TOWN EXTENSION AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENT.

Otago Witness, Issue 567, 11 October 1862, Page 7

TOWN EXTENSION AND HARBOR IMPROVEMENT.

Bell Hill is now being cut away, and the material deposited upon the beach. As a beginning is thus made of an ex f on«iv>j series of works, for improving both tho town ami harbor, by reclaimin"); land and deepening channels, it may be well briefly to describe the works that have been sanctioned by the Provincial Council, and the small section of them which has been begun.

We will take the latter first. Tho men engage! under the direction of Mr Swycr, the Proviiwi! Engineer — and the designer of the plans IV the improvements generally — arc getting soil from the Bell Hill with which to convert rather more than 10 aen s of bcich intc streets and building sites, Oppos.te the Hill, an embankment will be formed in line with High-street, unfil it roaches a point 132 j'ards from Prinoes-btreet. and it will then be carried parallel with that street; across the Rattray-street pier to the north side of the new jetty, a distance of nearly 300 yards. The embankment will be 6'lft. wide at the top, that being the intended width of the new streets, and the Mopo of its sides will be 2 to 1. The whole of the space we have indicate 1 will notbe covered with .sod, but two other embankments will he formed at right angles to Princos-'Urc'.'f, The building sites will be no further filled in than by the sloping sides of the embankments. If a purchaser desires deep cellarage, lie will have but little material to remove, and thus the plan, while liktly to be genorally convenient, will be far less cosily to the government than if the beach were to be covered to a Tnnform lei el.

Starting from the new line of street parallel with Princes-street, the works sanctioned by the Provincial Council will stretch C 66 yauls into the harbor, and will have a front a4C of 1,100 yards — from a point opposite Wulkei'-streut, to 500 feet north of the Stuart-street jetty. The space enclosed will be 137 acres, and the phn of forming \ embankments only is proposed to be adhered to I throughout. The 1.'57 acres will be divided into 37' acres of dorks, nculy 4(5 acres of streets, and f)J- acres 327 yards of building sites. The embankments w iil have an average height of 14 feet, and will bo faced wilh pitchers wherever exposed to the action of the sea during the progress of the works. One dock of IC,\ ai'ies, or 1,800 feet long by 4.")0 feet wide, ■will have tho new jetty protruding into it. and available for landing good 1 ' ; and another of 12] acres, or 1,430 feet long and 4 ■'50 feet wide, will have the Stuart- street jetty as its central line. There will br a third dock of eight acres, or 2.000 ft. lontr by 1 7 ."> f t. wide, of which the Ilat-traj-stieet pier will become the northern boundary. At present, there is 10ft. Gin. of water at hiurh tide, alon 1 * the line of the intended outer embankment ; and it is proposed to dredge away so much of tho sand and mud as is necessary for securinsr an aveiage depth of 10ft. within the docks. Swing bridges will be fitted over the dock gates. On each side of the Jetty-street dock, there will bo only a single line of building blocks, of varying lengths, but with a uniform width of 132 ft. ; and such a line, with a 6Gft. street on each side, will form tho division between the Jetty-street and Ratlray-street docks. To the noith of the latter, there will be two lines of street not fronting to docks, one of them being a continuation of Dow-ling-street; and two of the three rows of building blocks will have a width of 330 feet (being generally squares) the third being 132 feet wide. The northern boundary of the sanctioned works -will be a line similar to that between the Jetty-street and Rattrav-street docks.

The length of the new streets will be 5} miles, two miles having a dock frontage. In forming many of them, it is believed that material dredged out of the haibour may be well and economically used. The shies of the embankments for a surface width of 10 or 12 feet, being formed of material such as that from Bell Hill, or from the High street cutting, they will he effective retaining walls, between which the silt, &c, may safely be left to consolidate ; and thus the stuff got in deepening the harbor will be very cot veniently disposed of.

The embankments will have a height of 3ft. 6in. above high water level ; and their cubical contents will be about a million and a half yauls. The probable cost of tho works, including lock gates and swing bridges, and the metalling of the streets, lias been estimated at £300,000. This sum would be more than repaid by the sale of the 54 acres of building sites, supposing an average price of £7,000 per acre were obtained ; and it i.s assumed that the average would very far exceed that sum.

The Government will, we believe, not carry out any portion of the works beyond that which we have described as now in progress. The rest will be let to contractors — when, being a question yet to be decided.