THE "BIG CITY LOAN"

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 271, 10 August 1920, Page 8

THE "BIG CITY LOAN"

(To the Editor.) Sir,-In view of the fact that the ratepayers are about to be asked to sanction fho raising of 11 loan of approximately A 700,000, it is gratifying to lenm tlmt tlio Mayor is calling a puMic meeting for the purpose of discussing same. It > is obvious, however, that with a schedule) I suoh as that presented to the recent council meeting, it would be an utter ■ impossibility for all points for and against the various schemes to be discussed in detail, a fact which prompts . me to write this letter, ' trusting that I it may prove of some assistance- to any , who should wish to gain a clear concep--1 tion of what some items of the proposed • loan are being raised for, nnd so viewed . from the standpoint' of an outside critic, with special reference to the items of • water supply and new electric power station. ■■ \ Be water supply: No sauo person will gainsay the fact that a very large additional water supply is an urgent necessity of the immediate future. The point which meet concerns the ratepayers in general is the cost of obtaining same, and since we have been informed through the Press that the council has some months ago entered into a tentative agreement with one cf the late leaders of the Labour Party for the boring of the necessary tunnel, through the hills, it may be permissible to ask: "Is the mere fact of passing the proposed loan tantamount to agreeing to pay the price entered into in this temporary agreement?" If so; have not the ratepayers' the Tight to demand more infoimatipnj as to the price per foot it is proposed to pay? There are rumours that the figure is in the neighbourhood of M 15s. per foot, and that similar works am earned out satisfactorily on' the great Waihi Goldfields at less than one-third of. that cost. Are wo to be taken into the council's confidence in this and other such matters at Thursday's, meeting, or are we expected to buy a "pig in a poke?" •-..'.' "Re new electric power- station: With this item I propose to dfal very extensively, with your permission. One would think that tin's wns a vote of very'minor importance, by the way it is relegated to those items termed "Goneral," including additions to sea-walls, public conveniences, etc., etc. The public, however, can hardly be expected to treat the item of .■£386,000_ lightly after the recent discussions which have appeared in the local Press, some technical, some nnteclmical, and some decidedly and hopelessly biased. It is indeed a great pity that anyone should have conceived the idea- of asking technical questions per medium of the Press, for obviously the very men whose opinions count, viz., officers holding responsible positions, daro not take the risk of entering the ranks of newspaper correspondents! even in selfdefence. .-.'•■•"'■ However, not being one of them, may I venture to enter into the circle of critics, with' the printed portions of Mr. L. Birks's, B.Sc, M.I.C.E, recent report as my victim? Dealing with the items set out in Mr. Birks's report seriatim, the following remarks may, be of interest to your readers and the ratepayers in general:— • (1) "The earliest possible relief shculd be given in view of overloaded condi-

tions of the present installations."— Since the remodelling of Harris Street station has already been begun, clearly

the quickest way to overcome this difficulty is to continue with same. The idea of erecting new buildings at the present time is riot, a very desirable one, especially at a time when there is such a shortage of labour and material, and so much is wanted for housing and othor necessary works. ' - • .

- (2) "The plants should be capable of operating at the highest possible' economy and efficiency, etc."—This, of course, applies equally well to Harris Street as to Evans Bay site, or, for/ that matter, to any existing commercial undertaking, so, why stress the .point? ■••"•

(3) "Coal should be handled from the ship's side to the, power house bunkers as economically as possible, etc"— Broadly speaking, the answer civen to item number 2 also applies here. However, to be specific, it should be remembered that coal-handling appliances can be installed at Harris Street .as successfully as at Evans Bay, and it is clear that Mr. Birks is.not familiar with the cost of handling coal at Evans Bay, where the handling from the ship's hold to the yard' of a larao undertaking a few , hundred yards distant by,- trucks costs between ss. to.-6s. .'per ton, where- 1 as the cost at Harris Street is is, per ton. Incidentally, it would bo' interesting to know' whether Mr. Birks has included in his estimates the cost of building and maintaining a lengthy wharf out to deep water.(i) "Ample coal storage should be available, a 9 much as possible in overhead , bunkers, with automatic elevators."—We are informed that Harris Street site can accommodate 1000 tons, but in view of other 'stand-by plants' experiences,, one-third of this should bo sufficient.

