HARBOUR BOARD.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXII, Issue 7, 18 December 1911, Page 2

HARBOUR BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Harbour Board was held at New Plymouth on Friday last, when there were present: Messrs J. 13. Con nett (chairmu), Newton King, E. Dockrill, -1. McCluggagc, C E. Bellringer, C. A. Wilkinson, W. J. Swadling and L. Maxwell. Superintendent’s Report. Mr Henderson, superintendent of works, reported for the four weeks ending December 9th as follows: Dredge Paritutu. —The Paritutu dredged with the buckets on 21 days (net time IS9 hours) and removed 32 loads, equal to 21,800 tons, also 132 boulders. The second cut has now been carried in to pile 24, being 150 ft for the four weeks’ dredging, and a total length of 14Oft from the end of the wharf. Boulders are becoming more numerous, ’ but a depth of 21ft is still being maintained with very little blasting. ; Dredge Thomas King.—Owing to the rough weather experienced throughout the month and to the absence of Mr Patterson, the master, through illness, the Thomas King had only worked on four days, removing 25 loads, amounting to 20Of) tons. Nearly the whole of the idle time was occupied in lifting a new runner, relining the sand-pump and overhauling the deck crane, the base casting of which had been cracked for some time, it was expected to have everything in working order again early next week. Wharf widening.—The eight remaining piles in the second section of the wharf widening bad been driven. Every effort had been made to advance the other work as quickly as possible, but the exceptionally■ bad weather had caused delay. Cap waling,s and deck beams are all fitted, also 12 : sets of lower waling,s and braces. There are 13 sots yet to ■ fit, and the section would hardly be completed by the end of the year as he expected. Cement.—The cement should now be ordered for the foundation of the breakwater light. About 120 barrel would be required for the purpose, and at least an additional 400 barrels would be required for the purpose, for the protection of the end and seaward corner of the breakwater. The chairman said that considering the weather the work performed by the dredge had been very satisfactory. The work would bo continued until the vessel went to Wellington. It might not be considered necessary to continue dredging the full 600 ft as originally intended. With regard to the cement required, Mr Wilkinson moved ha loealttt—ed, Mr Wilkinson moved that local cement bo procured for this work. It did not effect the permanency of the structure and would give an opportunity of testing local cement.—Mr Maxwell seconded, and the motion was carried. Engineer’s Report. Mr F. W. Marchant, consulting engineer, writes:—“lie mooring blocks, i have had a large experience with screw and other moorings. it takes a veritable puli of . 80 tons to ,draw out a screw mooring 3ft in diameter, after digging away all the soil. Possibly there might be oue or two feet of ground on top of it. 1 think the explanation of' the removal, of .the Paritutii’s mooring block is. tjliat. the block'is simply sunk 'in the ho^e ( and not buried, as J ’ specified should be done in the case of the ship’s moorings. Ido not at present see how it could be any improvement to attach the chain to the side of the block. 1 have no doubt whatever that if tiie ship’ mooring blocks are sunk in a hole and fitted in with sand, as I specified should be done in my letter to the superintendent of works that nothing could possibly shift them. They could only be removed l'by'dredging them out/’ No chain 'phll 'fiould move them. ‘ J j Mr. Marchant asked to' be informed immediately they settled tVhen the Paritutu was to go to Wellington for overhaul, as ho had to be there, and wished to make his engagements fit in. Ho proposed to visit New Plymouth to attend the February meeting, and would be leaving for England on March 7, 1912. Ironsand Leases. Mr. Horace Keeble, of Hobart, Bucks, England, wrote to the effect that lie had invented a process by which ironsand could be treated in its natural state and smelted into pigiron at a cost that could compete with any blast furnaces for smelting ordinary ironsand. The process was not merely theoretical, as lie had actually smelted the ironsand and put it in such a form that it could be easily purified for commercial purposes. The process was patented and provisionally covered in almost every country in the world, and lie was now in a position to make arrangements for developing it commercially. If they thought it of interest, he would be pleased to meet any representative in England that the Board might appoint. The Board decided to inform Mr. Keeble that it was prepared to lease ironsand beach. Tenders. Messrs Masters and Son, of Stratford, were permitted to withdraw their tender for explosives owing to some misunderstanding, and the tender of Messrs. Ward and Co. was accepted. Tenders in connection with the wharf extension were accepted, as follows:—Piles and other hardwood, Messrs. Clicstormau and Co., Hobart, mooring chains, Messrs. John Burns and Co., Auckland; buoys, Messrs. Stevenson and Cook, Port Chalmers ; pile-shoes and spikes, Messrs. Sparrow and Co., Christchurch.—“ News.”