WAIPORI FALLS POWER STATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13890, 30 April 1907, Page 2

WAIPORI FALLS POWER STATION.

HYDRO-ELECTRIC WORKS. TURNING ON THE CURRENT. SPEECHES BY THE MAYOR AND OTHERS.

Yesterday morning members of the City Council and others started from Dunedin by the south express, with the object of inspecting the Waipori Ifails Power Station and its equipment, etc., and witnessing the Mayor of Dunedin (Mr George Lawrence) turning on the electric current generated there by hydraulic power for the propulsion of the City Corporation tramways. The party comprised—The Mayor (Mr G. Lawrenco), the Mayor-elect (Mr J, Loudon), Crs ffiddis, M'Donnld, Smith, Shncklock, lluihcrford, Wilson, Scott, W. Downio Stewart, Sullivan, Keast, Gilkison, and Cole; ox-Councillor Brinsley, tho Hon. AYm. Bolt, M.L.C., Messrs W. G. T. Goodman (city olectrioal engineer), 11. W. Richards (town clerk), and J. Jacobs (deputy town clerk), and Messrs C. Samson (chairman of tho Taieri County Council) and M. Stevenson (a member of tho Taieri County Council).

Tho party left Honley at a-quarter past 9, and reached tho pswer station at 5 minutes past 12. An inspection was made, under the guidanco of Mr Goodman, of •the cottages and the -gravitation tramway. ■

Tlio morning was beautifully fine and sunny, and everything was ccen to advantage. It is othorwise at some periods of tho year in these, as in other, parts. At the station, which is situate on the riverbed, they get no sun in the middle of ■winter for three montha. The living houses are on the riais. and are more favoured. The environments are monotonous, and tho men who are to Jive here will certainly not find existence very enjoyable; 'Sometimes communication, even with Waipori, is shut off for weeks at a time. A hermit might spend his hours here very easily, but the man who likes a little enjoyment in life must vote the locality chill. How. (lie men are going lo pass their tinic'.-is a mystery. Mr Goodman wanted the council to give thein o. billiard-table, butthe. council refused. Perhaps if a similar request is made to the new council it will, not be so inconsiderate for tho men in their isolation. In the meantime parcels of magazines and other reading matter would be aceeptahlo. After p. visit to the cottages, sonic of tho rooms of which, by the way. would, be the better of fireplaces, everybody went down to tho power-station, where Mr Goodman explained the whole apparatus, showing the eomplclc arrangements which Noyes Bros, have made' for the generation of the power that Dunedin needs for its tramways. TIIE POWIiJR SWITCHED ON.

After' the water had teen turned on and the machinery set in motion. _ ilic Mayor (Mr Lawrence) turned a handle or two, which sent the power on to Halfway flush, and the stalf there being prepared for it at a given Hour transmited it in turn to Dnnedin. The alteration from the steam service to tho hydraulic service bus not notieeahlo in the city to any extent. His Worship then placed a marble inscription stone in the wall of the machinery room, on which was chisollecl: " This stone was laid by his Worship tho Mayor of Dnnedin (George Lawrence, Esq.) on April 29, 1907, John Loudon, Esq. (Mavorekiot), Noycs Bros, (engineer?), W. G. T. Goodman (city electrical engineer)." The applause that followed his Worship's action was not audible in the great noise of the machinery. An adjournment was made to tho byrraeks, where an excellent, luncheon had been laid out, ami after Ihe desires of tho inner man hid been satisfied a number of toasts were uroposod. After "Tho King" had been duly, honoured,

Ex-Councillor Brinsley proposed "His Worship the Mayor," remarking that Mr Lawrence had been a great success during his year of oflicc.—.Applause.) . Til 11 IfA.YOH'B ADDRESS.

