THIRD REEF STEAM BORE OPENED AT WAIRAKEI

Taupo Times, Volume II, Issue 95, 13 November 1953, Page 1

THIRD REEF STEAM BORE OPENED AT WAIRAKEI

No. 18 geothermal steam bore at Wairakei was "blown" on Wednesday November 4th, the third deep Jore to be opened. It is situated at the foot of the pine clad hill slope a short distance off the southern side of the Wairakei-Or-uanui highway, and between No. 20, the first deep bore opened, and No. 19, which was opened some three weeks ago. As final arrangements were I made there was, as usual, an air of tension amongst the spectators. Among these were engineers and drillers of the Geothermal Project to whom the first "blowing of a bore, after the work of planning and drilling had been accomplished, is naturally of great interest. As one of the men lashed down the tarpaulin, which covered the •strongly timbered shelter over the wheel operating the opening valve, word to open the bore was given and those not directly concerned in this operation moved quickiy to a respectful distance. Though the * men opening the valve were hidden in the shelter, the shaft connected to the valve below the bore orifice could be seen turning, and in a few mom-

ents a column of muddy water rose rapidly and silently from the eight inch pipe. In an instant it was sixty or seventy feet in height, fountaining outward like a great umbrella. Another instant and (from the rising umbrella of water j came a burst of steam that filied I the valley between the pine-cover-ed hill slopes with a deafening pvlsating roar. A hundred yards away it was difficult to hear words shouted close to one's ear. The mighty steam jet was white, and though its abrupt violence was awe-inspiring it seemed for about half a minute or more to be settling down at an intensity lcss than that of the previous two deep bores blown. Then with startling suddenness the shattering roar rose in a crescendo that made spectators involuntarily move back ward. The savage column of whirling steam increased in diameter and rose several hundreds of leet until it topped the adjoining hill and, caught in the wind, was carried toward Wairakei and the Waikato River. Now, far from there being any temptation to think the outburst less violent than those previously seen, one wondered what might yet happen, and what the men in the tarpaulin covered shelter close to the bore must feel like. The almost unbearable roar suddenly faltered and rose again, the great steam jet simultaneously checking momentarily in its whirling rush. Again the momentary lull, this time sustained for several seconds . Then ^ith a series of shattering V explosions like gun-shots the jet darkened with debris and seemed to expand sideways. The ear-shat-tering roar increased until it seemed that the pipe and valve gear of the bore must surely yield to the mighty force that puny man, in his quest- for power, had unleashed. From the summit of the now dustladen steam jet myriads of rock fragments could be seen agaitist the sky rising and falling out oUtward. The pines on the hill were covered with the dirt and fine dust (Continued on Page 2)

TIIIRD DEEP STEAM BORE

(Continued from Page 1) and here and there small twigs dropped as they were severed by thel falling debris. Close round the bore itself there fell a menacing rain of rocks, which, as they struck the roof of the shelter over the men at the valve-control, bounced several feet into the air. By now it seemed that the steam was drier thanj that from previous bores, and whereas from them a main feature had been the fall of water vapour, now there appeared to be a marked emission of dust. Alternately the bore faltered and cleared with renewed violence, following the general course of gradual clearing seen in most of the bores so far blown. An hour and a half after the opening of the bore the spectators, other than the engineers and men of the Geothermal Project, began to drift away as though loth to leave. The Golf Course, across the main highway from the Hotel Wairakei, was now filled with falling dust-cloud from the bore, carried on the wind across intervening hills. Across a stretch of highway on the Taupo side of Wairakei the falling dust drifted to the Waikato River and on till it reached Tauhara mountain. At the bore engineers took notes, and drillers exchanged comments. Another bore had been opened and another step taken toward accomplishment of a great project. The day's work went on.