ALBUM - Greymouth, 1880`s TIP-HEAD.

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DescriptionThe construction of the Break Waters was commenced in the 1880,s and continued through to the 1950,s with several ongoing extensions required due to deeper berthage requirements of larger coal and steam ships. Limestone rock was blasted from the Cobden and Greymouth quarries then railed two miles from the gap in the hills and tipped into the Tasman Sea at the mouth of the river creating a spectacular and enduring entrance which has withstood the pounding of furious seas that we experience on the West Coast of the Southern Alps. The Break water entrance is notorious for many shipwrecks over the years but it has served the test of time and today the millions of tonnes of quarry rock still allow a deep water entrance into the port of Greymouth.Date of Photo1880`sMap^[1]ContributorTony Kokshoorn

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Location (city or town)GreymouthLandmark (Place)TIP-HEADEventGreymouth, 1880`s TIP-HEAD.

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Category TagShipping

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Date Created30th July 2022CommentsPaul Thomas
"Comment on - " . . .has withstood the pounding of the furious Tasman Sea . . ." Not at all. Instead of limestone rock use granite. Note the increase in height and increase in frequency of Tasman Sea waves with 2000km of fetch from the Southern Ocean. The rocks of the end of the western end of the Cobden training wall have been moved by the 1988 floods. The northern side of the tip head, where once we fished, has had the rocks pounded by the northerly waves, broken and moved into rounded segments along the Cobden beach c.250metres. And the river side section of the Cobden Tiphead (mole)has the rocks in a dangerous placement for any 2000 tonne empty ship now entering the Grey River. Engr. Paul Finlay

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