WAITAKI POWER SCHEME

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17145, 30 December 1929, Page 10

WAITAKI POWER SCHEME

WONDERFUL PROGESS WOBK ON DAM. WELL ADVANCED j Wonderful progress has 'boon made' with the work in connection with the j Waitaki hydro-electric power scheme. I A small but vital section of the dam! has been raised above the water level; of the river, and excavation work ii>| connection with the foundation and, below surface structure of the power-j house is well under way. Night and day, in all kinds of weather, the work is being pushed ahead, and nothing is allowed to hold up its progress. Initial difficulties and problems have been overcome, and with methodical smoothness the construction of the scheme 13 advancing daily. The site is on the Waitaki River, about three miles above Kurow. I The most important feature of the past year's activities has been the construction of the mid-river portion of the dam, which is now slightly above the level of the water. FIRST STEP SUCCESSFUL In a scheme which is greater by far than anything previously attempted in the nature of hydro-electric supply by the Public Works Department in New I Zealand, the achievement of this first stop in itself was a triumph of engineering. , Because of the difficulties which had to be surmounted, and also because of its vital importance as a basis ifor the work of the next two years, it can be regarded as the first successful step towards the ultimate stemming and harnessing of the river's force. In the midst of a mighty river, there is now a man-made island, which, in the course of time; will be expanded until 't is transformed into a dam. ; A bridge was first of all constructed across the river. Then followed a delicate piece of work. This was the building of a coffer dam inside of which the first portion of the dam proper has been built. The coffer dam took the shape of a rectangle 33ft wide and over 100 ft. long. Its four walls were comprised of sheet steel piles, each 50ft. in length. These were driven into the solid rock at the river bottom. In this fashion a workable area of the river bed was exposed, and within the four walls of the coffer dam the first portion of the dam proper was gradually built up. The dam, when completed, will be nearly a third of a mile across, and will stand 70ft. above the normal surface of the river. Of its total length; there will be a spillway of 1200 ft. The power station will be built into the dam on the Otago side of the river, and 15 inlets will supply the. driving force for the turbines, three inlets feeding each of the five 23,000 horse-power turbines which will be the ultimate driving equipment of the scheme. When the powerhouse is first put into operation, however, it will be commissioned by only two turbines, it being considered that these will adequately supply the demand placed on the scheme during its initial years of operation. The scheme will be linked up with Lake Coleridge. Powerhouse and dam are being constructed in concrete. The completed scheme is estimated to cost £1,000,000. Four hundren men are at present employed on the scheme. These comprise every class of artisan, from tho excavator to tho plumber. Work goes on 24 hours a day, the men working in three shifts of eight hours. Electric flood-lights drawing power from Lake Coieridge facilitate the night work. THE NEXT STEP ! In the coming winter it is proposed to extend the dam from the portion which is already constructed across to the Canterbury bank of the river, and j in the following year the remaining portion, that on the Otago side, will be done. A s'-art was made recently with the building of the second coffer dam, which will shelter tho erection of the Canterbury side of the dam. All plant and material needed at the scheme is trai sported from the railhoad at Kurow over a special railway line which has been constructed to the 1 dam site. A number of small but powerful locomotives aTe kept in constant work, not only in connection with tho cartage of plant, but also with tho haulage of metal and material to the various centres where work is being carried out. tand work, as all work not actually on the river is termed, at present principally consists of excavation in connectian with the powerhouse, which has gone down to a depth of 40ft. through solid rock, while on the Canterbury side excavation is proceeding on an immense scale whero the •bulkheads of the dam will be located. Th camp, with a population of nearly 1000 men, women and children, is virtually a self-contained township, boaating everything from electricallylit streets and houses to a resident policeman. The" construction of the scheme is ,under the charge *f' Mr. R. H. Packwood, District Engineer, who also shoulders the responsibility of supervising the wants of the men and their families; —Lyttclton Times. ■