Dam demolition an issue of conservation

Waimarino Bulletin, Volume 6, Issue 242, 10 May 1988, Page 5

Dam demolition an issue of conservation

Explosive blasts rocked the Whakapapa Village recently as an army unit set about further demolishion of a man-made structure some consider an important item of history, and others an eyesore in a natural environment. An old hydro dam that once supplied electricity to the THC Chateau wass the object of the blasting. Built in about 1933 a few hundred metres up from the present park headquarters the dam supplied power to the hotel and village until the early 1950's. Reticulation from the fledgling King Country Electric Power Board reached Whakapapa then. The dam was rendered useless in the late 1960's when a volcanic mudslide badly damaged a concrete and steel-reinforced penstock. Planning for destruction of the old dam actually began in 1977, though as late as 1985 it was being included is a feature of a guided tourofthevillage's history in the park's Summer Nature Programme. It is argued by park staff now that the dam was only inter-

esting to a few people, who would first have to be told its story. Systematic blasting of the structure began in June last year as an army demolition unit used it as practice. Being so close to a number of lodges, 17 windows were smashed by the jolts of the explosions. The then Lands and Survey Department paid for the damage. Blasting of another section was carried out by an army Assault Pioneer Instruction Unit, from the School of Military Engineering, Linton. Under the watchful eye of four instructors, 11 students used 30kg charges of an ammonium nitrate and fuel oil mixture to take out small sections at a time of the steel re-inforced concrete. A spokesman said the charges were kept small because the unit was aware of the lodges immediately uphill of the site. The army had agreed to do the work at no charge because it was realistic practice for the demolition phase of training and similar sites for such practice were hard to find. One man particularly

hot under the collar about the dam's destruction is Whakapapa garage proprietor Angus Manson. Mr Manson, who has worked in the Chateau or in the Whakapapa garage since the 1940' s, can see no reason why this piece of history should be blasted. "It's an enigma to me, but I can't do much about it now. It was just sitting there - it wasn't doing any harm to anyone." He is also concerned about the possibility of structural damage to the nearby lodges from

the blasts and the broken windows. (Four more windows were broken during the explosions). Careful decision A ranger at the Tongariro National Park headquarters, Roy Grose, said the whole issue of destroying the dam had been looked at very carefully . In the end it was a decision of the Tongariro A'aupo Parks Board and it was the subject of a Ministerial question in Parliament at one stage. The argument given the

most weight then was that the dam now had no practical use and was man-made structure in a natural environment. It had limited historic interest and the deci-sion-makers were "more sympathetic to the natural environment than a concrete structure plonked in the middle of a dry river bed," he said. The parks staff couldnot hold on to every item of history in the area and preserve every old building or staff quarters. "You've got to draw the line some-

where," Mr Grose said. There was only room for so much in the village and one had to remember the area is part of anational park - land put aside by the nation as deserving of protection because of its natural or special environmental characteristics. Whatever people feel, at least remnants of the dam will be around some time yet. The blasting process is only chipping away at the old structure, and about half of it still stands after the explosions.