TARANAKI POWER BOARD.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 17 June 1924, Page 5

TARANAKI POWER BOARD.

.MONTH IA 3! EFT I Ml. Tli... monlhly mooting of the T;ii';ui;iki bower Hoard was hold m the secretary's uifioo at Eltlmm yesteiUav, when tlit-re were present: Messrs ti. U. -'Jarman (.chair), \V. 11. Were, .1. E. Campbell. T. R. Anderson, V. Haikness, 14. Songster and U. E. AleHuinness. The Tost and Te.egrapli Department advised that the approximate cost of uomieotimc the hydio-works with Stratford would be £T2 per annum, in connection with the removal of the camp to Alotukawa, the Department was unable. to quote for a connection from Alotukawa to Stratford, but suggested a private line be erected by the board between the Motukawa ana the Turiki camp..

Tne chairman said that what they wanted was an all-night connection, bloods were liable to occ-ure at any time.

The engineer said he had considered the erection of the line so necessary that lie had commenced the erection of a private line from Motukawa to R-ata-piko, and he thought that if tb*fr could get the line to Midhirst they might obtain permission to place a line on the Telegraph Department’s poles between Midhiist and Stratford. He thought it advisable to have direct connection with Stratford if nossible.

[The matter was left with the engineer in conjunction with the Works Committee, with power to act. The Elthanr Borough Council wrote agreeing to accept the Board’s oifcr for street lighting at £3 los per 100 candlepower lamp for all night lighting. The chairman said the Board’s offer was for 120 lights.

The letter was received. The Finance Committee’s recommendation that all. rates outstanding’ he sued for was adopted. The secretary stated that rates outstanding amounted to £O4O. K-NGJ-\EER’S REPORT. The engineer reported, inter alia: — Tariki Hydro.-—The concrete work here has been completed, the emergency spillway from Tompson s swamp excavated, and the embankment from weir to bridge increaesu m height. During floods there- seems to be some leakage tnrongh the northern -approach to the bridge, and it may he necessary to put in a core of puddled clay. The generating unit was started up and put on to load. After some few adjustments, the plant is now running m a very satisfactory manner. It is considered advisable, however, to have a mechanic in attendance for about a month. The plant is now running throughout the night unattended. All the concrete water races, forebay, etc., appear to be watertight. The camp at Tariki has been dismantled and most of lire material has been carted over to Mntukawa. So far only a temporary camp has been erected on the' flat near the tail race, pending the erection of a permanent cookhouse, complete with water supply, etc., near the tunnel entrance. Owing to the very broken weather it was considered advisable to rerain only sufficient men at Motukawa to work the tunnelling machine, and to repair and maintain the road. It is essential that the traffic on the Moriikawa road be reduced to a minimum, and further the power house < xcavations and other work can be done more efficiently when the weather unp-oves. A seam of shell rock of considerable’ thickness is showing up in tne roof of the tail race tunnel. Preparations have been made by strengthening bridges, etc., to get this metal out as soon as the road is in a fit- state to receive it.

Tunnelling Machine.—Power has been applied to the tunnelling machine, and it has been operated for a short time in clay. When, a, few adjustments have been made the machine promises to do all that was claimed for it. The battery for the locomotive has been charged and the machine tried out. The contractors will complete the tail race tunnel this week. Tenders for the extension of the open out for tail rate will be called this month. It' is recommended that arrangements be made to start at once on No. 3 adit, some 100 ft long, and about 12 chains from the surge tower. Messrs Berge and Henderson have completed the * open portion of No. 2 adit, and will start tunnelling this week. The continued wet weather has been the cause of deia\ with this work.. Tenders will be opened at this meeting for three small contracts —170 ft. of tunnel and 81 chains of water race in Mr Long’s property, clearing of .six chains of bush along line of race in McVee Bros., erection of cottage at Motukawa. (Quotations for the necessary timber, etc., have been obtained for this work, ami will he placed before you. During the shift to Motukawa the clerk of works had to do considerable travelling between there and Tariki in his own car. Tt is recommended that he be allowed a travelling allowance for the of his car. not only for these trips,%hut also for others that he will require to make weekly or at other times to inspect the power-house at Tariki. Reticulation.—ln spite of very rough weather the transmission line has been completed from Tariki to Motukawa. Two transformers have been tried out a’nd put into operation there to give a supply of current for the tunneler

and batteries, and also for lighting the camp. A separate telephone line has been surveyed from Motukawa to liatapiko and a considerable length of it erected. Another shipment of poles have arrived and been delivered at Eltliani. This will permit of a start being made with the reticulation of Eltliam Horough. This work will commence! without delay. It is (imposed also to erect tfie line to Tariki, and thence on via iMountnin and IMonmoufn Hoads to Cardiff and from there via, Climie Bond to Eltliam, as soon as the | telephone line is completed. Concrete Holes.—" Work has been earred on in all weathers at the Tariki depot, Over two hundred reinforcing frames have been fabricated, and a start lias now been made placing i-oncerte in the forms. By applying power to the twisting machine over thirty bars [ier hour can he nut through. It is proposed to replace the benzine engine with an electric- motor as soon as power is available at Tariki Temporary Power —The 100 h.p. turbine has been received by the Dairy Company, and now awaits erection. Though promised at the end of last month, delivery of the generator to couple this turbine has not been obtained by vour board. It appears that a supply will be available in Elthnm by the time the lines are erected. Lorries. —Delivery of the 4-ton White truck is expected early next month. In the meantime other arrangements must he made to distribute poles in Elthnm and Tariki. It is recommended that the second Ford truck authorised to he purchased he of the 2-ton typo, and that it ho purchased and a body he lilted m it at once, far use of a second pnlp erection gang. It is also recommended that a third one-ton truck he purchased to run nut stores to Motnkawa and for the use of the transformer gang. At the present time one is being hired.