BUCKET DREDGING.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 12897, 7 February 1906, Page 7

BUCKET DREDGING.

SUCCESS OF THE BLUFF KREBGE. A member of the " Timaru Herald" staff !who happened to be ia the..Bluff oa Monday, made some enquiries as to the 'work of the bucket dredge Murihuku." which was obtained by the Bluff Harbour Board' last year. Our representative, was kindly ,by_ the .-Board's >.secretary, •Mr George, who, as a.' formei? .resHeiit «: i Timaru, as -well ..as a -harbour official, is Interested in r the dredging-scheme of the Timaru Harbour' Board. Mr George, says his Board is well satisfied : iruku, and .from the work she has done. be anticipates that -or good /bucket dredge jwill have no difficulty'in rdigging up the in, Timaru. .... > <B the Bhrff. Harbour Board,, whei they oh, getting.-.a,,dredge, 'rsent■- Hometo Symons and Go.', - aisking,.for; specifications and a price, .These were given,, and the Board the.: Agent-GeneraL to complete a contradt if he was satisfied the price was fair and reasonable. The business was nearly . alii, done by the &.gent-General, who made no'-charge other than for postages,.: cablegrams, etc. The Board, of course, had an inspecting-engin-eer to watch their interests, but otherwise their expenses at Home appear ■ to have fceen very moderate. - Ther: contract ■price for the dredge,was £2B.ooQilbut by .the time she was at-work at the Bluff, she had cost in round figures-,£32,000,' of which £I2OO wasrineurredr in ; fitting her -up at 3>ort Chalmers. The Board's revenue being good, ,£12,000 of the purchase money ■vran paid out of its ordinaiy revenue. "= Tlie Mur'ihuk-u began work last Su.j and since then has had a queer variety of stuff. ranging from granite-, to. silt, to deal with. At present -she is employed in deeoeninf; the inner berths, where there are several reefs running out from the shore into the stream. These are first blasted, a diver fixing charges of guncotton. weighing from 2£lbs to 161bs. The explosion shatters the reef and the locse, stone is the;! picked up by the buckets of the dredffe. In order that the dredge may work right, up to the line of the wharf, the string of buckets is taken through the stem of the dredge instead of as is usually the case through the bottom. The Mm-ihuku is the only dredge in the colony \of this which answers its purpose admirably.- Here and there thronjrh the buckets there is a pick which ilicjs up and loosens -boulders: A lot of these, .-irn to ;i ton in weigh', have been-reiu"vp'd-bv the l)uck?ip.. rp.drvr?, r:Ow being u-'p-l l>v tbfs Eoard as tb? foirvh'-'tion-•for :i. i r;ji>!iricr wall. A's fur as the stiff blue clay in the harbnur *is concerned, - the dredge lifts it. with the greatest ease,'while fibe is also fitted with a suctinr; painp. far the removal of ?aml or silt. The eapasity of the -dredge is about 150

tons, and she can be filled, -with silt in about ! a:i hour. On Saturday, working amongst I biasted rock, she lifted 350 tons, in 4£ Lours. Mr George says the cost of dredging the various materials she has been in, averages Is a ton., which is considered remarkably low for the mixed types of spoil. He also" states that about- £SOOO per ani;u:n covers the working expenses, and ordinary repairs of the dredge. ' The latter ate pretty heavy, especially in regard to the buckets, the lips of which wear away quickly. The Board, however, are well satisfied with the Murihuku, which has proved a- good investment. There is about four years' work ahead of her to deepen all the berths to 30 feet-. Luckily for the Board there is no trouble with the channel i where there is always 30 feet of water; and no shoaling. Last year, the Ayrshire left the outer berth drawing 27 feet 10 inches, aj*d it is intended to have at least three berths with 30 feet of water.' • -