The Mayor, in reply, said ho would have been pleased to see more members of the Taieri County Council present. However, I other members of the council had their business to .attend to. and that was, be had no doubt, the reason they were not present. Proceeding, his Worship said: " 1 am pleased to have the privilego of turning on the power from Waipori to Dnnedin before vacating the. mayoral chair. I conj,n-atuliitc Messrs Noycs Bros, ■on their satisfactory completion of the hydro-electric works, and especially would I like to compliment Mr Goodman, who has been tho designer and also the superintending engineer throughout., both of tho tr.mi system and of the electric installation. Judging by what we have seei;, and from tho report of our professional export and from others capable of expressins; an opinion who have parsed through this country and seen the tram system and o'x-krir- works, wo have one of the befit and tnpsfc_ nfi-to-dalo tram services and nlectrio installations in the world.—(Applause.) Mr Goodman and Messrs Noycs Bros, may well feel proud of'the'successful completion of these undertakings. A great deal has been' said and written about, the extra cost over the estimate for these works. There has really boon very little excess in the cost over' the estimate for the actual work included in the original estimate If one commences to build a 10-roomcd house at a cost of, sav, £2000, and fminhes up by build, ing 20 rooms, the estimate would, nf course, i)e exceeded. This is largely the position of our electric installation and equipment, but, gentlemen, did you ever know or hear of a wor!f>of this magnitude being carried out at anything like the estimate? 1 am sure now that yoit have seen the difficult ie« which must have been experienced in the prosecution of works of this nature in such an inaccessible and difficult country, yon will not lio surprised that, the estimates were exceeded One of our water supplies to the city was estimated to cost £30.000 odd. and it cost £00,000 odd. Oeutlcnien. I have no fear us to llie stability and ahi'llv of both the tram and electric construction and equipment.' I'would like to have Hie same confidence in the hydraulic portion of this system. I hope 1 may lie wrong, but I fear that after Inking all circumstances into consideration—circumstances which I did not till lately contemplatr— wo cannot rely on or expect: it, to lie a good paving concern. If we could onlv relv on the present pipe always de-liverini; its full capacity on to the P'-ltnn \v!i--f-1 h, T [""1 that, even then, with the loss in trail* and in other wavs, and the amount ti be supplied to the Taieri Oimitv in" l tint required to operate the trams si"' their liglitin"-, a very Hunted and wirelialiV quantify will bo available for the purpose for which we wished and expcctcil~i.e.,

to doyelop and fester tho industries of Dimedin and the surrounding districts.— If we could rely on tho quantity of water necessary to increaso tho liorcc-powor, and thus properly make uso of our transmission lino and other plant, we would have to enlarge this building and put in other plant and duplicate tho pipa line from tho penstock to the Pulton wheels at a cost, I believe, of nearly £40,000. But it is no uso doing tihis, r.s tho quantity of water cannot be relied on throughout tho year, even to rcako il?o of our present pipe lino and plant to ils full capacity. Another featuro proton's itsolf. It is this: Our experts tell us that the fluming will require to be renewed in eight or ten years. That means a renewal with 'more costly material,, as tho present-construction is-from timber out. in tlio locality, which cannot again be procured. We can safely say, therefore, tiia-t tho renewal will ccet at loast £10,000, which means at least £1000 per year taken from tie . profits of tho earnings of this small supply available) for the next 10 years, so that which ever way I look at it, it seems unsatisfactory. My conclusions may be wrong. I hopo they will be, but this is how tie matter presorts itsolf to mo at tlio prnscnt time. 1 have no doubt the council and its officers will do all in their power to make it a succei-s, financially and It must not bo overlooked that to give the Taieri County its power vnll, with tho erection of sub-stations and branoli lines wo bavo to erect under the agreement, will further consjckrably add to the total cost of the scneme. The county's engineer and gentlemen comprising tho council, I venture to. say, deserve the thanlrs of their district for the. very satisfactory bargain tj;ey made for the borough. It shows t.hoy were !;ecn business men. I believe that if water storage could be satiafactorik- and cheaply made so that a second pipe !• '\:nld be installed and fully made use of. .j scheme would pay, and pay handsomely, but in this thero is considerable difficulty. I again congratulate tho engineers, Messrs Goodman and Shephard, and till) Waipori staff, and- all conwrned in the work—(applause),—and wish it every (success, and that my fears ltray novel' bo realised. I would advise tlint before more power is sold the wholo question of supply available should bo thoroughly considered or the council may at. some time find itself in considerable difficulty."—(Applause.) In conclusion, tho Mavor said ho was sure the Mayor-elect and -his coUnciil would do all in their power to make the Waipori scheme a success. It all depended on the amount of water available. He rcrogni6od that, this year had been exceptionally dry, and that we might not have another season lilco it for years. Still, there was the continponov to provide for, and the council must face tho problem of devising some other means of supplying Dunedin and its neighbourhood with the electricity it needed. It was no use selling power until they wero sure they could provide it at all times. That was the reason lie gave the council a warning. The reason why he had asked tho council to'take part in the outing was this: Generally they bad ono dav set apa.it for water inspection, and_ lie thought., and ho would dare say tho chairman of the Water Committee thought too. that seeing they bad so manv new councillors, it would ho a. good step, instead of making a water inspection, to view tho Waipori plant, as it would cive the new councillors an idea of the business tlicv had to manage in the future. It. would also give them on idea of tho country in which tho work had had to be done. His Worship iilpo eaid that ho had been in tlio council for six yeare, and lie had not had a cross ysvd with any member of the council. —(Applause.) OTHER SPEECHES. Cr Scott proposed the toast of "Tho Mayor-elect." Spoaking of the Waipori schcmc, he said be honed that, witii one united effort, tliey would make the Waipori scheme a success. Ho believed it could bo done, though it might take time.—. (Applause.)

