Snow Makes Work On Tongariro Unpleasant

Taupo Times, Volume XII, Issue 52, 6 July 1965, Page 9

Snow Makes Work On Tongariro Unpleasant

Recent snow and bad I weather has hampered ) all field work on the i Tongariro power scheme, says Mr H. Gowans, project investigations engineer, Work was, however, going ahead on time. Mr Gowans said investigation parties in remote areas were facing difficult access and arduous working conditions. At eonstruction sites on the western diversion many roads had been blocked by snow that was impassable even in utility vehicles. The men had to walk several miles to work. At the Moawhanga Dam sites at either end of a huge rugged gorge a few

miles nortn of Waiouru, further parties had similar troubles. Catwalks rigged down the gorge sides were covered at times in six inches of snow which had now frozen into an icy surface. Bitterly cold winds and frosts that seldom thawed were other rigours facing workmen, said Mr Gowans. At Turangi township fresh falls of snow every few days have. coated the surrounding hills in patches of white. The 4300-foot summit of Mt Pihanga, immediately behind the town, and Mt Kakaramea, a few miles west, both carry a light sheet of snow. To the north the snowline is well down on the Kaimanawa Range.