TRIAL POWER CABLE TO BE LIFTED SOON

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29130, 16 February 1960, Page 16

TRIAL POWER CABLE TO BE LIFTED SOON

(New Zealand Press Association)

WELLINGTON, February 15.

The two experimental lengths of submarine power cable now on the sea bed in Cook Strait are to be lifted soon and shipped to Manchester for inspection by the manufacturers, who will report to the Government on the condition of the cables after their two-year trial. The Minister of Electricity (Mr Watt) said today that the recovery of the cables would fulfil a contract made when they were laid in 1958 to ship them back to the makers for inspection on the conclusion of the Cook Strait experiment. The recovery operation would mark the close of an initial phase of the investigations being carried out by the New Zealand Electricity Department into the possibility of linking the North and South Islands by submarine cable for the transmission of power. Pateke To Be Engaged

“Oteranga Bay, adjacent to Cape Terawhlti, on the southwestern tip of the North Island will be the centre of activities for this operation,” said Mr Watt. “The coastal vessel Pateke, under the command of Captain R. Rutledge, will be employed to do the job. "The cables are each half a mile long and the heavier, sin in diameter and weighing nearly 901 b a yard, is probably the heaviest type of submarine cable ever made.” said the Minister. “The cables were laid about two years ago by the Matai, and to lift them special equipment will be required. This equipment has been made in England, and will be fitted to the 823-ton Pateke when she is next in Wellington. “Cables of a similar type, but lighter in construction, have been in service for some years in Canada, where some 120 miles of submarine power cable is now

used to supply power from the mainland to Vancouver Island. “The main purpose of the present trial is to verify the suitability of the heavier cables for Cook Strait conditions, and for this reason they were laid where they could be subjected to severe conditions. “The whole recovery operation will be supervised by Captain F. Potts, of the British Insulated Callenders’ Construction Company, and although the actual lifting is expected to take only about two days unsuitable weather could prolong the programme considerably, "During the operation the cables will be coiled down in the hull of the recovery vessel. At Wellington they will be wound on to drums, and in that form shipped to England. A preliminary inspection will be made by the New Zealand Electricity Department, and in England the cables will be put through a series of tests and given a thorough examination.”

Two Hat-Tricks

A 16-year-old Omakau (Central Otago) cricketer, Bruce Robertson, playing his first season of competitive cricket, did two separate hat-tricks on Saturday. Bowling for Omakau against Excelsior A, of Alexandra, he returned figures of seven wickets for 32 runs. Later the Excelsior team presented him with the crie* ket ball. This is the second Saturday in succession that he has taken seven wickets.—(PA.)

Secretaries* Students’ The following officers were elected at the annual meeting of the Chartered Institute of Secretaries’ Students’ Society:—President, Mr W. W. Paxton; secretary-treasurer, Mr J. Nohelty; committee, Messrs J. Garrod, S. Holdsworth, and M. Davis.