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A New Concrete Gasholder for Christchurch

The Gasometer which has been erected in the Gas Co.’s property near the South Belt for the Christchurch Gas Company, under the direction of the Company’s engineer, 11. English, M.1.M.E., E.C.S., is the work of Messrs. C. and W. Walker, Ltd., Midland Iron Works, Donnington, near Newport, Shropshire. It was built and temporarily erected at the works in England, and then knocked down and shipped to the Dominion, where it has been erected by local labour under the direction of Mr. J. Hurley. It is an enormous structure, as may be imagined when the gasholder, when extended to its fullest capacity, encloses no less than one million five hundred thousand cubic feet of coal gas.

The principle of all the larger gasholders is that of an inverted bell or tank for holding the gas, sealed with water, in which the lower or open end of the tank is immersed. The holder, rising from the water as it is tilled with gas or sinking into it as the gas is used, shows by its height above water the amount of gas there is available for consumption. The new Christchurch holder is described as a three-lift; that is to say, it is on. the principle of the telescope. There is first of all a steel tank 142 ft. Gin. in diameter, and 36ft. deep; inside this works the outer lift, one hundred and forty feet in diameter, and 35 feet in depth. Inside, again, is the middle lift, and flanged in 'such a way that when it has risen to its full height it lifts the outer lift. This is one hundred and thirty-seven feet Gin. in diameter, and thirty-five feet three inches deep. Inside

of all is the inner lift, one hundred and thirty-five feet in diameter, and thirtyfive feet three inches deep. There is a tremendous volume of water —seventeen thousand tons — contained in the tank, which is sunk into the ground and houses the entire gasometer when empty of gas. The approximate weight of the whole structure is one thousand tons, all English steel. The tank is built of eight tiers of plates, The first tier is 1 inch thick, second tier % inch, third tier % inch, fourth tier % inch, fifth tier '/ inch, and the reniaining three tiers are % inch thick each, The guide framing consists of twenty standards round the circumference of the well tank; each standard one hundred and eight feet high. Round these standards are two tiers of girders and two rows of diagonal tie rods. The top row is l%in.

and the bottom row TM>in., each rod being provided with right and left hand coupling box for adjustment. The inner lift is a Hying one, i.e., when extended to the full capacity of the holder, 1,500,000 cubic feet, it is raised 41 feet above the full height of the standards. Another considerable item in this work was the enormous number of rivets used, no fewer than 10,000 lin., 10,000 %in., 30.000 %in.. 80,000 %in., 25,000 V 2 in., 25,000 %in., and 40,000 5/10in. being headed up, and all by hand, a truly terrific amount of hammering. In addition to these 220,000 rivets, many thousands of bolts were used to hold the work together while the rivets were being put in. Walkers, Ltd., manufacture everything used in gasworks, as well as making the plant, and their wares are known all over the world.

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Permanent link to this item

https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/P19111002.2.15.1

Bibliographic details

Progress, Volume VI, Issue 12, 2 October 1911, Page 836

Word Count
572

A New Concrete Gasholder for Christchurch Progress, Volume VI, Issue 12, 2 October 1911, Page 836

A New Concrete Gasholder for Christchurch Progress, Volume VI, Issue 12, 2 October 1911, Page 836