SECOND EDITION. FIRST SET-BACK

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LII, Issue 16208, 4 December 1926, Page 6

SECOND EDITION. FIRST SET-BACK

DIVERSION WALL DAMAGE SEAWARD END BREACHED The first, sel -back encountered by the Jiarbor constructors in connection with i tlie shore work resulted from the heavy | seas which thundered up on tlie \V-u----kanae beach fast night. Some 40ft. of the western wall was destroyed through the failure of the anchorage, which had not been finally consolidated, and a considerable volume of sand was driven into the mouth of the diversion cut by th© range of the seas. About tho seaward end of the cut, the level of the sand on the Waikanae beach was lowered by from 6ft. to Bft. during the night. The damage occurred just at ;i time when all the energies of the harbor building staff were concentrated on the saving of the Monowai, which bad suffered a hull injury the extent of which was at first unknown. During yesterday afternoon, a. heavy swell from the sou’east began to run into the bay, and towards evening the seas reached a remarkable height. The absence of wind was a feature of the situation, for there was hardly a breath of air stirring ashore. As the night wore on, however, the seas continued to mount higher and higher, and on tho full tide this morning they were sweeping into the cut and scouring the sand from the papa, bottom through which the Korua lias been dredging her way. On the eastern side of the diversion the piling lias been protected by a rubble wall, a large part of which comprises the debris from the previous work, including a number of snwn-off pile-heads. No damage whatever was done here, but on the western side Ihe full force of tho seas was exerted against the unprotected piling, and 40ft. of the construction work was seriously breached. WALL THROWN DOWN. At this point the piles are some 15ft in length, according to the engineer, and as the papa bottom is but a few feet below the level of the sand, the toes or the piles must have been sunk well into rock. The anchors carried back from the wall, and designed to give support to the piling, were, left bedded in the sand, pending the consolidation measures which had been applied elsewhere on the walls. When the sand was swept away by the heavy seas, the anchors were left without any holding, and the piles were attacked from both directions by the range. They received the severest assault, however, from behind, where projections offered resistance to the water, and the wall tilted outward into the cut •and was gradually demolished. This morning the demolished portion of tho wall rested on its face, partially embedded in the sand, and efforts were he- . ing made to guard against further ero- | sion, and consequent further damage to the wall.

Fascine and sandbag protection was being hastily constructed' this morning and preparations .were being made for the conveyance of a number of blocks which have been lying in tho Haiti yard maturing, for the purpose of protecting the western wall from tho sen. Those would have been laid in the course of a few days, and it is unfortunate that the storm should have com© before tho consolidation. To-day, even at low tide, the waves were washing‘into the in out hi of the cut with considerable force, and it was obvious that at the flood the battery launched against the wall must have been tremendous. In the bay, the swell was the heaviest seen for some time, and the sens were breaking high on the foul ground, and rolling inward with almost irresistible force.