A STRICKEN GIANT

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1007, 25 June 1930, Page 12

A STRICKEN GIANT

ARAPUNI SILENT AND DESERTED EXPENSIVE WORK AHEAD THE SEX’S Special Reporter ARAPUXI, Today. Like a stricken giant Arapuni lies silent and deserted. The power-house is locked up. At the spillway weir dead trout float in stagnant pools, where once lifegiving waters sent mighty turbines humming in the gorge. Below the now silent falls, and in an empty river-bed, the blackened stumps of the buried forest stand gaunt and stark against a wintry sky like tombstones in a forgotten cemetery. . . . Arapuni is dead, ! Except for a small party of tunnellers working under the hill east of the spillway weir and engineers and geo- ! logists carrying out inspections at various points, the Arapimi works are j deserted. Sentries posted at the.swingbridge and at both ends of the power- • house road maintain a strick guard, and j unless an official permit is carried ■ nobody is admitted. From the Public Works engineers a. Sun representative received the usual ! courteous treatment, but nothing else. Politely, but firmly, they intimated | that on the subject of Arapuni, to use j one of their own terms, they were i dead. Bearing in mind the various rumours concerning the effect of the i earth movement upon the high swingj bridge that spans the gorge the news- ! paper man inquired of a man on guard j it was safe to cross. *T’m not alI lowed to say” was the only answer that ; could be obtained. The establishing ■ of the visitor’s identity as a reporter on the pass had the effect of placing ; him in splendid isolation. Not if he had ■ been suffering from a particularly contagious disease could he have been more completely avoided. i Now dewatered the head-race pre- ! sents a curious sight. The extension of ; the cracks in the concrete wall of the ! penstocks can be clearly followed ud the bed of the race. Here and there ! the rain-water yeas gurgling through the , fissures with a rapidity that spoke of j the presence of larger channels farther down. The bed is light and porous and farther up where it widens out the ; banks are obviously sandy. IN THE TUNNEL In the exploration tunnel, the safety ' !of which lias caused so much con- ; cern. The Sun man found the tunnei- ! working happily and contented. ‘ I 1 mating to the smallness of the arch J which, they said, would make a fall ; or earth impossible, they claimed that . the work was quite safe. The tunnel been driven into the hill about lOUft or so from a point just below the weir. When the tunnel was first driven the cracks were plainly visible, but with the removal of the pressure ’ effected when the head-race was de- I watered they have now' closed. Standing below' the falls and looking * up at the towering cliffs one is stronglv j impressed with the magnitude of the work that will be entailed if the falls! ar-e concreted, as surely they must ! 2® lf further trouble is to be averted. The bed has eaten back up stream to ward the weir and at the foot of the falls a mighty hole has been formed by the tumbling torrent. The proposal is to concrete the jagged cliffs so as to form a gently curving surface such as that used at the spillway weir, this having the effect of smoothing the flow of water and minimising erosion. As a further protection a concrete apron at the foot of the falls will also be necessary to prevent the water undermining the structure. The original estimate for this work was in the vicinity of £250,000, and one can readily imagine that all of this amount will bo needed. CONCRETING HEADRACE That the concreting of the headrace is also necessary before the Arapuni turbines turn again is also obvious to the lay mind. The opinion has been expressed by outside engineers that not only should the race be concreted but also steel-lined to make is absolutely independent of the surrounding country. Although the geologists are not prepared to express any opinions at this stage it seems doubtful that their j report on the formation of the narrow strip of land that separated the threequarters of a mile of headrace channel and the original bed in the gorge below can be anything but unfavourable. When the race was being dewatered red dye was poured into the crac-k and a watch kept at the various points in the gorge where the water was leaking through but no definite results were obtained from this method. STREAMS SUSPECTED Although no confirmation can be obtained from the scientists it is understod that the presence of strong streams of water are suspected. Strong rumours are also current that a crack has appeared in the foundations of the power-house but in view of the official silence this can neither be confirmed ! denied. The power-house is at j present locked, this being the one place |at Arapuni to which the official pass I does not gain one admittance. 1 W ith very few men working and j many leaving to seek work elsewhere, Arapuni bears a deserted and cheeri less aspect. Business in the town- ! ship naturally is slack and general concern is expressed on all sides as to the future of the undertaking. Hopes are held out that a start will soon be made with repair work hut with the expense of that work in mind it is difficult to visualise this being put in hand until long and exhaustive inquiry has satisfied the authorities that it will ensure a safe continuation of the supply. Much water will pass through . the diversion tunnel and race unharnessed down the Waikato before the Arapuni turbines sing again.