ROYAL COMMISSION ON CANALS AND WATERWAYS.
59 —He recommends "improving the navigation by repairing, niising and strengthening the present weirs, constructing others, sinking the bed of the river in pointb a& described in his map."
He concludes :
" The difficulty of passing up the rapids would be materially lessened and the depth of water maintained throughout."
13771.
Did he not also report a little further back in your proof that the chief impediments are want of depth in summer, and too much water in winter, and a strong current in most parts ?—That
is so.
13772.
What did he make the fall to be ?—Fifty-one
feet.
13773.
I suppose that is from Clonmel to Carrick-on-Suir ?—From
the old bridge of Clonmel to the east end of the quay at Carrick-on-Suir.
13774.
Did he make any estimate of cost ?—Yes.
I doubt if it is applicable at the present clay though.
One estimate is for £2,700, and the alternative estimate is tor £17,000 ; one is the estimate for the spur weirs and deepening the shallow s, the other is the estimate for canals.
13775.
By a canal do you mean putting lockb in ?—
Five locks appear to be in his estimate.
13776.
Do you know what dimensions of canal he proposed, what were to be the measurements of it ?—
Of the locks ?
I do not know, the section of the canal which I had was, I believe, amongst the papers burnt.
Vr Oliver's 13777.
Then going on to the year 1902, was another g'jj_rt, 19o2.
Report made ?—Yes.
In 1902, Mr.
Oliver, engineer to the
Department of Agriculture, etc.,
inspected the river and
.
jdil,_ reported on this Navigation rather fully.
His Report is \'\r.
on the table, but 1 do not think I have any business to i iJmntd put in his Report ; I think it woidd be the Department Jt i.
of Agriculture which ought to put it in.
I have not got
it direct from them, but I have got it from a third party.
13778.
I do not see why we should not have it ?—It
is at your service.
13779.
If you will be so kind as to spare it to the Com¬ mission we shall be obliged ?—Certainly.
; 13780.
Did he make a full report ?—Yes
; it is pretty-
voluminous.
i ' 13781.
Are his conclusions similar to those of Mr.
Killaly ?—Yes,
if I might read a line or two.
His con¬ clusions are similar to Mr.
Killaly's.
He says,
" Clearly, then, it is desirable to deepen the water on the rapids or shallower reaches.
The deepening can be sufficiently obtained, I think, by raiding the piescnt flash weiis."
(He uses the term " flash weir " for what I called a spur weir.)
"The maximum velocity will at the same time be materially reduced.
The obstruction caused by floods in winter submerging the towpath and stopping the naviga¬ tion may perhaps be met by adopting the system known as chain towage which is used on the Seine, Elbe, etc.
> It consists of haulage by special tugs carrying their own
power and winding themselves along a fixed chain.
The present antiquated and costly horse haulage, also the maintenance of the towpath, would be no longer needed were this system successfully introduced, but until the shallows are deepened as indicated above it could not be worked."
13782.
He does not give as an alternative the canalisa¬ tion of the Suir ?—He
states that the volume of traffic would be insufficient, speaking again from memory, to pay interest on the cost of canalisation.
13783.
Does he give any estimate ?—I
think he gives no estimate ; I am sure he gives no estimate.
13784.
Have you any opinion yourself—have you any means of forming an opinion—what carrying out that plan advocated both by Mr.
Killaly and Mr.
Oliver would cost now ?—No,
I do not know what it would cost, but any sum expended would immediately benefit the river.
I mean to say it is not necessary to spend an enormous sum, because if £5,000 or £10,000 were expended there would be that proportionate benefit to the river, which would go on increasing in proportion to the money you expended in deepening the Navigation.
I am altogether in favour of Mr.
Oliver's suggestion of chain towage; it seems to me the only possible means of mechanical haulage if the canalisation scheme, which I presume is too expensive, cannot be carried out.
13785.
