HARBOUR BOARD.

Wanganui Herald, Volume XXXXIII, Issue 12584, 3 October 1908, Page 6

HARBOUR BOARD.

The usual monthly' meeting of the Harbour Board was held last evening. Present —Messrs J. B. Muna'y (chairman). N. Meuli, C. F. Millward, A. G. Bignell D. Mason, W. G. Bassett, J. C. Paterson, W. Litcliie, and'the Mayor (Mr C. E. JMackay). Leave of abseuce was granted to Mr Dickey (Collector of Cu&foins). " '. FINANCE.— The 1 bank book showed balances to credit of Joan account of .£IO,OOO, and to JelJit nf general -account of 12,063 14s (after paymeut of interest on Joan account tp September 30jbh). ACCOUNTS. — Accounts - amounting to £41)$ 10s ljd were passed for payment. DJSPUTE.— Mr John Jones waited on the Boa,rd and explained the circumstances under which, he had removed gravel from one of the Board' 6 sections at Castlecliff.— 7 The, matter was referred to the Works Committee, to visit the section, and make a personal inspection, and report to next meeting. CONTRACT.— Letter from Richardson and Blair (Wellington) stating that they must' cancel their acceptance fpr supply of piles, their Sydney house 'imding it impossible tp supply piles "separately at tne price ienderaf for. — Resolved that unles? the firm take up the contract as tendered for, it be cancelled; and their deposit forfeited. --■'"- -..-..

CATTLE ' YARDS— Letter from, the Railway Department', stating that the' "matter of improving the condition of the yards at the cattle wharf would receive attention. — Received

GRAVEL.— The secretary of the Matipo Land Company wrote offering sixpence per yard royalty 'on gravel from "the pic at the back qjf th>,".Cast}ecllff ' school.—Referred' to the WdrTq? Committed' REFUND.^Johnstqn agents for s.s. Tasman, applied iof refund "of £1 Is 9d ship's dues charged "for d\iring a when she was detained' in* port through' stress of weather; — Granted. ' RAILS. — Re charges for double handling of rails shipped per Storm at Timaru for \he Board, the Railway Department wrote stating that it could not deal with the ship's agents, and the failure, oif .the shipping ' arrangements ' was a jna,tjfcer- betwicen the Board #od.tbe shipping- company. Payment^ the account was therefore requested. — Resolved that the account be paid!

LUNDON PARK.— Letter from the secretary of the Castlecliff Sport 6 Association asking for balance of subsidy on Luhdon Park improvements, in order to pay contractors. — Granted, subject to the engineer passing the work. CRANES — Tho question of installing another and more powerful crane on the town wharf was referred to the Works Committee to report upon. • COMPLAINT.— The Clerk of the Mangawhero Road Board wrote,' forwarding complaint by Mr D. Elemine,, that the road past the quarries was still obstructed, and that it was impossible fco'dyive stock along it, also complaining of the danger from blasting operations. — The resident engineer reported £hat aJJ necessary precautions were taken durjng blasting, and that the foreman stated he had not neglected instructions to keep jthe track clear. The engineer stated that the track at the quarries was "six. feet" clear, and \e could not understand wJiy compfaint should 'ipe made whenj further down the river, the track was only 1$ inches wide. Howqver. care would be taken to leave no obstructions from" debris., ~esc. HEADJS. — It was resolved .that the engineer be asked to report at next meeting whether it be possible to pii'sh on the delivery of stone to the works at the Heads at a more rapid rate than one punt load per day. LUMFKRS.— TOhe matter of improvinjr the accommodation at the wharf labourers' waiting room was referred to the Works Committee-

TOWN WHABF.— It was resolved that th© engineer prepaid specifications for the town wharf extension; also that tenders be called' for the work, returnable in three months. H AEBOUKMASTKR.— The harbourmaster's monthly report stated that, during the recent .flood iil the river, £he channel o\er the bar shifted a little to the northward, and now bore by compass from the flagstaff7S.W.~ I S. Soundings on the 28th of September gave a depth "of 12It. at high water springs, and Oft. at M#ji water neaps, -an increase of 8 inches since la*t month, Tthe 'lower reach' and entrance were fairly pood, the upper flats good. The results of 'the beacons on jthe South Spit, bearing on the channel at the lower end of the internal wall, had been, very satisfactory, no vessels having stuck on the bank throughout the month. During the iponth, 104 vessels crossed the bar, .38 in the night. — Adopted. ENGINEEK'S REPOET.

Tiic engineer's report was read and adopted as follows: — Dredging. — Thjs work was carried .on up to the' 16th ult. A flood in the river and a j eerics of gales stopped wofjc and it wa» deemed advisable to alter the dredge and discharge the spoil over the north training wa,li and deliver the gravel into the punts on the opposite side of the dredge. Tliit work is now completed and the dredging has befti resumed. During the 16 worting days, 67 punt loads of" spoil ".ere towed to the internal wall and the d. edge advraced -00 feet and is now working that distance above the' upper red light. _ The dredged channel, as completed, remains unaltered and has now a depth of from 15 to 17 feet high water spring tdies. luternal Wall. — The flood scoured out a portion of the filling in the fascines where portion of the filling ' in the gascines where it crosses the old channel, but' this will be remedied at' once by a backing of^ atone "and Jthis with the leavy gravel wlucli ifi * 'now being flo-livt-rcd from the dredge, will make it ticrht. The channel round the end of the wall continues to work out further, and the guiding' beacons are being shifted a» oo'easion requires. Thenew channel is sounded weekly, as instructed. North Mole. — TITe line is now completed t ) the end of the' old breakwater an<J eVerytiung. is'' in. readiness Tot s£artipg ili'e new mole. .The locomotive crane is erected and in working order, and so far appears to comply with the conditions of the contract. The work is thoroughly ujp to date and will prove a g&xl machine;. Quarry, — 'pie "principal work has been the handling of the ' second locomotive crane which, has been hauled to the top of "the incline. The crane will pc in working order in a few days".' Considerable delay and thereby loss has" been incurred through,, the contractors sending these cranes forward in parts only. A large Quantity of stone lias been sent down, the incline, which is being used partly for protective works at the wharf and below the derrick crane. The recent flood which was

18 incites over the rails, undermined the line and thrqatenedthe jcrane foundations. The bank is being pilclied with stone and made thoroughly secure against heavier iloods which are to be expected. A large amount of stone is quarried and ready tor shipment, and the stripping has been taken well a.h£ad of the wprk.

The first punt load- of stone for the walls passed down, the river to-day, the time occupied being 2£ hours again&t the tide. The load measured 95 cubic yards, equal to about 120 tons. No difficulty was experienced in towing. .Wariganui- Wharf Extension. — The plans and specifications for this work have been returned from the Marine Department duly approved in accordance with the design submitted. I now await instructions before drawing up specifications for ttjc supply of the timber. The estimated cost of this work, as be fore stated, is .£5458 15s. Castlecliff Wharf. — A contract has been signecj' for the delivery at Castlecliff of the Tasmanian timber, but the contractors for the supply of the piles decline to take tip their tender. It will therefore be necessary for the Board to accept another tender.

Wharf Shed.— This work is now finished and as the lighting of tho wnarf along the front "was liecessaTy' a. new gas service and ektra lamps' are now being put in. I Harbour Lights.— Seven Wigham beacon Janips have-come- to baud. Suitable stands of bent iron rails are being made to secure them to ,tkft BEesent bgacoßS.