The Mayor-elect, in reply, snul lie believed tho Waipori scheme .would'secure the earnest consideration of the council. They were assured that with the present installation it. could bo made a success, and he felt cerium that every councillor would lend , his energies in that direction; ITc expressed his. regret- at the retirement of some of the old councillors, particularly mentioning Cr Brinsley, who had privon a large amount of'timo to. the Waipori works.—fApulause.) Mr M. Stevenson proposed "The Duncdin City Corporation." He thought -a deal of credit reflected on the Mayor for the able way in which ho had arranged tho cflreemenl; with the Taieri County Council A fair arrangement had been come to.. ■

Cr Wilson replied to. the toast. Ho was pleased that a compromise had' been' arrived at between the two bodies. He could assure the Taieri Council that the new council in Dunedin would meet Ihem in every possible way, and that all the relations between them would be of the most amicablo -nature.—(Applause). Mr U. _ IV. Richards (town clerk) pi'onosed "The Parliament of New Zealand," to which ihe Hon. Mr Tiolt responded. The Mayor proposed the health of Mr Goodman, eily electrical engineer. Those who had been brought in contact with Mr Goodman must have found him a very ?ociab'e gentleman,-and a man thoroughly' qualified to do the work on which ho hail been engaged.—(Applause.) He was sorry that Dunedin was losing Mr Goodman's services. He had hoped that Mr Goodman would lx? able to remain to develop the Waipori business and the- electrical equipment in the city. The work that. Mr Goodman bud now completed would, lie believed, ultimately turn out successful: its stability would be proved, and it would be a financial success lo the City Corporation.— (Apnlause.)

Mr Goodman, in reply, sjiid lie was'sorry that the f irno had come when hp must take his denartnre. He considered thnt.tlie Dunedin City Corporation was to be commended on its enterprise in itnilortnlfincr the municipalisation of so many different, departments. Dunedin, lie thought, stood alone in -Australasia—practically in the world—in tie different organisation;: and nroprsilic!?-- it had under its control. Years he said emnhaticnlly that the trams would pay, and his words had come true. Last year they made a profit of £1200. Ami tlin Wniuori scheme, if properly manawd, would also bo an absolute success •hianciallv.—'Applause.) It was a scheme that involved an expenditure or £24,000 per or 5460 -per week. Tho assured revenue was already over £12.000 per annum, or half of tho operating expenses: and, that being eo, be believed that if the council put it s energies info it the deficiency would soon be made up. He believed it could be made to pay without increasing 'he horse-power to 4000. Altogether, he thought tho position was so promising that the council ought to fro into it with enthusiasm. Unfortunately. lie would not lie here to see it devcloned. hut in a few •■■ears perhaps he would come back to New Zealand as a tourist, and. if so. he. hotted to see the concern standing entirely on its own bottom. Indeed, lin hoped to see ; t m.il: ill it a profit, ns tho trams were now doing—(Anplaw?.) He continued: "T want to emphasise lids: you must lay yourselves out to get business. Yoji must'also • set someone to manage the concern. Let him have a free hand, and if he does not; make i success of it (ret rid' of him. If I had linen here I could have made a success of if without-n duplication of the power: md tho man who comes after mo' will, I believe, make a success of it, it lie lias a free hand. I advise you to adopt the •'ccoirmienclafions of your expert officers. In regard to your selling price of power, slick to it, and if you do that and put your energies into the scheme and encourage custom .Waipori will turn out a bettor success even than your tramways."— (Applause.)