Is the river pretty straight, or has it many bends ?—It
has only one bend of any consequence.
t of im-vements.
336—11.
137S6.
Therefore it lends itself to that system of chain Mr.
J.
towage ?—It
does.
"
Ernest Grubb, 13787.
(Mr.
Waldron.)
Is the bend you refer to at
SuirSUam Poulakerry ?-Exactly
so.
" * — 13788.
(Chairman.)
Have you any fear that the spur weirs of which you speak would become ruinous as they 3 Oct.
1906.
have done before.
Would they be permanent ?—I
should think they w ould be quite permanent; the ones erected probably 100 or 150 years ago are still of use.
I have myself been engaged in conjunction with the other boatowners on the river within the last few weeks in repairing some of them, and then maintenance would cost comparatively little, I believe.
13789.
The boatowners find it worth their while to repair them themselves ; that is not done by the Autho¬ rity that you belong to which is in charge of the river ?—
The amount of repairs done byT the owners of boats is now quite infinitesimal.
13790.
Has the Suir Navigation Company done any¬ thing at all in the repair of these weirs ?—Yes,
the Suir Steam Navigation Company has done so.
13791.
I meant the other ?—They
have no right to do so, their jurisdiction does not extend west of the old bridge of Carrick.
13792.
What are the principal articles carried inland ?
Traffic.
—Coal, grain, flour, feeding stufrs, artificial manures, seeds, foreign timber, and a large variety of shop goods, including agricultural implements and machinery, etc.
13793.
What are the goods carried down the river ?—
Oats, condeiibed milk, wool, eggs, fruit, honey, willows, native timber, etc.,
etc.
13794.
How large a proportion of the traffic to and from Carrick-on-Suir is carried on the water ?—Nine-
tenths or nineteen-twentieths of the tonnage; all the heavy goods and a considerable proportion of the lighter goods are carried to and from Carrick-on-Suir (I do not speak of Clonmel) by water.
13795.
What are the exceptions ?
What traffic does not go by the river to W7aterford ?—Or
from Waterford ?
Mainly English goods coming at through rates from English stations, wliich are carried at through rates to Carrick-on-Suir.
13796.
And there are perishable articles, I suppose ?—
Yes, poultry dead and alive, butter, and perishable articles.
13797.
Is the town a considerable distributing and collecting centre 1—Carrick-on-Suir is a very large dis¬ tributing centre, extending as far as the North Riding of TipperaryT, and to the eastern portion of County Limerick up as far as Birr, Roscrea and Templemore, and in the County of Kilkenny up to Urlingf ord and to the portion of Waterford County which is within 8 or 10 miles of the river.
13798.
Does it owe its position as a distributing centre to possessing this fine waterway to Waterford ?—This
waterway gives it its position as a distributing centre.
13799.
Are the railway rates between Clonmel and Waterford exceptionally lowT ?—They
are exceptionally low.
13800.
Is that another advantage that Carrick-on-Suir owe3 to the fact of having that waterway ?—Carrick-on-
Suir and Clonmel owre that advantage to the waterway.
13801.
You say that the Clonmel rates are also very p^tes.
low ?—Yes,
and if you will allow me I add but on account of the existing and increasing impediments to the navigation between Carrick-on-Suir and Clonmel very much less traffic passes over that portion of the river now than formerby, and I believe that if steps are not taken to maintain and improve that portion of the naviga¬ tion, traffic to Clonmel by the river will cease and the railway rates will be eventually advanced, and Clonmel will cease to be the distributing centre it is.
13S02.
Is Clonmel also itself a considerable distributing centre ?—Yes;
perhaps the area over which it distri¬ butes is not quite as large as Carrick-on-Suir, but it dis¬ tributes into the North Riding of the county.
13803.
Would Clonmel be greatly benefited by the waterway being improved ?—Very
much benefited.
13804.
Have you made any application to the Board of Works ?—Yes,
several years ago I made application
H2
