HARNESSING A RIVER.

Marlborough Express, Volume LIII, Issue 272, 19 November 1919, Page 3

HARNESSING A RIVER.

It is no exaggeration to say that the majority of the spectators who' lined the banks of the Kawarau Gorge many months ago to witness, the falling of the pillars which were part of the important operations of the Cromwell Development Company to obtain electric power from the Kawarau River were pessimistic as to the ultimate success of the scheme (says the Otago Daily Times). They failed to realise that the huge pillars which were thrown across the river were only part of the engineering scheme, and when the river failed to rise immediately and the water to flow down the race cut into the' side of the bank, they freely condemned the project. Happily for the enterprise of the company and the welfare of the surrounding district,, their forebodings have been proved to be wrong, and the success of the scheme is now assured. Despite the" volume and speed of the Kawarau River, the pillars never shifted after settling down, and the second part of the operations was then proceeded with by the company's engineer (Mr F. B. Williams) and his contractors. This work was to fill in tha back of the pillars with stone hewn from the banks, and, as the river fell, concrete was mixed in with the rocks to form a very solid backing. Gradually the backing was built up, and' it is pleasing to record that, iWhereas on the day the pillars were thrown across, the river was 7 feet below the intake to the race, for the past two months it has been running 3 feet deep in the race. The machinery for generating the electric power which is to pump the water Up to a, considerable height, to enable it to be distributed over the Cromwell. Flat— 'this machinery will be driven by the water from the, race—is in position, and a start with the pumping will probably be made at the beginning of the new year. The engineerine work Of the scheme has aroused the greatest interest of engineers, not only in New Zealand, but in other countries.