STEADY PROGRESS ON HYDRO WORK

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5278, 14 December 1946, Page 6

STEADY PROGRESS ON HYDRO WORK

!■ (Presa Asin.-

MARAETAI PROJECT I KARAPIRO SCHEME NOW NEARING COMPLETION

—Rec. 9.30 p.m.) .

HAMILTON, Last Night. L Although the progress that has been made at the site for the Maraetai hydro-electric station t>n the Waikato River has not been spactacular during the past. two months, steady and necessary work has been accomplished that will assist in a speed-up of the project. Maraetai is the largest of the. ehain of power stations to be ereeted along the Waikato River and already over 400 men are engaged on the site. With the major construetional work at Karapiro rapidly nearing- comple- * tiort, more and more' men and equipment are being transferred to the Mangakino township and to-day another 60 house units are in course of erection, having been transferred from the Karapiro site in preparation for the inilux of further workers. The new power station at Maraetai will 'develop 180.000 kilowatts, compared with 90,000 kilowatts at Karapiro, and the Government, reeognising the ever-increasing demand for power is apeeding up the eonstruction of these stations. Diversion Tunnel Work During the past month little progress has been made with the diversion tunnel and the bore is still only aboot .150 feet into the side of the rock. This diversion tunnel will be 2000 Toei long, with a 25 feet diameter, and it will be unusual in that it will bti in the shape of a curve. „ The major work during the past livo weeks has been the exeavation immediately outside the mouth of the tunnel to the required tlepth for Ihe jnstallation of new machinery. Owing to the proximity of the exeavation to the Waikato River and its depth, a great deal oi' irouble has •been experieneed with the leakage of water and eonsiderable timo has been spent in lilling ihe leaks with eonerete. The exeavation here is uow nown co the required depth atri during ihe next fev, months grealer progress with ihe horing oi the tunnel will be possihle. To assist in the clearanee of the spoil from this work the roadway leading from the tunnel to the top of the clift has also been greally impvoved during reeent weeks, while a road has also been completed to the top of ihe river where one end of the dam will he seated. New Aecess lioads In eoiijuuetion with the work at Maraetai iheve has also been some progress in the preparation of the Whakamaru site, some eight miles further upstream. The foundations for the power house on this site will have to he completed hefore the ; Maraetai dam is brought into use, . as the lake that will be formed will ! iloou this portion of the site. j h is likely that Whakamaru dam ! will also he completed as early as'pos- ; sihle. as when the Maraetai scheme is j in operation the present low-level ' hridge will he under water and the | •only aecess to the Mangakino township wiil he. across a road lo he con- ; strucred on Ihe Whakamaru dam. There will be no roadway across the top of the Maraetai dam. j Another work that has been pushed j ahead steadily during the past month j has been the formation of the aecess ; road from Tokoroa to the Maraetai site, and an all-weather highway is now eomplete. Later in the summer it is proposed to seal the surface oi this road in preparation for the heavy electrical equipment that will be hauled across it to the site of the I power houses. j Karapiro Progress A milestone in the progress of the j Karapiro scheme w'as reached to-day i when Ihe first tests of a completed ; portion of the No. 1 unit in the power iHalion were undertaken. It. is anticipated that the coffer dam afc Karapiro will be removed at the end of bVoruary or early in March, thus sraning the •fdling of the lake, and that power will be generated from ihe new station before the winter peak load is experieneed. The filling of the lake is not timed ro .sL-art until the power station is j ready for operation, because when the lake forms the output from the present Horahora station will he lost: At the present rate of progress, j two RO,' CO kilowatt tuvbines will be ready at Karapiro for the generation of power during next winter and the orher two units will be installed in ■timo for the following winter.