ACHERON RIVER.

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 20089, 19 November 1930, Page 10

ACHERON RIVER.

MARKED PROGRESS OF DIVERSION. DAM ALMOST FINISHED. A TRIP TO LAKE COLERIDGE. L'uring the ':«t few weeks such marked progress has been made with the diversion of the Acheron river into the Lake Coleridge stream that there is now every prospect of the completion of tiie work by the due date, .December 17th. A reporter of The Press w ' k > visited the site yestor-. day, found the construction unexpectedly far advanced. The spillway and intake will be finished within a fortnight, and 78 :>ipes, of a tut:;l length of (i24ft, are already in position. The flow of the river is at present well above Its minimum of 30 cubic feet a second. While, to expedite the work, it was at first intended to erect a temporary I dam, it has now been found possible | to have the permanent intake and spillways finished in ample time. Most of the forty-odd employees at the diversion site are now engaged on this task, many of them working more than one shift a day. The river was first diverted through a narrow channel to the left while a spillway and the intake were constructed to the right and centro respectively. A passage has been left in the far vertical face of the spillway, so that when these are finished (the concrete is now drying in the wooden frames) the water may be temporarily diverted to the right while the leit spillway is constructed. When the whole dam is finally completed this passage will be closed and concreted; whereupon the river, riv.ug until it forms a miniature lake behind the dam, will at length flow across the lowest portion, fall there through an iron grille, into the intake proper, and thence pass along the pipe-line for half a mile to a terrace above the Lake Coleridge stream.

Work on the Dam. Oi. a raised platform to the right of the dam workmen were yesterday mixing concrete and sending it, by batrow and chute, to a plasterer, who was putting the finishing touches to the part.- already erected within wooden frames, and so far only partly exposed. To the extreme left, others were hew 1 in g out rock in preparation for the foundations of the left spillway. The debris of thiß rcclc is being used to 1 build up the sides of the race downstream. It has proved sufficiently hard to make solid foundations. Provision is made in the intake for the emptying out of any small shingle which may pans through the grille. The pipes have so far been brought only to within about. 30 feet of the dam; for a .slight deviation h.-i.s yet to bo made to connect them with the intnke ch..mber. Of the 78 pipes which were yesterday in position on the bench,"(s-1 (representing 512 ft) were permanentlv concreted.'*" A few corners in the line were inevitable, and those entail special wood and concreting work. Under the foreman'a direction, the workmen were connecting the pipe sections, and making preliminary arrangements for the ultimate connexion with tl\o intake chamber. The tramway at the side of tin bench continues for 40 chains to a wooden siding where the pipes are loaded, one by one, on to a truck, and pulled by horse down the line towards the dam! The sleepers for the tramway are roughly, but effectively, made with boughs of'trees. On the other side of the siding, the cutting begins which bends to the left, opens out on a terrace above the Lake Coleridge stream. Handling of t&e Pipes. Every second day, 16 pipes are railed to Coalgate by the contractors, 'the Hume Pipe Company. From there they are taken by motor-lorry to the dumping site, half a milo from the dam and immediately above the aiding. The road has boon greatly improved, and although some of the pipes have been' damaged in transit, most arrive in good condition. At the site the lorries back down into a hollow, and the pipes are allowed to roll off of their own momentum, on to straw matting. Straw is also placed against tho nearest standing pipes lest the newcomer should roll into them. The pipes arc then rolled tothe top of an incline of about 30 degrees, leading down to tho tramway siding and let cautiously down this incline with winches. Four men are stationed at the dumping site for this work. A good many of the pipes have been allowed to remain there because of cracks and other damage, and it is not certain whether they can be used. Although they are required to work hard, and for long hours, most of the men are earning good wages, and seem well satisfied with their treatment. They feel, however, very mueh isolated from the world and newspapers of any kind are greatly in demand.

Waves at Lake Coleridge. Another group of men are at work on tho diversion of the Lake Coleridge stream behind the Murchison Homestead, to avoid the danger of flood when the Acheron is turned into it. Although this is a fairly considerable task, necessitating the excavation of a cutting about six feet deep, excellent progress appears to have been made. A violent arid cold nor'-west wind was blowing yesterday, and although tho sky was clear over tho lake, thers were misty rain-clouds further back in the range. Although a heavy fall was reported over the week-end, there were no signs of it on tho roads, or, indeed, anywhere. The waters of the lake were transformed by the wind into a miniature sea, and waves two and three feet high washed in on the shingle beaches. Partly because of this roughness, and partly because a raft was moored by the gauge, it was impossible to read the level of the lakei It appeared, however, to be about 1661 ft above sea level compared with 1660.35 ft when the last report was issued. Although the exposed banks of the lake indicate clearly that the level is still very much below normal, tho exposure is noticeably Jess than before. It is now impossible, too to walk round the far edge of the provnes where formerly about a foot or shingle was exposed. Because of the rough water, the whirlpool which usually marks the position of the intake could not yesterday bo seen.