ADMIRATION FOR P.W.D.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 257, 29 October 1931, Page 7

ADMIRATION FOR P.W.D.

Guarding City from Failure of Power. The Canterbury Manufacturers’ Association decided at a meeting last evening to write to the Minister of Public Works expressing admiration of the effective efforts made by his department to guard Christchurch against a failure of power from Lake Coleridge. The expedition which had marked the completion of the stand-by plant was, in the opinion of the committee, a monument to the work of the officers of the Public Works Department, who had carried out the undertaking. In presenting the report of the committee on its final visit to the standby plant at Lyttelton, Mr R. H. Webb stated that the superintendent of the emergency station assured the party that the whole of the four units could be put into operation at a moment’s notice. A recent trial had shown that power could be delivered on the Lake Coleridge system three minutes and a half from the time instructions were given. The plant, which was operated during the visit, gave the impression of the power and size which was hard to reconcile with the lack of vibration and noise during running. One feature which was commented on by the party was that the building and the essential parts of the plant, while adequate and of good material, gave no indication of wastefulness, the whole appearing businesslike and efficient.