TROUBLE AT ARAPUNI DAM

Taranaki Daily News, 10 June 1930, Page 9

TROUBLE AT ARAPUNI DAM

PRECAUTIONARY MEASURES VALUABLE MACHINERY MOVED ASSURANCE BY MINISTER By Telegraph.—-Press Association. Hamilton, June 9. As a precautionary measure against the possibility of the collapse of the spillway dam at Arapuni, the Hamilton Borough Council has decided to dismantle the recently-installed valuable pumping equipment and remove it to a place of safety. This equipment was installed in connection with the £40,000 waterworks scheme. It is estimated that if the spillway ■collapsed the water would rise 25 and houses would be imperilled. The borough engineer visited Arapuni yesterday and views the position as very' serious. “Without qualification I can state that the situation does not justify any feelings of public alarm,” stated, the Minister of Public Works this morning. The spillway dam has been examined and is absolutely stable in its foundations and quite intact, except for a crack where it joins the concrete facing of . the penstock inlet. It’has been decided to empty the headrace for thorough inspection, which means that Arapuni will be out of commission for a while, and • that power will have to be generated from Horahora and standby stations. There is no further movement of the earth noticed. With Arapuni out of action the Auckland Power Board will have to depend on its own King’s Wharf station, on the Diesel engines at Penrose, and on Horahora, says an Auckland message. The board’s chairman said this morning: “We have an output of 26,000 h.p. and our load has been as high as 29,000, so there is no margin to spare. Everything now depends on Horahora.. If it had to close down in the event of any great body of water being released from Arapuni matters would be complicated.”