7/31/2019 Point Chevalier Times No. 27 http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/point-chevalier-times-no-27 1/4 ewsletter for the Point Chevalier Historical Society o. 27, ovember 2012 sites.google.com/site/pointchevalierhistory/ cÉ|Çà V{xätÄ|xÜ Times PCHS member Ron Augustin loaned this image, a photograph by B Snowden, showing the Pt Chevalier Yachties Boys, 1940. Ron would like to know if anyone can name any of the people shown here. Contact The Editor with information, please. Calendar Meetings—2012 22 ovember 10.30 am at the Horticultural Centre Helen Laurenson, history of department stores Do You Know the ames? (Right) A Pt Chevalier strawberry grower with a easy method of watering his crop, his own invention. Auckland Star, 12 October 1935
Looking at the mown lawns and laid-out gardens at Al- bert Park, with what statuary has survived the cruel in-
dignities of vandalism over the decades, it is at timesdifficult to comprehend that beneath all that are the re-
mains of one of Auckland's bits of wartime history.
Come the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December 1941,
precautions were hastily arranged lest our city sufferedair raids, or attack by sea. One of the ideas was to create
a vast system of tunnels beneath Albert Park to Welles-
ley, Kitchener and Victoria Streets, under Bowen Ave-nue to another part of Kitchener Street and across Water-loo Quadrant and Symonds Street to Constitution Hill;
an air raid shelter complex capable of hosting 20,000Aucklanders working in the city centre. After all the hard
work, the shelters were opened in October 1942. Twothings, however. One: after all that, we weren't bombed
from the skies or shot at from the Waitemata Harbour.
Two: the tunnels cost money, quite a sum for mainte-nance, let alone electricity. The other councils in the
area which contributed towards the tunnels both for their construction costs and ongoing maintenance be-
gan to get edgy as the war wore on, and it became ap-
parent how far back from the front our country turnedout to be. The EPS was questioned, and the decision
came to fill in the tunnels.
Many sources state that the unfired clay bricks came
from New Lynn. Perhaps a fair amount did -- but muchof the clay came from Pt Chevalier, near the old quar-ries alongside the Oakley Creek, from land purchased
by Albert Crum and a consortium to quarry the clayand truck it out to the tunnels (see valuation field sheet
files for Morrow Street, Auckland Council archives).The following is from the Auckland Star , 4 September
Back in the days of the Japanese invasion scare not a few
Aucklanders derived considerable comfort from theknowledge that should bombs start falling there were
shelters below Albert Park where one could "sit it out."
As it happened, the shelters were never used and, in fact,did not progress to the stage where seating was installed.
Now, somewhere below the Auckland University Col-lege, workmen are placing in position the filling whichwill block up this reminder of stern days in the city's his-
tory.
The decision to fill in the tunnels at an approximate cost
of £54,000 was not free of the elements of controversy. Some citizens, recalling that
the main tunnel was driven on the route of the proposed traffic outlet from the city,
wanted to know why the outlet couldn't bedeveloped with the tunnel as the basis. Oth-ers wanted to know why an underground
parking station couldn’t be constructed.
Officially the explanation is that the expen-
diture necessary for alternative schemes isout of the question at the present time. On
top of the fact that the tunnels were con-
structed as air raid shelters—there is notroom for two lines of cars in the main tunnel
—maintenance costs began to rise, an un-foreseen factor in the form of fungi entering
the picture. Dry rot occurred in the timber used for the supports and what appeared to
be solid wood proved hollow when proddedwith a boot.
Even after the tunnels have been filled in,
however, it will not be impossible for themto be adapted at a later date for some such
purpose as has been suggested. The filling
method used makes it easy for the materi-
als to be removed to any desired extent.
As the first project of its kind in the Do-minion, the work of filling-in the tunnelssome problems for the contractors — Messrs McKenzie and Hughes, the CrumBrick and Tile Company, and F Her-ring and Son. Not only had a method to befound which would ensure the maximumcompression of filling but also it was nec-essary— once the use of clay blocks had been decided upon—to obtain an area of suitable clay.
