Pipeline To Be Floated To Job
(New Zealand Press Association) WHANGAREI, January 12. A New Zealand firm would make, test and tow a concrete pipeline from Auckland to Whangarei in a project which would be the first of its kind in the world, Mr G. Fletcher, co-ordinator for the scheme, said in Auckland today.
A company had been found to carry out the project, Mr Fletcher said. An Auckland towing firm would be employed to bring 24 rafts, each 120 feet long and weighing 400 tons, to Bream Bay, where they would be stored underwater. The pipes would be part of the 3000 ft water-condensing inlet and outlet pipe system for the oil-fired power station being built at Marsden Point. Mr Fletcher said storage areas were already being chosen, and the pipes could be sunk in them until they were required. Then they would be refloated and towed into position. FOUR UNITS The pipes, which have a diameter of 78 inches, are some of the largest made in New Zealand. They would be formed into rafts of four concrete units, pre-stressed and post-tensioned, and joined by diaphragms of concrete for the towing, Mr Fletcher said. One of the rafts had already been launched. The firm hoped to launch another this week, Mr Fletcher said. The next step would be sinking trials off Motuhi Island, he said. The firm had no idea how the pipes would behave, as nothing similar had been done in the world. Everything had to be learned from the start. Towing would begin in February. After storage, the pipes would be laid in a special channel dredged by an Australian firm commissioned for the job. It would be based on the port of Whangarei while working. Mr Fletcher said he had no idea how long it would take
to tow the rafts from Auckland to Bream Bay.
The work would cost more than £1 million. Mr J. G. Smith, construction engineer at the power station, said today that an Australian firm would supply a suction dredge to form the channel in which the pipes would be laid, Depending on the weather, from one to a maximum of three rafts would be raised from their storage beds underwater, joined in the harbour, towed into position and sunk. Divers would then join the line.
The consultants had made hydraulic tests on models, and the diving tests in Auckland were to check the calculations and test results on the final product. The dredge would pile spoil from the underwater pipe channel in Bream Bay on either side to form a 1000 ft breakwater, Mr Smith said.
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Press, Volume CV, Issue 30957, 13 January 1966, Page 12
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436Pipeline To Be Floated To Job Press, Volume CV, Issue 30957, 13 January 1966, Page 12
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