Clutha visitors exceed ½M

Press, 17 February 1983, Page 17

Clutha visitors exceed ½M

More than 250,000 people have visited the Ministry of Works and Development's Clutha Valley information centre at Cromwell since it opened in 1976. A record 52.862 people visited the centre last year. The information officer for the Clutha Valley Development, Mr Bruce Thompson, said it was surprising howmany North Island visitors

still thought that the whole of Cromwell would be flooded by Lake Dunstan, which will form behind the Clyde dam. Only three hectares of developed land in the town amounting to part of the main street, would go under water. Preparations are continuing for relocating the business centre and contracts

have just been awarded for < services in the new area. 1 A new concrete batching i plant is due to begin work at the Clyde site soon. The 13- \ storey plant will produce up j to 600,000 cubic metres of t concrete during construction of the dam. ( Extremes of climate in the t region mean that the con- r crete will have to be chilled ( in summer to prevent it c

expanding and cracking; and heated water will be used in winter. Ministry gangs are still working on the abutments in preparation for the arrival of the project contractor. Mr Thompson said that the Clutha River reached four times its normal level during recent heavy flooding in Queenstown, but the coffer dams coped adequately.