The following joists .wore also proposed: "Taicri County Council,"proposed bv'Cr Shaddock, and responded to by Mr Samson; " Noyog 8r05.," proposed by Cr Donald: " The Power-station Staff," -proposed by Cr Stewart, and responded to by Mr Keen, first engineer; and "The Press." A number of tho .party subsequently returned to Duncdin; while the remainder stayed to inspect the penstock, the fluming, and other portions of the work.

THE STEAM PLANT TO BE KEPT AS A STAND-BY. Now that tho Waipori power is availably it will bo used for muring tlie trams, This mejji3 ihat (ho steam plant in Cumberland street 1 will be put out of com.mission and kept simply as a stand-by, bo as to be available in case of any unforeseen omergoncy tying up the bydro-clec.-trio scheme for a, few' hours nt any time. Tin's, however, is mcst improbable, but its tho steam plant Iwd to be installed lo oporaie the tramways during tho last tlireo and a-balf years it is deemed prudent to keep it, not only as a, stand-by but, to assist in tho event of ii, pcaliTload- should tho demand oxcocd the capacity o( tho hydro-electric scheme. The new order of tilings will, of course, savo the expense of Iteoping engineers and firemen at the converter station in Cumberland -street, Tho cost of tho sleam plant is about £8000 per annum,, wliilo tho annunl cost of tho' hydro-electrio plant will bo about £5500. THE WAIPORI STAFF. The first engineer ia Mr Koon, wliilo Mr Way is sccond in command, and Mr Warren third. Thero a-ro four other men employed on tho works. AN INTERESTING- EXPERIMENT. A CIRCUIT OF 60 MILES! Previous to the Mayor turning on tho power for operating the tramways Mr Goodman conducted an interesting little experiment by sending power from Waipori over one transmission linn to Halfway Bush, thencc back to Waipori by the other transmission line, and driving the spare generator as a motor, so Ihut tlu§> power was transmitted over something like 60 miles of transmission line. INTERVIEW WITH MR GOODMAN. A SKETCH OFTHE WORKS AT WAIPORI. Mr W. G. T. Goodman, electrical engineer, interviewed yesterday by one of our staff, supplied an interesting resume of the work that has now been successfully completed by Messrs Noyes Bros. In reply to n question, he said: —

"The first connection with Hie works of, Messrs Noycs Bros., for whom I was acting, was in March, 1905. The Waipori works were purchased under a resolution of tho City Council dated October 8, 19G4-, and an agreement, was enfored into between t.lio City Corporation and Messrs Noycs Bros, on March 1, 1905, to carry out the engineering, 'designing, and construction of the whole of the electrical works, commencing with the power station at Waipori Falls, with its nmchinory and apparatus, the high-tension trajiynission lino fram the power-station at 'Waipori Falls to t.he sub-station at. Halfway Bush. In addition to tho above, I had to design and carry out Iho low-tension transmission lino from Halfway Bush to the converter station in Cumberland' street, Dnnedin, and also tho converter station and its plant. These two items were part of the original scheme for' the Tniori River supply- When Messrs Noycs Bros, toot up tho work tho position was that: the Waipori Falls Electrio Power Company had constructed a. portion of tho hydraulic works, consisting of the dam at the intake of the Waipori River and a portion of the fluming. " In regard to the electrical and mechanical portion of the proposition, tho Waipori Falls Power Co. had entered into a contract with tho Pelton Water-wheel Co. of San Francisco for two water-wheel units and governors. They had also entered'into a contract with tho General ..Electrical Co. for the supply of two 1000-kilowatt olectric generators, two exciter mnits, seven transformers, and portion of tho switchboard. Immediately the agreement was signed between Noycs Bros, and tho corporation we took tin the work of designing tho whole of the power transmission scheme, as we were unable to obtain any drawings whatever relating to tho designs or proposals of the old Waipori Falls Co. Tho only drawings they handed to me wets the "details of the' machinery to be supplied by the l'elton Water-wheel Co. and tho General Electrical Co.. I bad therefore absolutely no data to go upon, except to design a. scheme to fit .in with the machinery and apparatus which had been contracted for. .The preparation of tlio drawings occupied,.about-seven months, and I then had to go into details with the Board of Control and obtain their approval of tho scheme. In order that one rtiay realise the vast amount of work entailed in tho preparation of tho necessary designs, I may say that: no less, than 193 drawings wcro made. In preparing these 'designs I was assisted by a very able staff, consisting of Messrs Bowman, Aekland, Mac Donald, Ritchie, Ombler, Edgar, and Creagh. Mr Wales, architect, prepared the designs Df tho power-station and buildings and ?nginecra' residences at Waipori. Mr Stanley Jeffreys, architect, prepared the designs and drawings of tho barracks at Waipori and the sub-station and attendant's' -ottago at Halfway Bush; and Mr Walden, )f Messrs.Barton and Walden, architects, ireparcd the drawings of the converter station in Cumberland street. "Messrs Noycs Bros, discovered by reference to, the . contracts that the WaiMri Company had entered into that tho lonipany had not included a duplox system )f control of the electrical apparatus. The schemc designed by Noycs Bros, omiraces an entire duplex system ,of control it (lie power-station and sub-station. This s a most essential feature of tho scheme, is >'t is absolutely necossary that everyhing should bs done to maintain a conimiity of supply as Far as practicable. Sioyca Bros.' scheme, therefore, required lioro switching apparatus and controlling rear than that propounded by tho Waipori Falls Company. "Tho full detail drawings and designs >f the power-station, duplex system of conrol, high-tension transmission line, and iub-stalion at Halfway Bush were subnittod to tho committee in September, .905, and approved, and Noycs Bros, then :ut the work in blind, ordering t.he neces iar.v apparatus and commencing the contraction. T might mention that while the rod- of designing nntl preparing plans was ;oing on I had men working at Waipori ? a!ls clearing Hie river bod in front of ho puwer-stalion site. This dangerous md arduous work was commcnccd on ifarch 27. 1905, about six chains down the treain below the power-station site, and ontinued during all the low-water periods