An 18-acre area bordering Oakley Creek, PointChevalier, was eventually located, the removal of sixfeet of soil over the whole area being estimated toyield 35,000 yards of good clay. The resultant level-ling will make available a very desirable subdivision property—from 50 to 60 sections. An interesting point
is that the proposed northern outlet will pass through
the area and on across the mudflats. Next step was the erection of the block-making ma-
chinery on the site. By the adaptation of out-of-date or
used machinery, plant capable of producing up to 200yards of blocks a day—or 50,000 blocks —was set up on
the lower level of the area. Housed in a shed, the plantrequires the attention of only five men, and those men,
Plan of the Albert Park tunnel shelters. Z Map 6508, Sir George Grey Special Collections, Auckland Library
Membership is open to all with an interest in our area’s history, and costs only $10 per person. This entitles you tovote at our meetings, and to receive mailed copies of the Point Chevalier Times.Send cheques to: Pt Chevalier Historical Society, C/- 119C Hutchinson Avenue
New Lynn, Auckland 0600
Your membership fees mean that we can keep publishing the Point Chevalier Times. Your support would be
appreciated.
incidentally, were not taken from the brick-making industry for the purpose.
The manufacturing process, as it has evolved
from many experiments, is a simple one.
Pushed down from the higher level of landthe clay passes through a funnel and into pugmills which cut it up after the fashion of a
sausage-making machine. Pressed through oilrollers, the clay emerges as perfectly shaped
360lb blocks. These blocks are cut by wiresinto six smaller blocks (each measuring 10in
x 10in x 5in), which are stacked and slid on
to the loading platform.
Once they have been shaped, the blocks re-ceive a minimum of handling. The use of steel-sheeted platforms and much diesel oilmeans that they require a low co-efficient
power—that is, the 12,000lb of clay that
makes up a truck load requires a 1200lb push.
From Point Chevalier motor trucks equipped with spe-
cially-designed loading trays transport the blocks to thetunnels. For the past three weeks work has been in pro-gress from the Parnell entrance. Decision to fill in below
the University was made because of the 400 ft of particu-
larly "bad country" in the vicinity.
Actually the varying degrees of quality in the volcanicsoil of the park area hastened the decision to fill in the
tunnels. Pressure on the supports made it necessary for them to be doubled up about 900 ft in from the Parnell
entrance. Generally the soil varies from heavy pug toinferior papa; from the Kitchener Street side the maintunnel passes through three chains of coarse scoria.
The blocks are hauled to the face on small rail wagons.There about nine men place them in position. "Placing"
is the correct word, since each of the thousands of clay
blocks so far used has been handled by a workman. Thiswill continue until the 11,000 ft of tunnels have been
filled in. It is estimated that the equivalent of 8,500,000
ordinary bricks will be required for the job.
The supports remain standing, the blocks being placedabout them. As the blocks will expand slightly after a
time, the filling method is considered very positive.
Regarding working conditions in the tunnels, Mr J Wil-
liams, who is supervising the underground operations for the City Council, says: "It is the best-ventilated job I
have ever worked on." There is none of the contamina-tion caused by gelignite fumes, and a conduit supplies150 cubic feet of air per man per minute. Even the con-
duit system required considerable thought. As there wasa shortage of the flat iron necessary for such piping alter-
natives had to be found. The final solution was a paper
conduit 15in in diameter, in the construction of whichtwo tons of Whakatane paper were used.
In three weeks 150 ft of the main tunnel has been filled
in. Everything goes back with the work—rails, light wir-ing and conduit. Distance to the Parnell entrance is 1350ft. From next week two faces will be worked, and it is
estimated that the job will be completed in about twelvemonths.
One of the sealed up entrances to the tunnels, Kitchener
![[CHEVALIER] Guide Du Dessinateur Industriel - Chevalier](https://static.documents.pub/doc/80x56/55cf980c550346d0339542d3/chevalier-guide-du-dessinateur-industriel-chevalier.jpg)
