ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.

Press, Volume LIX, Issue 17812, 11 July 1923, Page 11

ELECTRICITY SUPPLY.

the waimakariri schemi -vMEKK'AN report received. ■ . : iy Me-rs C. U rh- a i engineers for , .r - * ■"/ ' '•»:.'•!! on the pro . v .V: hydro elecr ricit 'e . :jr:■! on Monday. Ji 7. ; of Mr K ;• . ... 1 Manager of tlu ;• : i. ■ ' Department, ane '"'.l being digested by "r. . '-r. Cr. A. MeKellar. . , ;. . -.i.'i: '' th<- City Council's v -r. informed a re"The press-"' th;,.t the -r i ■;. j M > i'. J;. Jlawley and , !•/ M-,day's mail, and was ■: ■ o::ip.'<.-Jie;mve. Mr ji-. ■> vitij.-.g-l at present in wou.'d be made pubIt wouid be, r. e .v. eks before this ).,. u . a - it v.-a.s necessary t" . f ,showing what the <: JlawJev and Co. :• vay of cost.' Cr. Mc- ; : '.ha' i:e himself had not t:.'. n-!!or'. rtnd was, therefore, '.< A ''' H' Vi: :i "y detailed ,n, a;.d did not know what '•> Ak.< U'-.iu Una of engineers estimj>j ilitr ce-t of ii;e scheme would be. Tas Scheme Outlined, y. Ji. V. S-hiicln r, representing Hawl-.-v raid <'<>., did the sur--t-; -Mjr'u in connexion with the Wai»%kar:ri i-dieme, and on the two occaupon which members of the City <"«stei! xdii'.ed the projiosed site of the ii'-ar Otarama, lie gave a deJi'/jou, in general terms, of the jvitiut. It involves the construction gf j (iam arross the Waimakariri at t ssat v.ii'-re ti.e river Hows through t >sMt jiiciurfsque gorge, tho terraces sides of tiie river indicating its s<reii Jit different periods. The site rft.'.s jiroposeil dam is at a point where 'l-'e are two high bluffs, the distance k'.vHv' l tliem varying from 250 ft at ;,. V f] to at tiie top. Above til'site on the right bank of the river tame bank along which the rail«iv -me is laid —there' is an extensive jbt j.wiijiiig ample room for the conittoction plant reijuired in connexion iritit 'lie erection of the dam; and the itrrarts in the vicinity will provide an jiiajjte eupplv of shingle for the m.tnuinciure of concrete. As there would k about 200 ft between the top of the tin and the level of tho Midland railway line, Mr Sehrieber considered that there was uo danger of tho scheme tho railway track. 3a the courpc of his explanation of tie" possibilities of the Waimakariri, Mr .Sehrieber eaiu that the ideal Mitt-sue was to build a dam just below the confluence of tho Esk. The bnck-ni-iio water would form a big lake. Tiiat sclieuie was not, however, as ccot:.!jiic:il as the scheme for the erection t'f a dam ltcar Otarama; but the otarauia scheme was being worked out H, that it would dovetail into tho Esk ♦ ■ heme if ever the conditions —chiefly tk-ciiind for more current —warranted it iifiiig carried out. From tho iviiiit of view of economy, the Otarama I. h»me was the letter, because it was jearer C'aristcliurch, was closer to tho railway, and possessed a suitable area :'"r the erection of the necessary con-MT-jctioc plant. Fcnndatlon for the Dam. On the occasion of the visit paid to -,uv silo on February 3rd last, thoso ptt's«.it were shown samples of tlio rock Enough nhicli the diamond drill was ond Mr Sehrieber said that from, ihe point of new of suitability for the luundiilu'ii of tho dam tlio material was very satisfactory. It had on© disadvantage—it broke and caused a great th-.il of trouble in drilling; that was uoi, Lontiver, a disadvantage from the of view of «i foundation, as all siat was required was that tne rock iitould be strong enough to carry tho of the dam structure. At that time Use drill wns down 58 feet —two i*i in water, 30 feet in shingle, and; Z's icvi in rock. One of the holes to bo djufed would be put down 100 feet, to aseertain hour far down tlio bedrock exia«d. Travailing Shingle Difficulty. pa the same occasion a number of ; liawtions ivere asked regarding the poa*laUtf of shingle brought down by flc«oi piling up behind the dam and 3®ajtg the flow of water. Mr ischrieber Kid t-bat their problem was to keep the I *»ter ja and let tho travelling shinglo K'j over; the dam would liavo a- spulwhich would dispose of tho shingle. : t? regard it aa a practical diffi- ; mtyf bo was asked. "So," he rej WKd; ''but it has to be worked) out: | ttfcas to be provided for." He added Wat there had lxtn floods in the river °f investigation, but had been no appliance to gauge tncnint of travelling shingle; such *"J>RMiance had !»ecn provided, a net the next flood occurred a test IwZii* i °f the amount of shingla down. As to the deposit in ' n '^ s lower reaches—in loamy where the protection works lteei } provided—he expressed tho that it was duo more to the j 16 hanks tlian to £liingle down by floods. " Necessity for the Scheme. S generally known, tho g®wuties of tho Waimakariri for tho j" ."Jiliiit of hydro-electriety have tosnv different times for ft*.iv* Tiears P'! st: it was, in fact, tho jB-n«rj. arc ®i discussed. from whence should obtain its supplv of J The ac tion of the City og .t" 1B to obtain a report °f a scheme utilising tho Waimakariri was the re-jj-wUi© announcement by tho Govf 't intended, in resi>ect themes of the T>omiuion, f2a" w a rato for tho supply current; the proposed lint considered by tho municipal have meant a largo &Jr*® >n tiie rate charged tho mnnife*" y current from Lake ColeA'wn tho City Council arittfctou' to invostii:-)t« tho SrS"' the Waimakariri, the rag"of Public Works, tho Hon. J. indicated that tho Governjntend to malco anv ata?®^®»itf,rfero with the Citv Coiinwith respect to the Waiptt, scf;WlK '• lii a statement made Present Mayor (Mr J. A. SgJ*/. vrho was then (last October) ffijj , he snid that tho pro- / ,n eant that practically !6 municipality of bulk gSf J Would bo increased 100 per Ntttat •!? . no Retting nway from the the citv of Ciiristchurch . m:i d- tho " Lake Coleridge fi " Flesher added, impresses me is that feajk t ' .." av ® s-imo consideration «ty in view of tliG fact ™ 85 far away from our port. - great &a as comman d with tho other A'ucklanfi. Wellington, NS 'j? a! ! l««vo their ports at "''t it is our disadvantago Whr /»°- no port right alongside (»»»<•.... in mr opinion, ititled to some consider"'o did enjoy some slight fsjj& Jr tx>gard to the prioe at ,>|pL °btained our electric supply

