Flood debris pulled from Maitai
Big logs and other debris posing a potential hazard have been removed from the banks of the Maitai River in the wake of the August floods.
Diving Services NZ chief executive Bruce Lines said his company worked with Nelson deputy harbourmaster Peter Carmichael to remove three ‘‘pretty big’’ truckloads of logs weighing about eight to 10 tonnes from the Maitai River on Thursday.
The logs had been washed down the river during the floods in August, with some ‘‘big’’ pines included in the debris.
The logs had been removed from the riverbank alongside Akersten St, because they were seen as a hazard for waka ama paddlers and rowers who trained in the area.
Despite being entrenched in mud of the bank for several months, the logs were fairly dry. One of Lines’ salvage vessels with a crane was used to pull them out.
The logs were then taken by Nelmac to be disposed of.
‘‘One of them had a golf ball jammed in the roots,’’ Lines said.
Carmichael said Thursday’s operation took about three hours.
On Wednesday, buoys were attached to the logs at low tide, so they would rise with the high tide.
While the initial part of the job was muddy, it was ‘‘pretty successful’’ overall, Carmichael said. Most of the logs floated to the surface.
The debris was mostly tree stumps, not slash, and was most likely from residential homes along the Maitai River.
Carmichael said the spring tide meant that there was a lot of debris floating in the water, and he had recently towed four to five ‘‘massive’’ bits of wood to shore.
He urged boaties to be cautious on the water in the meantime.
The Nelson City Council’s group manager for infrastructure, Alec Louverdis, said about 2100 cubic metres of the debris would be chipped, therefore avoiding landfill, and it would be used for purposes such as furnace or boiler fuel.
The green waste and other material would be turned into compost.
The majority of the wood removed was willow, with a small percentage of it being pine.
Louverdis said a large amount of live willows and dead trees had been removed from the Maitai catchment area while storm debris was being cleared.
This meant these areas could be enhanced with native plantings in the years to come.