By Moana Ellis, Local Democracy Reporting
Intensive dredging in the Whanganui Port basin is being cut short to allow one of the vessels to return to Westport before expected bad weather.
Westport Harbour’s dredge Kawatiri, owned by Buller District Council, was brought in to speed up essential dredging alongside the smaller Murphy Civil cutter suction dredge.
The 55-metre trailer suction hopper dredge has an additional cutter suction pump mounted at the bow for maximum flexibility, bringing new dredging capability to the river work.
The Kawatiri leaves Whanganui Port after a just a week of work.
It arrived in Whanganui on 15 August with a tight timeframe to complete widening of the port channel before dredging stops for the whitebait season, which runs from 1 September to the end of October.
Whanganui Port and Buller District Council said on Tuesday the Kawatiri would return to Westport on Wednesday after “a challenging but worthwhile week”.
Delay for new parts
Buller District Council group manager corporate services Paul Numan said the start of work was delayed as crew awaited final parts for a new Bell pump to clear Customs and arrive at the port.
Once the parts were received, the crew worked around the clock to weld and position the floating discharge line ready for deployment.
“In the following days, building swell conditions and strong winds meant work plans had to be halted,” Numan said.
“Considerable tidal and river runs also produced some challenging conditions for the team.”
The crew spent several days getting to grips with operating the new equipment and troubleshooting issues, such as pipe blockages.
Numan said the decision was made to cease work before dredging was completed to allow the Kawatiri to safely return to Westport before approaching bad weather.
‘We are now looking at alternative solutions to ensure the port channel remains clear and at a depth.’
Whanganui Port general manager Geoff Evans said the port supported the decision to cut short the dredging operation for health and safety reasons.
“While the timeframe for this project was always going to be tight, we had confidence in this trial proceeding successfully.
“It is unfortunate that it has not worked out this way, but at least we have had the opportunity to trial a larger-scale solution in the port basin,” Evans said.
“If nothing else, the trial has again identified the challenging environment we are working in, and that there is no quick fix.
“We are now looking at alternative solutions to ensure the port channel remains clear and at a depth for [boat-builder] Q-West’s upcoming operations.”
Numan said the time spent in Whanganui had been a valuable pilot exercise using the Bell pump and would inform work in ports around New Zealand.
“Once the Kawatiri returns to Westport, we will continue to test the new equipment and determine its full capability prior to our return to Whanganui Port,” Numan said.
The port redevelopment project Te Pūwaha is working toward a long-term dredging consent, which will cover a focused working area rather than the full basin as originally planned.
The $87.35 million infrastructure project is a collaboration between Whanganui District Council, Whanganui Port, Horizons Regional Council, Q-West Boat Builders, hapū group Te Mata Pūau and the Whanganui District Employment Training Trust (Port Employment Precinct).
The Government has invested $31.8m in Te Pūwaha, managed by Kānoa – Regional Economic Development & Investment Unit.
A BBQ and community open day hosted by project partners has been scheduled for September and will include opportunities to discuss dredging options and hear updates on the work.
Awa FM – Te Reo Irirangi o Whanganui
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