POWER FROM HORAHORA

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17249, 27 August 1919, Page 8

POWER FROM HORAHORA

HAMILTON'S REQUIREMENTS. INQUIRY BY GOVERNMENT. CONFERENCE ON FRIDAY. » [BY TEKOIUPE. —OWN COBKESPOKBENT.] I .. HAMILTON. Tuesday.^ J The Horahora hydro-electric power scheme was discussed at a meeting of the J Hydro-electric Committee of the Hamilton Chamber of Commerce last night. Mr. G. Parr presided. Mr. W. Gruar said he thought the borough should give the Horahora scheme a | two years' trial before considering the ; installation of a supplementary steampower plant. He quoted the remarks of Mr. E. E. Stark, Christ-church electrical engineer, as to what hydro-electricity bad done, and was doing, for Chrietchurch. Mr. Gruar remarked that so far as he knew the council had not advanced one step towards taking the Horahora scheme sen- ' ously into consideration. Horahora was i being worked subsidiary to the council's scheme. The Horahora power would make Hamilton the cheapest manufacturing town in the Dominion probably. Mr. Mason said it was a question of extreme urgency to get the details of the amount of power now required and to be required in the future. He hoped that the Mayor would instruct the town clerk and electrical engineer to supply ail possible detailed information in that connection and have it available by the time the Government representatives arrived in Hamilton. > At this point the following telegram was 1 received : —" The Government having arranged to purchase the Horahora. electric plant, the question of the distribution of the available surplus power must at once be considered. Will yon, or someone representing your district, kindly meet the under-secretary and the chief electrical engineer of the Department at the Public Works office, Hamilton, on Friday next, at 10.30 a.m., to discuss matters in a preliminary way with a view to ascertaining the requirements of your district?— Minister for Public Works.' • The chairman was appointed to interi view the Mayor, with the obiect of having as much information as possible available for the conference on Friday. The secretary was also instructed to immediately communicate with the representatives of all local bodies concerned asking them to attend on Friday with the fullest. possible details available of their approximate requirements. j It was also decided to write Mr. Stark ' and obtain from him his opinion of a steam stand-by plant for Hamilton as an auxiliary in connection with the supply from Horahora. I Mr. G. Parr, president of the chamber, despatched the following teletrram to the Minister for Public Works this morning:— ' Chamber of Commerce congratulates you on your successful negotiations residing Horahora. Our electrical committee will meet your executive officers on Friday with i all details. Thanking you for speeding up distributing preliminaries." THE ARAPUNI SCHEME. PRELIMINARY WORK. REPORT AS TO PROGRESS The suitability of the Arapuni site for large hydro-electric works is emphasised in a report on the progress of the preliminary work in connection with the scheme received by the president of the Auckland Hydro-Electric League, Me. S. J. Harbutt. The report states that the old riveT-bed, at a level of 160 ft above ■the surface of the present stream, branches off at almost a right angle im- ' mediately above the dam site. This old , course will discharge the water into the present river-bed about a mile lower down the gorge. Several tunnels, a few chains in length, will convey the desired volume of water to the power-house plant. At the mbnth of each of these tunnels,. through which the water will travel at a high velocity, a turbine will work a generator larger than any in use in the Niagara plants. In all about 160,000 horse-power will be developed. The dam will be horseshoe in shape, about 15ft across at the top, 48ft at the base, and 160 ft high, and will be constructed of ferro-conorete, the convex surface pointing up-stream, and the wings let into the cliffs for many feet on both sides. The report states that tunnels and drives have been made into the rock cliffs at both eidea of the river within the confines of the dam to the length of from 50ft to 120 ft. In every case the country has shown itself quite able to stand the required strain. Much heavy machinery and material will be . used, and it is considered that a branch railway of nine miles, from Putaruru to I Arapuni, will be necessary for the coni veyance of this material. It is stated that the continuation of . this line to To Awamntu would open much valuable land and shorten the distance from Wellington to Rotorua by 46 miles.