ARAPUNI DAM.

Press, Volume LXII, Issue 18724, 22 June 1926, Page 14

ARAPUNI DAM.

—«— PROGRESS OF THE WORK. COLOSSAL UNDERTAKING. (SPECIAL TO THE I'HESS.) AUCKLAND, June ill. It is nearly 18 mouths since the Arapuni contract was let, and a colossal amount of work, particularly hidden work, has hecn accomplished. No fewer than 550 men are concentrated upon this Herciilcau task, many of them working at night on the three shifts, a day plan, and-work progresses under an engmering direction .and supervision Unit is K-avjii" nothing to ctiance. The main direction iu which progress | has boon made, although it is a fea- : turo of the work that is quite umioticeiihlo from the edge of the goige, is the diversion tunnel which is to carry the river waters round the clam site during the construction of the mam clam, fins tunnel, which is 24 feet in diameter, and of far greater dimensions than a standard tunnel on the. New Zealand railways, is now in -the last stages of completion, having been lined with concrete, with the exception oi a few holes, where supporting wooden pillars and joists have stood. Curving under frowning cliffs, it would already present a clean unobstructed passage for the river flow, but for the intervention at the I intake and exit openings, of a dividing wall of natural rock, which must be j blasted away to give admittance to the river. While every effort has been _ concen-trated-upon getting the diversion tunnel completed, no time, has been lost in pushing ahead with the wing walls of the great dam. The stage reached at present is that while the huge excavations iu the cliffs are not quite completed, a good start, has been made : pn both banks with construction of concrete abutments. To be-exact,'32,ooo cubic yards of soil and rock have been excavated from the dam site, out of an estimated excavation of 37,500 cubic yards, while 3000 cubic yards have been, removed to make the cut off walls, out of an estimated 7300 cubic yards. It will thus be seen that the bulk of the necessary, excavation has now been effected. Concreting is also progressing in ..-•" cut off walls, or tho great v'erical saw cuts that run back into tho "'country ' at each end of the dam wall. The concrete for. the dam is being prepared in two mixers,on the eastern lip of the gorge, and. the liquid mixture runs down a line of iron chutes to the foot of the cliff. Much has been, said about the ninemile rope conveyor, which brings metal for concrete mixing from-.a stone quarry at Muku, up the Waikatoßiver. ; This extraordinary contraption is working remarkably smoothly and efficiently, considering the cumbersome nature of its machinery.. The system is unique for New Zealand, and is one of the sights for the curious at. ArapunK .The rope is an endless steel hawser, in two sections, - running over_ wheels on huge wooden towers, and weighs uo less than 75' tons. A 60-hqrse power motor operates the device' at each section of the line. The 365 buckets which run : on the rope. 4 deliver 40 .tons."of crushed stone in an hour, half of them travelling back to the quarry,.' whiles the others are 'making their.nine-mile journey to the dam site. .'" '•■!.<.'.'•