CORRESPONDENCE.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXII, Issue 2977, 14 June 1899, Page 3

CORRESPONDENCE.

♦ . .... THE HARBOUR. TO THE EDITOR OK THE TIMARU HERALD. Sir,—Having b»en closely connected with the harbour for the past 18 years, and not having publicly expressed an opinion on matters connected with it, I would ask for a little of your valuable space to bring before the public a proposition of how to make a harbour; what to do, and how to do it. According to my opinion the proper plan of our harbour has not yet been brought out. Before the shingle reached the bend no 8h ingle of any consequence came into the harbour; no portion of the breakwater suffered from the battering of the shingle; dredging m the entrance was not necessary, and before the shingle came inside the harbour the range was comparatively speaking, nothing to what it is now. The present plan is to run a mole out to sea from the bend of the breakwater—for what? To keep the shingle away for a few years longer,— that's all; and then you will have to face the same difficulty again. By that plan ' you would not increase the shipping accommodation one bit, which is as important to Timaru as are any of the burning questions we have on harbour matters. My plan is to thoroughly repair the breakwater, and at the same time start a rubble mole from the bend of the north mole and run it m a straight line to the beach between the Benvenue cliff and the Dashing Rocks. This mole would not require to be half as strongly built as one run out into the sea. Stone of much less size would also do, as the mole would never be exposed to the force of the seas. Then I would start a railway from the ■ breakwater round to the new rubble mole and pile on the shingle until I formed a sloping beach on the inside of the mole. ' This would materially strengthen it and 1 bring the beach at the breakwater back 1 to the safety point. The Priestman crane would do all the work Of picking up the shingle. As it is very urgent to get the shingle away 1 would start at 1 once and level the beach from Mill and Cos. store to the breakwater, just to bring the shingle back to safety point. After the rubble mole was completed I would cut a gap through the north mole, . say a couple of chains wide. This would make an opening into an inner harbour ; which could be dredged to any depth, . with no range to contend with; plenty of room for wharves, dock, breastworks, 1 etc., and a good and safe anchorage. It ' would be necessary to keep on shifting ' the shingle so as not to let it get past safety point. After the inside of this 1 harbour was completed you would have : to put the shingle on to the seaward ) side of the new rubble wall and then the ■ shingle would go on its natural course, i I should say that the railway and rubble mole would not cost more than £35,000, and about £600 per year i would cover the cost of shifting the shingle and dredging would be re- ) duced to a minimum. If the above plan were carried out, the shipping space would be equal to that of Lyttelton, and Timara would have one of the finest artificial harbours m the world, with a knowledge that nothing could hurt it. In years to come a mole could be run ■ out to sea to protect the entrance to the i harbour. i I am, etc., I. J, Bbadlby. i " [ - ' 1 : ' 1 -1 ' i ■ ' ' ■ • > : ! •