UNDERGROUND POWER CABLES BEING LAID IN BUSINESS AREA

Wanganui Chronicle, 28 April 1949, Page 4

UNDERGROUND POWER CABLES BEING LAID IN BUSINESS AREA

A start has been made by the Wanganui - Kangitikei Power Board with laying underground cables in the city, the object being ultimately to eliminate overhead lines tor reticulation purposes in the business area. ’ Tile work will proceed in sections and some time exist necessarily elapse before it is completed.

The section at present being laid is along the footpath on the southeastern side of Guyton Street from Victoria Avenue to the underground sub-station near the Grana Hotel. The work on this section was begun this week and will take about a fortnight to complete.

Actually, the scheme for laying undeground cables in Wanganui is not new. A start was made before the outbreak of World War 11, when sections were laid in Maria Place and also in Ridgway Street, but when men and materials were in short supply the work had to be abandoned till after the war.

The first underground cables were laid as far back as 1930 from the switching station near Hatrick’s Wharf. These cables follow a route via Wicksteed Street, Ingestre Street, St. Hill Street and Taupo Quay. They almost completely encircle the city and from this network the main power supply, fed through six underground sub-stations, is drawn for the business area.

Two cables are at present being laid in Guyton Street. The smaller of the two will feed shops and offices in this section and the larger cable will be used as a direct line. Consumers along the route are being linked to the smaller underground cable.

About a dozen men .are employed on this work, but it is understood that scarcity of labour is delaying the board’s plans for laying underground power cables throughout tlie business section.