D—4

2. Substations 66 kV. Upper Tahaha. —A severe lightning storm shattered a bushing on the 66 kV. 0.C.8. Flying porcelain damaged a second bushing. 3. Transmission and Distribution 11 hV. One outage was due to the jib of an earth-boring tractor contacting the 11 kV. and phone lines on the Cobb Dam section and another was due to a pole head being broken during construction operations. 4. Communications Faults were mostly due to high winds and fires. Poles subject to flood damage near Blenheim had protective rock groynes built around them. Successful radio communication was established between Cobb Power-station Lake Cobb, Lake Sylvester, and Nelson. On one occasion radio was the only means of communication between Nelson and Cobb. 5. Testing New apparatus was tested. Recording equipment and alarm systems were installed. 6. Plant and Motor-vehicles Plant. —Two new and one second-hand tractors were received. Vehicles. —Transport relies on a fleet of vehicles, most of which are well over ten years old and have seen hard service in both the Department and the Army. During the year a few second-hand vehicles were received from other districts for transmission-line-construction work. Two new 20-30 cwt. chassis arrived. C. CONSTRUCTION 1. Power-station Construction of the main dam at Cobb has been commenced by the Ministry of Works. A number of small lakes in the Cobb Valley were controlled to provide additional storage. The work included cutting access tracks, carting material to the lakes, laying pipe-lines fitted with control valves, and building dams, all of which was done under arduous conditions. 2. Substations 66 W. Stoke.—The existing Diesel house is being extended to accommodate four more Diesel-driven auxiliary alternators each of 500 kVA. capacity. This will increase the capacity of the standby plant at Stoke from 937 kVA. to 2,937 kVA. 'Blenheim.— Preparations were made for installing a 5,000 kVA. voltage regulating transformer. 3. Transmission and Distribution Stoke - West Coast Lines. —Construction camps were set up at Inangahua, Mackley Siding, and Mawheraiti, and pole dumps have been formed. On the Inangahua section, 115 acres of bush have been felled, 9|- miles of access tracks have been formed, and fiftyfour structures have been erected. Thirty acres of bush were felled on the InangahuaWaimangaroa section. Hole-digging and pole-erecting in the Pakihi swamp land has to proceed simultaneously and is proving difficult.

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