at foot of next column.)

it would 1 bo only a set-off against the increased expond© we are put to by ie..sou of our a,si.anoo fiom j-.y^tcliOii. ".At Hie pi esent time _L/an.e Coieridge lias turned tne corner, and 1 <lO nut think mere is any justification tor tiio position taicen up by tne iviinister' that jie is going to smy 111s nana in tne development ot tne Uoieriage scheme to its lull capacity, for whatever power is generatau there will be absorbed by tne demand in the future. In (view of the fact tiiat the Government lias sanctioned the action of tne South Canterbury people 111 going on witn the Uuke TeJfapo seneme (aitnough they stated' tnut tliey would not allow any such thing), tliey cannot very well reruse to go on with such arrangements as tliey tinuk necessary m omer to develop their electrical undertakings. Of course, the report which the City Council obtains on the ' "Waimakariri proposal may show that it is too costly, and that it would be to the advantage of the city to meet the added cost of the Coleridge power." Transmission Bights. A statement made to a representative of '"ihe .Press" yesterday to the etfect that the Government had declined to give the City Council transmission rignts in respect of the proposed Waimakariri scheme, seemed to indicate that the Government had decided to oppose tiie scheme. On Cr. iUcKellar being asked regarding the statement referred to, he replied that it was incorrect. Tf it had been true, he added, it would be time for the whole of Canterbury to be up in arms. The present position was that the City Council's application for transmission rights had been deferred by tho Government in the meanwhile until the scheme has taken a more concrete form. Need for aji Early Decision. There are grounds for the belief that a>i early decision should be arrived at cither to go on with the Waimakariri scheme, or to complete the duplication of the generating capacity at Lake Coleridge. That duplication was decided upon some time ago, and a certain amount of preliminary work has been done, but operations were suspended when the City Council announced its intention to investigate .the Waimakariri scheme. The present capacity of the Lake Coleridge installation is 12,C00 k.w., and there are indications that the demand for this amount of current will be reached in a comparatively short period. On Monday Last, between 4.30 p.m. and 5 p.m., the maximum load at the power-house was 10,490 k.w. In two or three weeks Ashburt-on will be drawing its supply of current from Lake Coleridge, and is expected to start with a consumption of close on 200 k.w. In a few months Timaru and South Canterbury will be linked np with Lake Coleridge, and it is expected to start with a demand for 500 k.w., or thereabouts. It will ba seen that when the demands of Ashburton and Timaru are added to those of Christclmrch and the districts in North Canterbury, which are drawing their supply of current from Lake Cole" ridge, the total consumption of current will be over 11,000 k.w. This will leave 1000 k.w. to meet further demands for current, and it is estimated that by 1925 the whole of the output of Lake Coleridge will be necessary to meet requirements. If, 7n the meantime, provision is not made, either by carrying out the "Waimakariri scheme or by duplicating the Lake Coleridge installation, to meet the increased demands for current, a critical state of ! affairs may arise.