✨ Provincial Engineer's Report
235
NEW ZEALAND
GOVERNMENT GAZETTE,
(PROVINCE OF NELSON.)
Published by Authority.
All Notifications which appear in this Gazette, with any Official Signature hereunto annexed, are to be considered as Official Communications made to those Persons to whom they may relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.
ALFRED GREENFIELD, Provincial Secretary.
VOL. XVI. NELSON, SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 1868. No. 59.
Superintendent's Office,
Nelson, 12th December, 1868.
THE SUPERINTENDENT directs the publication of the following Report for general information.
GEORGE HODGSON,
Clerk.
Provincial Engineer's Office,
Nelson, December 1st, 1868.
SIR,—I have the honor to forward, for the information of His Honor the Superintendent, the following report on the damage done to the banks of the river Buller, and on the means proposed for protecting them against further encroachments of the river.
In accordance with instructions received from His Honor, I proceeded to Westport on the 7th November, and remained at that place for a period of eight days, during which I was employed in taking a number of necessary observations.
I found that the jetties, lately constructed, have been almost entirely destroyed; a portion of the lower one yet remains, considerably out of level, to which has been fitted a temporary stage, so that it can be used as a landing wharf. A number of piles of No. 3 jetty are still standing; this structure was in progress on the occasion of the last heavy flood of 14th October, and a temporary staging has also been fixed to it, where goods can also be landed. The tracing forwarded by Mr. Lowe very correctly shows the nature and extent of the damage done by the last floods, and it is evident that the damage is gradually extending along the river bank upwards.
The greatest amount of destruction has taken place along a length of about 30 chains above Gladstone-street, and we may expect still further ravages along the lower 15 to 20 chains of this length, where the river will form a still deeper curve; the rate of destruction will not, I apprehend, be so great as it has hitherto been; nor do I share the apprehensions said to be entertained by the inhabitants of Westport that the river will cut a new channel through the town and North Spit, and thus destroy the town.
In order to arrive at any just conclusion as to the nature of any future protective works, it will be necessary to examine and consider carefully the manner in which the destruction of the river banks is accomplished, which I will briefly explain:—During a heavy flood the river bed is scoured out to a great depth, the scouring action being greatest close to the bank, which is thus cut away to an almost perpendicular face, and to a depth (as explained in Mr. Lowe's report) of 30 feet below low water line. As the flood subsides the scouring action becomes less and less, and the river gradually deposits gravel in the deepest parts, being unable to carry it forward; the result of this being that a set of soundings, taken some time after a heavy flood, will give a greatest depth of 17 or 18 feet, in place of 30 feet as above stated, shewing a deposit of loose material of a depth of 12 feet. As the flood subsides
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Nelson Provincial Gazette 1868, No 59
✨ LLM interpretation of page content
🏘️ Publication of Provincial Engineer's Report
🏘️ Provincial & Local Government12 December 1868
Report, Superintendent, Nelson, Buller River, Westport
- George Hodgson, Clerk
🏗️ Report on damage to the banks of the River Buller
🏗️ Infrastructure & Public Works1 December 1868
River Buller, Westport, Flood damage, Protective works, Provincial Engineer
- Mr. Lowe, Author of report on flood damage