(7)

On the other hand it is in favour of the

town site that the piers cross the contour
lines nearly at right angles, so that the
sheltered area is as deep or even deeper
than the water in which the works are
proposed to be constructed; this arrangement
is greatly in favour of economical
construction, and cannot, from the nature
of the bosom, be adopted near Moturoa.

By the system of construction hereafter
to be described, a portion of the western
wall of the Town Harbour may be made
to serve as a useful jetty to commence
with, at a cost of about from Seventy-five
to Eighty-five Thousand Pounds (£75,000
to £85,000); and the completion of the
whole of this pier as shown on the plan
would give, at a total cost of about Two
Hundred and Fifty Thousand Pounds
(£250,000), a fair Harbour of refuge for
ordinary vessels, and would enable them
to lie alongside for a great majority of
days in the year, and at all times to hold
on safely to fixed moorings; while the
completion of the whole work contemplated
at an expenditure as stated above of Three
Hundred Thousand Pounds (£300,000),
would give a very snug Harbour with
about one hundred and twenty acres total
area of still water of the depths named in
the following table:—

Between 1 and 2 fathoms, 35 acres.
" " 2 " 3 " 30 "
" " 3 " 4 " 40 "
" " 4 " 5 " 16 "
Over 5 " 2 "

Total ... 123 acres.

A slight modification of the design is
shown in red lines, which might be adopted
at scarcely any increase of cost, as shown
dotted; this modification admits of easy
future extension, should it be required, so
as to form a perfectly safe refuge for
vessels even of the largest class, and so to
shelter the entrance to the Harbour proper
as greatly to obviate the objection to its
leewardly position. We have not minutely
estimated the cost of this possible extension,
but we believe that even if it formed
an integral portion of the design the whole
work could be completed within the sum
at which we have estimated the cost of a
Harbour at Moturoa, while there can be
no doubt that it would form a better and
more convenient Harbour.

Before quitting the question of site, we
may add that our attention has not been
directed exclusively to those two, into the
particulars of which we have entered
above; but that no other presented itself
possessing sufficient natural advantages to
require any notice at our hands.

(2). DESIGN OF THE WORKS.

Having determined on the site to be
adopted, we propose to commence the construction
of the western pier by building a
causeway of large boulders taken from the
reef, to a level of six feet above high water
spring tides, extending from the shore to
low water mark, with a protecting parapet.
The design for this causeway is
shown on the drawing sheet No. 2, fig. 7.
From this, to extend a pier into two
fathoms (12 feet) at low water by means
of a timber framing filled in with stone
and constructed as shown on sheet No. 2,
fig. 6—omitting in the first instance the
beton covering.

This would provide, at a cost as we
have estimated above of from Seventy-five
to Eighty-five Thousand Pounds (£75,000
to £85,000) a useful jetty, with a maximum
depth at high water of twenty-five feet, at
which vessels could lie alongside in fine
weather, until such time as the financial
arrangements of the Province would enable
the works to be extended, when this
portion of them could be rendered permanent
by the addition of the beton covering,
—first on the outside, and afterwards on
the inside,—bringing up the total cost of
this portion of the work to about One
Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand
Pounds (£125,000).

As we consider the extension of this
framed timber pier beyond the point we
have named would be to a certain extent
experimental, we have included in our
gross estimate an expenditure necessary
to build the remainder of the western pier
of stone, in the form of "pierre perdue."
At the same time, we think it possible
that it may be found practicable during
construction to extend the timber jetty to
a greater depth than we have ventured to
positively recommend, thus effecting a
considerable saving; but this is a question
which can only be decided by actual experience.
We have a precedent (to some
extent) for the use of the timber pier in
that constructed at Blyth. It is in about
twenty feet of water at high tide, and has
stood the full force of the north-east gales
without any protecting works; but we
have yet to learn whether it can be extended
into deep water. An average section
of the western pier which may be adopted
is shown in fig. 5, sheet No. 2. This
section, however, may be modified to
have a perpendicular inner face, similar to
that shown in fig. 2, for a length sufficient
to give berths for large vessels, without
much increasing the cost. The section
we recommend for the eastern mole is
shown in fig. 4; this is composed entirely