING.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXIX, Issue 10760, 6 May 1911, Page 4

HARBOR DREDGING.

To the Editor. Sir. —The following extract from a speech delivered by Mr Moller at Port Chalmers on the eve of the Harbor Board election is of very great interest, aid throws some light on the above question. "He (Mr Moller) said he was entirely opposed to the way, in which dredging was now earned out, spoil in some instances being lifted three times before finding a final resting place. Take, for instance. Dunedin,' 'where.the Vulcan now worked. The whole of the deep-water below the cement works had shoaled- up. He was closely connected with the I'acht Club, and some three or four vears ago the Club built a jetty for use of motor boats, etc., in some four feet of water, but now there was not one foot of water, the cause- being that- dredge 222 deposited its load —supposedly in a pit for the Vulcan to pump on to the reclaimed land, but only a little more than half got there, the rest finding its way back to the harbor. He thought the best way to get over the difficulty was to procure two badges capable of carrying 600 .tons, fitted with centrifugal pumps. Let them ,: be filled from Dredge 222, steam to the area to be reclaimed, and pump their load direct on to the place." . I find on inquire that' the dumping- pit referred to is 100 feet long,. 80 feet wide, and lo feet* deep. . In view, of the above opinion, and -the expressed declaration- by Mr Mason that he could riot recommend the system as carried out, it is very disquieting to think that Oamaru has again committed the blunder of discarding practical advice, .and has uselessly spent thousands of pounds in carrying out a' system which experts agree cannot be a. success. I' am, etc., . RATEPAYER. . Oamaru,'sth May.