LAKE COLERIDGE CURRENT.

Press, Volume LI, Issue 15263, 27 April 1915, Page 4

LAKE COLERIDGE CURRENT.

THE RECENT BREAKDOWN.

PRECAUTIONS FOR THE FUTURE. The City Council last night, received tlio following report from Mr L. Birks, Government electrical engineer, regarding tho failure of the current on Tuesday uight last:— "I regret oxwodinglj- tho «rcumstanees of Tuesday night last, and do not wish in any way to evade the responsibility which falls on the shoulders of myself and tho officers associated with mc. B»t I would point out that tho Department suffers «« fully as tho Council. Tho circumstances and causes of tho shut-down have been investigated very thoroughly indeed, and very complete precautions have beau take a to eliminate entirely such causes in future. Amongst the steps taken in this direction I would enumerate tho following:— "1. An extra set of lightning arresters for attaching to the line i-s on hand, and wo arc prepared to instal them on the transmission 1» ICS as 6oon ac experience indicates tho . correct position. "-. An appeal is being issued to schoolmasters of all public schools alone tho lino, urging them to seek to develop a'stronger public appreciation of ihc lauger of shooting or throwing stone* at tho insulators, particularly amongst the boys, and a stronger effort is being made by means of a substantial reward to suppress such malicious d.inia£2. "3. The spare transmission line is nowput under full pressure for two hours twice a day, anil will shortly be maintained continuously under pressure, thus being constantly ready for immediate, use. •'-1. Tho repair gang, who were -already fully organised, received a very thorough 'drilling on Tuesday night last and as a result a very large number 'of detail improvements m tho equipment arc beins. made which to further expedite emergency repairs. On Tuesday night three gangs went out from the substation, and two from the power house. The>e gangs moved rapidly from place to Place over seventy miles of line, finding broken insulators in complete darkness, involving retesting of tho lines after every insulator was cnaneeil, at pressures that would be immediately fntal to any other gang not advised, obvious'y callinc for a very high degree of discipline and organisation. Tins was carried out with completo success, in accordance with a pro-arranged plan, every gang being constantly in close touch. This experience has tested the organisation very thoroughly indeed, and it has proved successful. -Nevertheless, as a result of this experience, similar work will in future" be done in half the time, though the constant preparedness of tho second line will practically eliminate the necessity for such extreme emergency work. "5. The question of earthing the. nou r tral .point of the high tension system is under consideration. This is strongly urged by Mr Stark. It has several disadvantages, but has the advantage of detecting and eliminating a faulty insulator more promptly than tho Present system of an insulated neutral point. . . . "I trust that these precautions wil. assure the Council that no effort is ,beirig spared to avoid a possible recurrence of what happened on Tuesday night, and that this difficulty has been fully utilised in malting a distinct advance towards perfection in the matter of continnitv of eupply." Cr. A. S. Taylor said he did nofc.tmnk any trouble of ths sort would be likely to "occur again. It was unfortunate that the Council had not been informed that tho second transmission lino'was not i« uso. ; '• Cr. W. H. Cooner said the current had failed again that day. Cr. Taylor replied that tho troubl" was due to a defective circuit breaker forming part of the Council's plant. In reply to Cr. Scott, Cr. Taylor eaid it was suspected that insulators had been damaged by children. Cr. Scott said ho was given to understand that the insulators used we.ro not capable of standing the pressure, and that when any electrical disturbance took place the line would be liable to the same mishap. The Department should take steps to remedy the weakness if such existed. The letter was received.