[?]KATO HYDRO [?]EME PROGRESS

Rotorua Morning Post, Issue 5290, 31 December 1946, Page 6

[?]KATO HYDRO [?]EME PROGRESS

KAPIRO TURBINES 1-TO-BE ALREADY ■SIGN-POSTED

W: rapid growth of the new lo-elertric station at Karak^few miles up-stream fror; Rjdge, on the Waikato HHfediown by a reernt

|ji much of the to arri the

■kreat / power-

■Kai. r parts

Wnot •h.-'int ?U00 kilo"7 at.ts

^Hce is now nearbe in opera■Pter. The other m aftu*. Although ■ided povver, the B,000-kilo\vatt pro-

^Hpp^e lelfc lmmediately, the great Karapiro

ppnteei out the station at which produces 30,000 kilo-

^^G^pY ■■ is the first of the chain of Bydro ,sta: which are to be erected Bn the Waikato in the next few years. ■Tii'st conceived many years ago, this ■jreat electric scheme will have few fcquals in the world when finished, and* lv/ill eventually pi*ovide New Zealand P^vith all the power it will req-uire for a long time to come: The war and other faetors greatly delayed the start of the scheme, and equipment ordered in 1939 from Britain and Sweden is only now -coming to hand.

Karapiro Construction A survey of the vast network of concrete, girders, deviation tunr-els and machines at Karapiro reveals how a great river flowing at the rate of millions of gallons a -day has been hamessed. Where it flowed, a 90foot concrete wall has been erected. This dam wi-ll, when- the water is permitted to return to • its natural alloted course, divide the powerhouse from. the river far above, allowing only a portion of its contents to pour swdf tly down the constructed tonnels to the humming turbines. Turning at immense speed, these

masterpieees of science will produce the power which will flow out to farms, factories and homes all over the Island. The major construction work at Karapiro has now ppf- accomplished '* . of -• k "ich confir^- : thioug": the v.-.r, in spite of curgent needs. Many of the hundreds of workmen are moving or have moved further 'upstream to begin work anew on the next great station at Maraetai which will be'the largest of all, producing ro fewer than il8O,O0O watts. Selid Boring at Maraetai Here the task of diverting the river is now in progress, necessitating the boring of a tunnel through 2C90 feet of solid rock. When this is done, and the water is running safely cleav of the site, work will begin in earnest on the great concrete dam. Once again the process will be repeated, as it will later on further upstream at Whakamaru and the other projects. Karapiro has seen many hundreds of visitors over the holiday period, the power-house being the princfpal so-uree of attraction, for it is here that the power is produced. From this building, which is inscribed with the date 1946, the power will be taken to the distribution centre above the river. The three turbines are in various stages of completion. The first test of a completed portion of !No .1 turbine at Karapiro was recp.ntly conducted. It is expected that the coffer dam will be removed towards the end of February and the lake will then begin to fill. However, the filling of the lake is not timed to begin until the power-house is ready for operation, as the rising of the water behind the dam will mean the loss of the Horahora output. The Automobile Association already has had erected prominent signs near Karapiro, indicating the presenee of ' * Kani'dr^ Lake" — a lake which has stiii V: • ' iv- into being. Karapiro differs greatly from the overworked Arapuni station both in appearancp and layoutr Arapuni is an establishe'd part of the countryside, shrubs and greenery obscuring an area which was once the scene of great activity. Here, in contrast with KarapirmtW dam is some way from the pojfl||^^e, the river hav- ' x, w been d^^^Bkseveral hundred , \rds vpillway, be-