SOUND ECONOMY.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 48, Issue 144, 29 March 1928, Page 5

SOUND ECONOMY.

IN LINE CONSTRUCTION. POWER BOARD'S PIONEERING WORK. How the Ashburton Power Board came to build over 800 miles of line with the same sum that ft had originally intended to build 340 miles, was explained by Mr F. W. Watt, at the Loan Proposal meeting at Seafield, on Tuesday evening. . . Several factors affected tne original position, "oT which one was a fall in the price of construction materials between the time the loan poll was taken and the starting of construction work. A second factor was the free use of blueirum poles and a third was the type ot construction adopted for the lines. Up to the time of the starting of construction work by the Board, it had been the general practice in the buildino- of distribution lines to limit tine span to 4 chains. It soon became apparent that with the long distance to be covered by the Ashburton Board and the comparatively few consumers on the lines that some'means of reducing the cost of construction must be foundThe solution proved to be the using ot longer noles and the spacing of them at "greater distances. Where normal construction had previously used_3ott. poles with 4 chains spacing, the Board adopted 35ft. poles in many cases with 7i to 8 chains spacing, thus cutting the number of poles, insulators, and crossarms almost in half, with substantia* reductions, in the cost of labour and transport. Tliis resulted in the construction or efficient lines and enabled the Board to reach many consumers who otherwise could not have received supply. The lead of the Ashburton Board in - this tvne of construction has since been widely followed by other rural Boards.—-Ad vt. : • : ', . .V:;j '■