(5) "The eite should be directly accessible, to. the waterfront, to enable condensing water to be obtained in ■ unrestricted quantities."—Two large 24in. mains have just been installed at Harris Street at great cost, with suction well below ,low-tido level. These are capable of supplying condensing water for ft plant of from ten to eleven thousand kilowatts, while tho total capacity of the proposed Evans Bay plant, is set down at 9250 k.w. Evans Bay site being very shallow, the cost of the condensing water service will necessarily be rery. great, and there will also be grant "KM of silted up suction pipes. . (6) The plant.should be capable of very rapid firing on emergency for standby 'service—if p'ossible, for oil firing, etc., and access to oil storngo system."—Existing boilers can ba made to fire as quickly at Harris Street as at Evans Bay. and oil fuel may be piped any distance' with perfect; safety. This has been in operation in California, and other parts for many years. (7) "The plant to be combined with a tramway converter sub-station."—This is another argument for retaining Hnrwhere this condition already yearns. In any ease a sub-station will be required here owing to its central position to the load. The idea of the staff living near to the plant is unnecessary.

(8) It is essential that the site should Jje outside the business area and within the industrial area of the city."—The fact that Harris Street station is in the centre of tho load, is already built, can be quickly increased in capacity at a much reduced cost than a new station at Evans Bay should •bo sufficient answer to this item. In any case, can Mr: Birks mark the line of demarcation aa between "industrial" and "business", area in a city of Wellington's size?

(9) "It is necessary that the capital cost of the installation should be as low as possible, etc."—This is purely the best argument for Harris Street yet, especially as there are great .additions and alterations already planned or* in course :of erection.

■ (10) "It is also necessary, in view of experience elsewhere, that the sito should make provision for indefinite extensions, etc., for years to come."—The Government has promised Wellington 9000 k.w., and Harris Street is capable of accommodating 10,000 k.w.; thus the total power available would be 19,000 k.w. Sydney, with a population of over a million, hn9 a plant of 2G.000 k.w.; therefore Hnrris Street site should satisfy the requirements of the next two generations. Need we go farthor? • It is indeed a hard matter to criticise any report unless one has the wholo facts before him, and it is most desirable that the council should publish tho whole of Mr. Birks's report and figures, for which the ratepayers have got to pay. The published report tells us that there arc extreme difficulties and delays involved in carrying out alterations to a running plant. From a practical point of view this is positively absurd. and one is tempted to nsk how did most of our present stations manage to Rrow to their size? The Harris Street stntion i is most conveniently constructed to receivo additional plant at a minimum ?i ["?? , M(1 c °st- Mr. Birks tells us that high steam pressure of 2001b. with 200 degrees superheat must bo employed, which will give a saving of 15 per cent, m fuel consumption. It is evident, therefore that the present boilers'., amounting to some .£IOO.OOO worth, willbe scrapped to make wav for this new plant. The interest on 'these at G per cent, would moro than cover tho coal bill

of the whole plant when working as a 9'andby to tho Government hydro-elec-tric pTiint. This old plant would not 4)0 easily sold, for if high-pressure boilers are so desirable, why should other pcoplo buy our obsolete (?) ones? This bogey of a huge standby "plant appears, in fact, to be in danger of becoming our downfall, in view of other countries' experience. In Christchurch 1 understand the total coal bill for last year was in tho vicinity of ,£250 approximately.. Now, let Jlr. Birks compare our climatic conditions with those ho knows so well in Canterbury, and then show where wo are more likely to havo breakdowns in tho transmission line, or wherein lies tho necessity for a big and expensive standby plant. One fittle discrepancy is evident in the figures of tho proposed loaD, for Mr. Birks recommended, that- a loan of .£3(10.000 should be raised, and this the council adopted. We now find, however, that this loan appears in the schedule as .838 C.OOO. It would bo interesting to learn just how this extra vE86,000 came to be tacked on, and wheihor it is not tho forerunner of many more increases which will be found necessary to complete the scheme from time to time. He is a bold man indeod who will give a firm estimate on present-day markets, either as to price, date of delivery, or completion of erection for 6uch an undertaking. In the foregoing criticism I have endeavoured to show that even from Mr. Birks's own report it would appear that the Harris Street site, all things considered, is the most advantageous, notwithstanding the fact that ho eventually recommends otherwise, on a very doubtful basis of costs.—l am, etc., "FIVE-EIGHTH" ENGINEER. . August C.