until all llm largo boultlcvs had ben, Wasted away up to I lie upper >.ml of llm irowcr-sl.ilion site. The result of this work was that llio average level of the 'water is between, jjff and 6ft lower llwn.it was before the work war, Commenced, thereby mincing the cost of the buildings and the cngihn 'foundations by many hundreds of pounds. • 1

"I also carried our, concurrently with this (vol'!;, a training wall lo protcct the power-station from flood water. THE- POWER-STATION BUILDINO. " Work was' com.ncnccd in connection with the l power-station building on September 5, 15G5, ami we were fortimnto enough to strike \the main reef 15ft or 16[f below (lie power-house "level. Th& powerstation building was constructed of rcinft'icod conei'cle, all I lie metal for the concrete being 'obtain;<l from n quarry whicli I opened up on flip opposite, bank of fhe river, Itlic stone beinjj broken bv band. The sand was'obtained in tho heel of the river just alxive llu i.owor-stittion site, fo flint flic or.iy material necessary for the construction 1o be taken from Dimedin »va« the ccmont and the rcinfoicinn: bars. T'ic substructure of Iho power-station was completed at the end of December, 1905, I'm' in January, 1900, Neves Bros, commenced !o erocl fbo superstructure. Tim powc"it.il ion building is of olain design, ami covers an area of jPOft' by 60ft. The foreman in diarec of the power-station buildintr was Mr Curwood, who did very excelbut work. Three residences have al-n been, creclcd ,ir, Waipori Fall?—one cottage for flic chief engineer, which is called VolUire Vill.i;' a cottnjre for the second r-ii!rin«"'. which I have ca'lcd Ampce Collide* and a. barracks for (he remainder nf Ibn'opTiltin? =t.-i(T, which T have called Faraday' House. The barrack? has six hodiwms a diniij '/ room, and a billiard, room, "•■■l has desisted to be a* eonifo'trile as pf«siWe. is T hdieve in jrnikin? Ihe iiicii comfortable who have to livo under s""h conditions and isolation as at the Wnipnri o-orkf. Tt was ivitli that object thai I reroinmende'l the Corporation to provide ihem with n billiard table. Mr ("""wood was also fo'eman in under my direction of the?o building.

TFFK GRAVITATION TRAMWAY. "The next work put in hand," eori- < inned Mr Goodman, "was the cm vita I ion 'i.imwny on the hillside, some 720 ft nbovo flie jiower sito. A storage and receivim; •died was ejected at tho foot of the waggon

road to tho falls. AH materials ■for tlia •powar-station at this shed wero con< yc-yod to tho site by tho gravitation tramway, the lull truck descending ana hauling up the empty one. Tho horizontal length of this lino is 33 chains, and trio total fall 723 ft at an average grade of about 24ft to the chain, tho fieepest grade, which is at tho bottom, coin? 1 in 1.43, Tho tramway is constructed of bireh timber laid on transversa sleepers, and proved a cheap and rapid means of convoying material to the site.