WHARF COLLAPSES

Waikato Independent, Volume XXIV, Issue 2390, 30 October 1924, Page 4

WHARF COLLAPSES

OVER 200 FT. OE WESTERN JETTY. A COSTLY BUSINESS. Something of a sensation occurred at Auckland on Tuesday, when the seawaid portion of the Western Wharf suddenly commenced to creak and tremble, and then gradually subsided. A motor lorry driver was tipping a load of earth over the side of the wharf at the time, but manage! to get away without injury. 'Evidently the foundations gave way, and the luijj:-: structure gradually subsided, and now all that can b>! seen of what'was 225 ft of solid wharf, topped by a solid decking of a foot i.f reinforced concrete, on which ran a double railway line, are the tops of two poles carrying the electric light wires. M'd a few feet of tender piles at the extreme end of the wharf;

The wharf structure originally involved an expenditure of some £96,000, the total length of the wharf being 1000 ft. Of this nearly 250 ft is now 12ft below low water mark.

Il is estimated that the repairs will cost anything- from £20,000 to £40,000.