THE AVON.

Press, Volume LXIII, Issue 18970, 7 April 1927, Page 8

THE AVON.

RIVER-SWEEPING SCHEME. PLANT EXPECTED SHORTLY. In a letter dated April Ist, Mr R. T. Stewart, the contractor for the improvement of the River Avon by means of a hvdro-pneumatic plant, informs the Christchureh Drainage Board that he is "leaving no stone unturned to secure the earliest completion of the machine, and hopes to have it at work, or at l.. as t delivered, within the next two weeks At the time lie wrote the builders were fitting the engines and PU "The work to be douo on the Avon Heathcote," Mr Stewart adds "presents no difficulties at all and » the easiest task 'to which, tliemadnw could be put. In designing the plant I have taken into consideration the fact that it will be used on the Heathcote, and to enable it to be adapted to the work to be done on the narrowei stream I havo built the pontoon in sections, flanged with angle iron, so that as many of these as are necessary to make the size of pontoon required in eacli case can be bolted together and the remainder left." Machine Described. "There, are sovon sections altogether, measuring ll*ft by 3ft. The pontoon complete with all sections as it will be for tho Avon, measures 21ft bv 111 ft by '2ft -iin m depth. The power will bo derived from fourcvlinder petrol engines, of which there are three. Each engine is directly connected to a 4-inch Tangyro, Type C, centrifugal high-lift pump, engine and pump being supported on a common bed-plato built of steel plate and angle iron. These units are separate, each forming a complete pumping outfit, so that when the work for which the machine has been built has been completed, they may he used wherever necessary for pumping the water from excavations where drains are being laid in situations where large quantities of water are encountered. "A smaller pontoon than the one being supplied would have sufficed to carry tho plant, but to provide for as shallow a draught as possible, so that the machine would traverse the shoals as easily as possible, I have mad© it to the size mentioned. The angle iron flanges for bolting the sections together are outside the pontoon, so that they will take the weight when tho machino is being taken over the shoals or skids. "The reaction which results from liberation of the water under pressure will be taken advantage of to swing the machine from side to side of the stream, obviating the use of side-lines at the bow of the pontoon. "Deflection of the jets will provide the lateral movement and the measure c-f deflection any speed desired. Deflection of the jets is controlled by a lever at the hand of the operator and is obtained by specially designed sleeves inserted in a section of each of the three pressure pipes."