Page:Municipal Handbook of Auckland 1922.djvu/256

 In 1913 the Board took over from the Marine Department the control and management of Manukau Harbour. A scheme for a new ferro-concrete wharf, to replace the old wooden railway wharf, was approved, but could not be carried out owing to financial disorganisation consequent upon the Great War. However, the bar was re-surveyed, and new beacons and automatic lights were provided.

In 1919 Parliamentary authority was obtained for the borrowing of another million pounds for further harbour works. The work of replacing the old wooden Hobson Wharf with a new reinforced concrete structure, equipped with two-storey sheds and appliances for the rapid handling of cargo, was begun in 1921. The Eastern Tide Deflector was put in hand, and further reclamation work was undertaken. Meantime the Harbour had been deepened around the berths and in the approaches to the various wharves, giving a depth at the main wharves of 35 feet of water at low water spring tides. Quarries were opened at Rangitoto, from which the Board obtains the stone for its own works, and a sawmill was erected on the coast to provide timber.

As these improvements proceeded, trade and shipping increased. In 1871 the Board's net receipts were £6,523, whilst in 1921 (its jubilee year) they amounted to £283,782.

The arrivals of shipping at the Port of Auckland have increased in that time from 205 vessels, totalling