Whanganui’s Wharf St ramp getting silt cleaned out over the weekend as boaties asked to be patient

A Coastguard Whanganui rescue boat in 2015 needed to wait for an incoming tide before making the Wharf St port slipway. Photo / Bevan Conley

Boaties are being asked to be patient this week as emergency work is carried out this weekend to try to clear the Wharf St boat ramp of sediment.

An excavator is being brought in to do the work, which is being done to make sure the Whanganui Coastguard boat has reliable access to the Whanganui River.

It’s being managed by the Whanganui Port Operating Company with funding from the Whanganui District Council and is expected to take up to three days, starting on Saturday.

“Due to the build-up of silt on the boat ramp, we are concerned the Whanganui Coastguard boat will have issues trying to launch for emergencies,” said Whanganui Port’s project manager, Phil Wardale.

“That is a huge health and safety risk for our community, particularly as we come into the busy summer holiday period when large numbers of recreational craft take to the awa.”

The works will also improve access for recreational boaties, creating a safer, more accessible slipway, the port company said.

Cashmore Contracting will do the work using its “long-reach” excavator.

It will be on the ramp and alongside the ramp to clear sediment from around the boat-ramp area.

The sediment will then be loaded on to waiting trucks and taken to Castlecliff where it will be allowed to dry before being used in some dune replenishment projects next year.

The use of Cashmore’s long-reach excavator means the work can be carried out during all tides, with a focus on the boat ramp during low tides.

“During this period of works, access to the boat ramp will be possible, although limited,” Wardale said.

“We ask boaties to be patient and expect delays in launching and retrieval.”

Whanganui District Council chief executive David Langford said he was pleased a solution to the silt removal could be found.

The port company’s dredging barge is awaiting repairs at the moment.

“This does mean there is a small additional cost involved, but it is more important that we act quickly and look after the safety of our community,” Langford said.

Additional dredging will be completed by early February when the dredging barge is returned to service.

The additional dredging will cover the areas the land-based long-reach excavator will be unable to reach.

Whanganui Coastguard president Garry Hawkins said he was relieved to learn the works were to be done.

“A few weeks ago we approached the Port Operating Company, Horizons and Whanganui District Council with our concerns because at the moment we are having to launch the Coastguard vessel from the Putiki slipway during low tides,” he said.

“When time is of the essence, having to make that long trip to launch could potentially have dire consequences, so this is excellent news.”