Improvements to Wharf

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26774, 18 May 1948, Page 4

Improvements to Wharf

When the Otago Harbour Board’s plans for Birch street wharf reach fruition, the berth will be the most modern in the port. Contractors are at present busily engaged in building a new reinforced concrete shed (left) which will greatly expand the amount of merchandise coming and going from the wharf, and workmen are going ahead with the assembly of two electric five-ton cranes which arrived from Great Britain some months ago. The cables for working the cranes have been installed underneath the wharf but some months will pass before the cranes are operating. Owing to short re quirements of steel, the contractors have been delayed with their work on the new shed and it is difficult to estimate when it will be in use. Soon after the shed is completed, the board proposes to replace the adjoining shed (GHI) with a modern structure having greater storage space. Birch street wharf was completed in 1940. With the aid of dredging operations a depth of 23ft 6in has been obtained and the wharf can accommodate ships of the same draught as Victoria whaif, which is at present the principal overseas berth at Dunedin. Three railway tracks at Birch street give the whaif an added advantage and when the cranes are working and the board s shed accommodation piogramme is complete, the berth will be the most modern at the port of Dunedin.