HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

Shannon News, 21 November 1924, Page 3

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

WORK DUEI-NG THE MONTH.

At Tuesday's meeting of the Horovvlieuua i'ower Board tJie engineer (Mr. I. Overton J reported as fouovvs: — •■'Juiue Construction.—-The pole gang have been employed on the jtiahui V alley 11,U00 volt line and low tension distribution lines leading therefrom. The Te Horo loop has been poled as far as Harper's corner. No. 1 wire gang have run 1273 chains of high and low tension wiring also 7 service iines, .16 earthguards and angle hooks, 8 telephone service lines, placed underground, and erected two sets of isolating line switches. High tension lines were completed as far as MeGill's on the Koputaroa line and as far as Miranui mill on the Tokomaru Line, the latter being now livened up. No. 2 wire gang. have been employed chiefly in the Levin Borough and,on the low tension lines in the vicinity, livening up same, and cutting in service lines previously erected. 471 chains of extension woi\k was completed and 46 service lines run. No. 3 wire gang which is situated in Otaki ran 420 chains of low tension wiring, also 75 service lines. Since the beginning of -this month all of the gang

. have been cutting in service lines anu trying out lights in different houses "situated on the beach settlements as , well as in the main portion of the Borough. An isolating line switch has been erected in Waikanae Township and the 11,000 volt line is now alive to thai point. No. 4 wire gang working in Paekakariki have run 790 chains of low tension line, 52 s'ervice lines and erected 9 street lights. Sub-station men have livened up anci done minor jobs in Levin, Shannon, Foxton and Otaki sub-stations, besides erecting eight transformers on poles. Street lighting circuits in Foxton, Otaki and Manakau have also been livened up. Transformer platforms have been erected at Linday Eoad, Hcatherlea corner (Seifert's mill, tempo rary), and Spiers' mill. Pole Carting.—The pole lorry carted out 136 poles in Eahui Valley and Te Horo lines. The remainder of the'time has been spent distributing line material, transformers and carting from rail to store, Workshops. —No. 3 truck developed a broken cross-member and a cracked reverse drum. Two axle shafts were Required and fitted. No 2 truck was taken down and found to be in a bad condition. Repairs to this truck included a new cylinder block, pistons and rings, connecting rods, crankshaft and valves. Brake-bands were fitteu on the line foreman's car and spotlights on the two inspectors' cars. Routine work has been turned out as follows: —Cross-arms 479, earth-iguard sets 14, top and spacing blocks 114, pipe stays 12 pairs, street light brack : est .37, water heaters built up 7, low tension straps 510, cross-arm stays 579, handrail sets 1, earth -pipes. 63, triangle straps 786, special air-break switches 3, j low tension fuses 21. The Chevrolet truck has been taken delivery of, and is now in. use. Painting work, however, is still required. This will be done when th'etruck can ~ " """ ""'"■" .Since the main current has been switched on, the workshop has been driven by two small motors. Installations. —During the month two Paekakariki groups were let to J. B. Wilson, electrical contractor, Otaki, who will be commencing the work early next week. Progress with the Paraparaumu group has been interrupted

somewhat owinc to the fact that the -inspector for that area has been busy livening up installations already completed. Twenty installations in Manakau will bo livened up about Tuesday next —this will leave about 25 installations to finish group 10. Messrs E'eles and Co. have almost completed their groups in Otaki, but at present are installing motors. Group 2, Levin-Shannon Eoad, and groun 4 Levin, have both been completed by this firm. Messrs Manson and ->arr, Ltd., have commenced on thie fie Horo-Hautere Cross group, and are making good progress. They have also completed six installations on the Gladstone-Kimber-ley Eoad group. Messrs Maunder and Co. are proceeding with the wiring of motors in the dairy group, and in many cases they have this particular part of the work completed but are waiting for motors. I have been informed that the motors are on the s.s. Cumberland now in Wellington; In regard to the completion date of their groups, this firm has been very unsatisfactory. Messrs Lunn and Henley (group 5) have three installations yet to do. Group 11, under the same firm, is making good progress—only 20 installations remain to be done. " "* Messrs Allen and Gilmour have completed group 6 and have commenced group 8, consisting of about 60 installations. Under new working arrangements, they expect to have this group finished in 4 weeks'time.Messrs E. Y. Walls and Co., Ltd., Foxton, have 22 installations yet to complete, and eight of these require switchboards only. Tenders and Contracts;— : Tenders are being called (closing oh the 3rd December) for the supply and delivery of single and polyphase Watt-meters.. Tenders for poles are submitted herewith. I would recommend the acceptance of- Messrs Eichardson, McCabe and Company's tender, and taking into account the prices at which these poles are offered, I would like authority to increase the quantities .of certain sizes in the schedule. Geneial.—Since the main generating

station has been switched on, interruptions in the supply have been occasional but not more often than may be expected during the first month of operation of such a plant. With regard to the Board's sub-sta-tion, switchgear and lines, the livening up process has been a great deal better than was expected. At last Board m'eeting I was instructed to report, on minimum annual guarantees for churches, coming under the same heading as seaside residences, In the case of churches only, I would recommend this being given, effect to, - but not to any- other public buildings