LEE STREAM WATER BADE.

Evening Star, Issue 11697, 1 October 1902, Page 4

LEE STREAM WATER BADE.

*0 tllE BtiITDH,

Sir,-~Tn vonr is«ue oi Saturday /tfu pA>lish a letter signed " Couneillor, M and add a footnote to the rff >ct that two year* ago you advised Ui>: Cou icil that it would M (he wts*t to ely on Hptrn fnr tht* ffPne» ration of power. No doubt Mr Ooodttaa was .ilso wise enough to see that fchWa might be con "idernble delay on' the part ti the Council iti bringing ih the Wttlftr hettee lie fficOmmaided a %imfm

Mtafc plant, and in Noyes tiros.’ - %pebifh- AtlOtt theVhire (not purchase) of a v litfipOiwy-'. tetodin plant is provided for. vvvlto'.tatim'tato- to be set in the'present bhOflihg lb Cumberland street, the genera--in thb pto’sfeht car shed; and, if I remembtet ftght, tho tost -was to be Spoilt £6,000 or £7,01)6. So far to good. But hffftr.-.fill-, thfe conditions ate altered. Hit plaftt Oknnob be hired in Sydney, Amdnea, b> England, and according to “ObittttfcillfeJ;” tote Tramways Ctintoittee hatt v ordered % how. plant. This, I take it, trill consist of four Babcock and Wil.toi ’vrater-tnbfe bbilots of, say, 150 horsepower eachj two lago engines, generators, ftfec. Land Urdl aliSO have to be aci)uirea On Which to erefct an extensive building to hold the plant. It will take a considerable tiinO tO get the plant in Working order, cbSt a large sufn of money, and 1m no use to die tratoWkys when the permanent Water SUpply is completed. . At last Wednesday’s meeting I suggested to thfe Conned a way that, in ftj opinion, the Water could be brought to the powerhaHwetas soon as it is required, or the temporary plant could be erected. As bay remarks were not reported in the Press, kindly allow me to trespass on your space to repeat what I then said. I trust it may convert you to my way of thinking. Mr Rogers was instructed to prepare plans for a race to carry thirty heads of -water (although only nine heads are required for the ttams). The race has been surveyed Prom end to end, and two and three cressfCctiUns taken to the chain. The plans show part of it to be pretty rough country, and the objection to it is the risk of cutting so large a race into bad ground, that Olay Or may bot slip. As to Mr Rogers’s weir, from reading the reports the public Would imagine it is such a formidable pieto of work that it is almost impossible to construct it to stand. Well, tho plans dp not show a large affair. The length would about reach across GePrge street. It is 12ft high above the waterline, and taking the quantities out roughly it contains about 1,400 cubic yards of njasonry. As to fissures in the rock, if in taking out tho foundation any are met With, it is very easy to stop them With a little fine grPttt. .In a work of this kind the Council cannot take any risk of accidents which might stop the tram service. Therefore, I proposed that Mr Rogers’s weir be constructed, and the water token from there td the powerhouse in steel pipes, 30in in diameter. This would do away with all risks, and save £2OO a year in maintenance, which means 4 per cent, interest on a capital cost of £5,000. Now as to the Cost. Mr Rogers estimates his thirty-head race, seven miles long, to cost £25,000; Mr Anderson hia proposed race, -on the right-hand bank of the Lee, fifteen miles long, to cartV sixteen heads of water, at £38,000, though £1,600 should be deducted, his estimate of the cost of the powerhouse, which is in Noyes Bros.’ contract, aftd estimated for by them. The 30-inch pipe-tine, at a fall of 12ft to the mile, will carry (running full) eighteen heads of water. I estimate the cost at £25,000. This will give power for the trams, light the streets through which they run, and have ample left to light all the churches and public buildings in Dunedin. The correctness of my estimate Can be very quickly and cheaply ascertained if tho proposal is submitted to the city engineer. It will not take him many days to complete the details and specifications for the weir, and a specification for the pipes, blow-off valves, etc. Tenders for these two contracts can be called for and received in a few weeks, as they carry the bulk of the money. The Council would then see if the scheme is worth going on with. I may add that if, on experience, it is found that more water can be got from the Lee, and the Council are justified in going to the expense, the pipes can be duplicated.—l am, etc., James Goue. October 1.