File:Natal province - descriptive guide and official hand-book (1911) (14573441848).jpg

Identifier: natalprovincedes00tatl (find matches)
Title: Natal province : descriptive guide and official hand-book
Year: 1911 (1910s)
Authors: Tatlow, A.H South African Railways. Publicity Dept
Subjects: Railroads
Publisher: Durban, Natal : South African Railways Printing Works
Contributing Library: Robarts - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: University of Toronto

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on the bar at low water. Captain Rogers, who visited thecountry in 1868, reported that there was not above 10 feet or 11 feet of wateron it in a spring tide. In 1851 the first attempt was made to remove the bar,the late Mr. John Milne being the engineer to whom the work was entrusted.His plan comprised North and South piers. That on the North was of aproposed length of about 2,300 feet. The South pier was to extend tothe edge of the shelf of rock, about 700 feet. The total estimated cost of thetwo works was about £85,000. Nothing appears to have been done at the timeon the south side. On the north side a length of about 300 feet of work wasfinished, and then the plan was discarded. The North pier was designed torun parallel with the Bluff and would have given practically the same width ofchannel as at present, but the entrance would have been restricted to 500 feetby the convergent angles given to the two works. Captain Vetch, hydrographer to the Admiralty, was next consulted, and 90
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• □ - - oo o :. « -CO ~ o> ~ Z - 0,2 o 01 to 30 he built two arms consisting of rough boulder work, one on the north and oneon the south side. These were commenced about 1860 and cost nearly£200,000. The South arm was gradually washed away, and the North arm waspicked up down to the level of low water ordinary spring tide in 1885 byInnes, who used it as a sort of quarry for works which he commenced in 1882.All that is now to be seen of Vetchs scheme is a low line of stone extendingoff from the beach opposite Alexandra road, just awash at low water, the endmarked by an iron beacon. Sir John Coode was then called in but the advice which he tenderedwas not followed, chiefly on account of the large expenditure which wouldhave been involved thereby, and partly because of doubts as to the utility ofthe scheme. Little more was done in connection with the harbour improve-ment until 1881, thirty years after the first step taken, when a HarbourBoard was constituted, with the late Mr. H

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