WAITAKI SCHEME

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21198, 23 June 1934, Page 12

WAITAKI SCHEME

GENERAL SUPPLY FROM THE STATION ELECTRICAL ENGINEER'S ANTICIPATIONS From time to time interesting details of the progress being made with the civil engineering side of the construction of the Waitaki power scheme have been supplied by Mr R. H. Packwood, engineer-in-charge, but there has been little of a definite character made public . the electrical side of the undertaking, especially on the important question of thj date upon which general supply will be available. From Mr R. G. Mac Gibbon, district electrical engineer, Public Works Department, who is interested in the matter because Waitaki is to be linked up with the Lake Coleridge supply, a representative of "The Press" obtained some information on the subject. Mr Mac Gibbon said that it was very satisfactory that the engineer-in-charge at Waitaki, Mr Packwood, estimated that the civil engineering work—the completion of the construction of the dam and other works—would be completed about the end of July and that water would be available for the turbines and the generating sets abput the beginning of August. It would be misleading, however, to assume from these statements that the Waitaki station will be ready to provide general supply at the end of August. Testing the Units There was a considerable amount of work to be done on the turbines and the generators after the water actually was available, and this might take some weeks to complete.Naturally, Mr Packwood was hardly in a position to estimate with any degree of accuracy when the generating units would be in full working order. Past experience of putting new equipment into service had shown that there were possibilities of many delays arising from the testing of the machinery. The rectification and adjustment of de-

feels disclosed by the testing, especially in the case of generating units of the capacity of those at Waitaki, might involve a considerable period cl time. While he had no desire to be unduly pessimistic, Mr Mac Gibbon said that if general supply were available from Waitaki by the middle of October the situation would be very satisfactory.