Whanganui District Council ports manager Phil McBride and Horizons Regional Council river manager Ramon Strong contemplate the port project. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui District Council ports manager Phil McBride and Horizons Regional Council river manager Ramon Strong contemplate the port project. Photo / Bevan Conley
Castlecliff people are being consulted about a large pile of rocks that will be stored in Morgan St and used to rebuild Whanganui's river moles in the revitalisation of Whanganui Port.
Letters went out to residents last week, and they came up with some good suggestions at an earlier meeting, Horizons Regional Council river manager Ramon Strong said.
He is keen to get repair of the river moles started this summer, because they are deteriorating badly. The repair will need 50,000 to 60,000 tonnes of rocks the size of cars. A storage site for them has been found on flattened dunes north of Morgan St.
A flattish sand dune area off Morgan St has been chosen for rock storage. Photo / Bevan Conley
It will hold 5000 tonnes of rock at most, Strong hopes, because most truckloads will be taken directly to the moles to avoid double handling. A small supply could be left there after construction is finished, for use in later repairs, or the regional council could reinstate the area.
Strong is still not sure where the rock will come from. His preference is the reopened Waitahinga Quarry reached from Rangitatau East Rd. That would provide Whanganui jobs and a future source of roading aggregate.
But he's not sure if there is enough durable rock there, and is talking to quarry owner Whanganui District Council about that. Otherwise there are possible sources in Taranaki and Ruapehu. He has ruled out barging rock from Golden Bay.
When the mole repair begins the existing wooden piles will be removed.
Dumped demolition material is not durable enough to rebuild North Mole. Photo / Bevan Conley
People have been dumping demolition material at North Mole for years. It is a bugbear for iwi, is ugly and is not durable enough. Strong said it must stop.
He's hoping rock will be stockpiled next month and construction can start in October, when project engineer Dougal Ross gets out of quarantine.
He's still not sure how to get access to South Mole for the rebuild, and is talking to Whanganui River governance entity Ngā Tāngata Tiaki about that.
Whanganui District Council projects manager Rosemary Fletcher gives a tour of the port. Photo / Bevan Conley
The 1920s Red Shed on the port's no 2 wharf will soon be carefully deconstructed by Jurgens Demolition, Whanganui District Council projects manager Rosemary Fletcher said.
Its roof trusses and any other useful material will be saved for reuse.
"We will be honouring that the shed was here. It is iconic."
The Red Shed has been used for storage and will be "deconstructed". Photo / Bevan Conley
The shed was completely full of stored items. Everything is being moved out and some, such as an old tram, deserve a place in a museum.
The large wharves 2 and 3 area will be leased by Q-West Boat Builders and other storage buildings could replace the Red Shed, Fletcher said.
A shellfish processor could set up there, as could other marine-related businesses.
Q-West will need a large open concrete surface to manoeuvre large vessels on, before they are lifted into the water.
An artist's impression of future Q-West operations. Graphic / Supplied
A few fishing boats that need maintenance or shelter from storms are likely to tie up there too.
The way the two wharves will be rebuilt has yet to be determined, Fletcher said. The timber piles will be removed and tested, and some could be reused. Or a sheet piling method could be used, with a wall against the water and backfill behind it.
Wharves 2 and 3 need to be rebuilt. Photo / Bevan Conley
"The community would like to see the old style, with piles and water washing through, as opposed to a solid wall."
The port will need a dredging unit to ensure correct depths 30m out from all the wharves, ports manager Phil McBride said.
"We are still looking at options, but it will not look like a ship," he said.
Wharf reconstruction will begin in January, at the upriver end where the river has undermined the wharf and made a large hole.
A gap in wharf 3 becomes a blowhole in king tides. Photo / Bevan Conley
Fletcher said, "In a king tide this acts like a blow hole."
No 3 wharf will be made solid enough to retain the Victory Shed, a World War II memorial. Q-West will be able to use it for storage, and the dolomite now inside it will be stored in a former cool store on wharf 1.
