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Press, Volume CXI, Issue 32565, 26 March 1971, Page 2

The New Plymouth power station chimney—which will dwarf 11 others at present in this country —dominates the New Plymouth port skyline. Downer and Company, Ltd, in conjunction with a German firm, Karrena Feuerungsbau, is building the chimney with a continual pour of concrete. This has been made possible by using a Karrena slip-form, which rises up the chimney as the concrete hardens.

In the initial stages, 13 cu. yd of concrete was being poured hourly, ferried to the site at Port Taranaki by a fleet of trucks.

The big pour began on February 1 and Downer, site representative, Mr K. J. McDonald, says it should be completed by the end of this month.

The slip-form used weighs about 100 tons and is worth $250,000. With a jacking system—supported by steel rods embedded in the concrete—the slipform itself supports a platform for workers and a tower through which concrete is winched up to the workers. The photograph was taken from another port landmark—the 505 ft Paritutu Rock, from which Messrs J. Rumble (right) and T. Harvey are viewing the chimney.