100-Man Camp At Deep Cove Planned

Press, Volume CIII, Issue 30498, 21 July 1964, Page 14

100-Man Camp At Deep Cove Planned

The New Zealand Workers’ Union had approved the site of a 100-man shore camp, adjacent to the planned permanent mooring of the workers' floating hostel, Wanganella, in Deep Cove, said the acting-president of the union (Mr W. A. Dempster) yesterday. The site was being prepared, he said.

The need for the additional accommodation, said Mr Dempster, arose from the plans of the joint contractors, Utah-Williamson-Bur-nett, to accelerate progress on both the Manapouri tailrace tunnel and the Wilmot Pass road.

Mr Dempster said that the contractors hoped to increase their total work force on the project by about 100 men to about 550. On his return from an inspection of the proposed Deep Cove camp site, Mr Dempster said that the men in the proposed shore camp would live in 100 single huts The shore-based men would use all the existing amenities on the Wanganella.

“The huts will be of the most advanced Ministry of Works type,” he said. “They will be specially insulated against dampness Each hut will have its own chest-of-drawers, writing

table, chair, infra-red heating, electric light and power points.”

The union, said Mr Dempster, had agreed to the introduction of an incentive bonus scheme for men working on the Manapouri tailrace at Deep Cove. The tunnel, he said, now had sufficient trained tunnellers to enable an incentive bonus scheme to be workc'. Mr Dempster said he expected the bonus scheme to begin in about a week. The drilling-jumbo was now in operation 24 hours a day, six days a week. “These bonuses will of necessity be on a sliding scale. This will allow new tunnellers coming to the project to participate in the over-all figure. “At present there are about 15 men on each shift, it is anticipated that the stage has now been set for at least 40 men to work on