ARAPUNI DISCUSSED

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 759, 4 September 1929, Page 6

ARAPUNI DISCUSSED

POWER BOARD CRITICISES DEPARTMENT REQUEST FOR FULL DETAILS ('From Our Oien Correspondent) TE AROHA, Tuesday. ‘*ls it a fact that when the first slip at Arapuni Falls was reported to Wellington, no action was taken?” asked Mr. J. Price (Matamata), when the chairman of the Thames Valley Power Board was outlining the general position at Arapuni, at a meeting of the board this afternoon. i Mr. Strange said that he was not in : a, position to answer that question. Mr. Price: Well, it had been rumoured everywhere that the Arapuni engineers who were on the spot forecast the trouble, but were overruled by their departmental heads. Mr. Strange: That is a question for the department to decide. Continuing to outline the position as it would affect the board, Mr. Strange said that it was originally estimated : that it would take eight years for j the erosion at the falls to work back | to the spillway, and yet the first slip ! had dislodged about 3,000 tons of j rock. Had the penstocks been con- | structed earlier this trouble would not j have occurred, and it was unfortunate | that the department had not provided j against a more rapid rate of erosion, i Mr. McLeod, engineer to the board, said that although it was quite easy to be wise after an event, someone had certainly blundered in not allowing for emergency factors in erosion between the falls and the spillway. Mr. Corbett: But the first fall of 3,000 tons of rock was surely sufficient to warn the Wellington engineers to look out for trouble. You cannot get away from the fact that a layman woLild have ordered remedial measures when this slip occurred. It'was Mr. Strange’s opinion that when the department realised that it would cost something like £50,000 to £IOO,OOO to make Arapuni safe, it decided to take the risk against the show proving a failure. Mr. Allen (Morrinsville): Under the circumstances I think it reasonable for the Power Board to be given some explanation. Air. Strange said that he did not think that the Arapuni engineers should be blamed. They had accomplished wonders in very trying circumstances. There was not the slightest doubt that they would report signs of trouble to Wellington, and no doubt did so. “Just bow far politics and financial considerations come into this question it is difficult to say,” remarked Mr. Strange. A motion was finally carried to the effect that the department be asked to detail the ' measures taken for the safety- of the head works, why it was inactive when the first big slip occurred at Arapuni, and to whom the blame was due for failure or negligence to properly safeguard the falls against erosion.