MORE LIGHT.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 169, 10 April 1908, Page 8

MORE LIGHT.

' 1 i-r-, - v ADDITIONS TO THE MUNICIPAL UIGHTINC STATION. PROVIDING FOR THE FUTURE, j" V Tho extensive additions which are now being made to tho Municipal Electric Lighting Station have been planned with an eyo to still greater expansion in tho future..' The building for which'the foundation piles, aro now being driven on the land opposite the .Town Hall, in Mercer Street, will provide more than enough, accommodation ..for the additional plant: immediately required, and it is designed as merely , a part of a larger building,' which is not. ; expected to bo completed for another do£en years or..more., The. growth' of: the demand for municipal lijght has, however, forced the City Electrical Engineer to mako a-start, at ohed.' ' V '. Tho portion of the building which is about to bo erected will hnvo-a frontage of 97ft. ,9in. to. Mercer. Street.; It -willhouse the largo tubular boiler that ■ is' now standing uncoverednear ,'Jho back of, the- vacant ground," and will ■ provide accommodation for three largo steam . turbo-alternators, with boilers ■ similar; to ;the; one already Von the ground.'. Only one of these units will b'o installed for the timo: toeing. Tho engine-room and bqilef-house will be placed side by side, running back 108 ft. from the Mercer Street frontage, towards Harris Street, and measuring respectively,s2ft'. arid 64ft. in.width." An offico for th'o engineer-in-chargo. and rooms for' tho employees,■ including bathroom and changing-rooni, will be placed .temporarily at tho Mercer Street frontage, .to" bo superseded by rooms in another position when tho full scheme is carried out. j The building, with the exception'of certain tbniporary portions, will bo of brick and steel throughottf; ; " Tho deration' on the Mercer Street'side, which will 'be of plain and substantial appearanco,'will be 51ft. from'footpath, to parapet, and the (height within, from basement to roof-trusses 42ft., or 1 nearly twice tho height of the old buildings acquired by tho Corporation from the Electrical Syndicate. These buildings, which are oii tho Harris Street frontage, are to remain as they are at present, and the machinery installed therein will continue in use. The new building will, for the tinio boing, extend 'only to tho back of : the existing structure, and a temporary wall of galvanised iron will fill the space between the .lower:,, and , the higher roofs. The roofs of tho new portion will be on steel trusses of 40ft. span, 10ft; apart. All the steel work in the'trusses, and the stanchions which will support the roofs 'will'bo manufactured locally. Tho contractors for the portion of'the building now to bo erected are Messrs. Mace and Nicholson, and the price is £9946. ' When the full design is completed, which, as already, stated, will probably not bo for several years to come, the new structure will bo carried right through to Harris, Street; This will lengthefi out the engine-room and boiler-house to 270 ft., and '■ there will then be accommodation altogether for ten units. The present smoke-stack mil be pulled down, and a larger new one erected in a more convenient 'place. The Mercer. Street frontage will also be made nearly'half as long again, and will extend' as far as the present Technical School-boundary. The growth of. the city's electrical business has caused the authorities to look ahead and design ' present extensions with •' a view to probable future, requirements. The plans have boon drawn by Mr. J. Smith; of the dopartI mental ■ staff, under the direction of Mr. Stuart' Richardson (City: Electrical Engineer) and Mr. P. M'Coll (Superintending. Engi- , neerV.'.