LAKE COLERIDGE

Press, Volume L, Issue 14987, 6 June 1914, Page 13

LAKE COLERIDGE

IWOHK PROGRESSING STEADILY. nELICATE ENGINEERING AHEAD

'■c'tfadv aa<" satisfactory progress is : _.-Vma<"e with the construction work Wake Coleridge, which, in the meas--Lblc future, is to yield to Christ"JLh that long-expected supply of frical energy. In the past «s ; 4t,c the preparatory work wnich f d been occupying the staff for the ' «vious ivro years and more has taken fL rapidly, until now it is possible ' ■ <* in everything the germ of the In tee "' - installation. The main impression to be gathered t -"_ a ' virit to the lake is that all ■fi-iches of the work are making good ress AVhat remains to be done is, fthe main, plain sailing so far as tho ttZl work* are concerned, but there Si remains, apart from this sphere rC rv delicate and important bit of 1 'Lnnrinz to be carried out. 'Ihis S" • «*«" »» d clear mtak ° Jom'U-e lake. The intake chamber S3, allows the water access to tho Sn'oeL-has been completed for a long LVnst this inlet is 25 feet below f- ISI of ne 'ak°. « nd tlic P roblem to give .lie lake water access to the At first mention this looks -• SkWlv easy, but there is a special iScuUV to be* overcome.. This. is the SStV of the drift shingle in tue £ " the prevailing wind drives tho ijter, and. with it, of course the f*k" is to be. This bank of shingle 'SSnds for a considerable distance 2 the lake, and the opening to draw Iff the water into the tunnel must be TL 'clear water, where the shingle ffill not penetrate and block the intake Ifthis is not dove, there will be continual trouble. To obviate th* difficulty, an intake drive is being driven under the floor of the lake. The pro, C ress made here has been satisfactory. Two drives have been made—a north and a south one. Each is six feet by sis feet m diameter, and in the drilling very good fortune has been met. The north drive is in for about 76 feet, and the south for a slightly less disf_nco. In each case the driving has been through solid but w>ft rock, which lias'given no water difficulty. To guard icainst any irruption of water from t!sc lake, "te?t holes have been con{jjiuailv bored, but it was not till late ch-Thursday night that the night shift ftruck water with a five-foot upward Ixire through the roof of tho tunnel. 'ffiii "was promptly plugged to avoid tioiiblc. and the only enecfc it is pos'•'Hliie 'to have will bo to cause a slight JoJrcruig of the tunnel throughout tile "further distance—perhaps fifty feet — 'don.idercd necessary to avoid the shingle. "It is expected that these Bhafts 'trill have reached a sufficient distance in'perhaps ton days or a fortnight, although it is at least possible that to aVofd the" shingle a further distance may-have to be driven. . VY 7 hen a sufficient distance, has been secured, tho final touch to the work will most likely be-given by a charge of Hiiro-glycer-ine, which'will blow a hole ample to give a clear intake. The tunnel itself has, of course, been comple'ed and lined for some timo, and requires nothing further to be done to if. '• ' '-'-'''

'„ The last pipe of one of the pipe lines ..i?as placed in position on' Thursday .evening, and tho riveting of tho last few chains will most likely bo completed within three or four'weeks. The i other pipe line requires a little moi c '>i,<.rention, hut the last section of it* piping is lying.at Coalgato 'ready Tor • transportation. Very rapid -progress has been made' within the laSl few , seeks. j The power-house presents a very Dusy - sceno, as. the workmen proceed with tre very delicate adjustment of the electrical machinery. The builumg is f receiving- tho final finishing ' touches," tut a good deal remains to be 'done trftVtho mnchinery. One line of wiring to town Das,been finished, and a fair 6tart made 'with the other. The poles are rather more tafin half-way-to town, and the wiring ""as bpen started, bnt • somo sixty wiles'remain to be done., Altogether very substantial progress* .has .been mode in the . lasfc , few months, and everything now bears signs of • approaching completion... ;