Overview
Sun. July. 23.
My 16th visit to Mangahao Hydro-electric Works. Up at 6.am
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+ milked cows. Left home at 8.am in gig and picked up J.W. Brown, head clerk at Central Development Farm at Weraroa, at Arapaepae Road corner. Reached Shannon at 9.10. The weather beautiful, sunny and cloudless. On reaching Mangare we found good progress had been made with the foundations of the permanent powerhouse. The new concreted channel for the Mangare stream has been completed + alongside this, on right bank, the [firm?]-concrete foundations for the big building are well under way. A sewer-like construction in concrete, evidently the discharge pipe for the [meid?] water, runs down-stream from the north end of the powerhouse. 1/2pl[ate]. photo (1) of powerhouse foundations + Honeymoon Farm Camp from [post?] of the Pipe Line. On the left bank of the Mangare at this spot + high above the stream-level a concrete-mixing plant has been set up + the concrete is [delined?] to the powerhouse foundations by a shute. 1/4pl. photo (2) of concrete-mixing plant + shute. Alongside the road a large building to store the necessary cement has been erected. We drove on as far as 1st [Hover?] + put the gig inside gate. Left on foot at 10.10am Crossed Te Paki ridge by usual track up spur + reached the old timber tram saddle at 10.55am. Owing to the beautifully clear day we got a fine view of the Horowhenua lowland with the cone
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of Mt. Egmont on the further side of South Taranaki Bight + Ruapehu on the northern horizon. Egmont had a [flucy?] cloud banner extending in a northerly direction from its summit. Looking east + southeast the Tararua Range was beautifully clear, the higher peaks round Mt Dundas being snow-clad. Some striking progress has been made at Arapete. A massive three-story structure with two aerial tramways leading up to its top is the most spectacular of the construction works yet erected in this vicinity. The top storey will be occupied by an electric hauler which will pull trucks loaded with rubber + boulders up the aerial tramlines. The loads of rock will be installed + in the lowest storey automatic concrete movers will deliver the fresh concrete into trucks ready to be hauled to the dam site. 1/2pl. (3) of the rock-crushing, concrete-mixing plant + aerial tramlines. 1/4pl. (4) nearer view of highest part of ditto. New tramlines have been laid to facilitate the delivery of material to the adit of Tunnel No2 or to the site of the new dam as required. At the dam-site excavation is now well well [sic] advanced, especially on the left bank of the river, where the great trench now extends into the end of the long
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spur nearly to the service road at the big cookhouse On the right bank of the Tokomaru River + also on the left bank near water-level, the excavations are in solid rock, but in the end of the long spur the formation is clay, rubble + rotten rock + the vertical sides of the excavation are closely timbered + supported by heavy cross-beams. At the north-west end of the excavation for the dam + abutting on the service road two large buildings for the storage of cement have been erected; also a massive stand to carry another hauling engine which will apparently complete the system of delivery of loaded trucks at the dam-site. ¼ pl. (5) of excavation for Tokomaru Dam looking along trench from north-west end. Proceeding we followed the tramline up the Tokomaru River to the western end of Tunnel No1. A short length of new tramline has been laid down from the tunnel entrance to a rubble quarry alongside the lower of the two large waterfalls. We took the usual short-cut up the bed of the Tokomaru to the tramline leading to the sawmill + followed the other tram, which has now been cleaned of fallen trees, to the service road. Reached the top of the jig tramline at 12.55, after having had a snack at a stream alongside the service road at 12.15 pm.
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Here we found a large storehouse for the housing of cement had been erected, part of building resting on a foundation of logs laid criss-cross in tiers to the requisite height. Descended zig-zag track to No1 Gorge. The excavation of the dam on the high-level terrace has now been opened to a depth of 40ft., most of the spoil having been delivered into the Gorge by way of the adit at water-level on trucks + on either side of the mouth of the adit on embankment of rock-debris, supporting a tramline, has been built up above water-level for a distance of a couple of [chains?] each wat. Very little further excavation has been done on the left bank of the river but the eastern end of the excavation has been extended further into the hillside exposing solid rock. 1/2pl. (6) of the excavation for the dam from left bank. At the suspension bridge at the top of No1 Gorge, we met Mr. Johnson, the engineer, + he gave us many interesting facts re[garding] progress of work. The by-pass tunnel has now been bored right through, also the shaft leading down to same + the miners are now trimming up the floor of this tunnel. As the electricity available is only sufficient to drive three drills on this part of the job + these have been fully employed elsewhere (i.e. in the tunnels), the
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excavation of the dam-site on the left bank has been retarded but this will now be pushed on with. A week ago a flood came down and washed away the timbering protecting the river-level adit of the by-pass tunnel + did other damage as well to the tune of £150. This flood also swept away a large amt. [amount] of debris that had been shot into Gorge. Also a sheet of rock, over 200 cubic yards, slipped off the face of the rock-rib between the old + new channels of the Mangahao, into No1 Gorge. The camps on the Mangahao have now their full complement of workmen, namely 90. On the hill-side above the high level terrace a massive structure to carry a hauling engine + concrete-mixing plant similar to the one at Arapete mentioned above is now in course of erection. I showed Mr. Johnson some of my photos of the works + he kept two that took his fancy. We crossed the suspension bridge + inspected the excavation in the high-level terrace – this is now down in one place to depth of 40ft the sides being closely timbered + stayed with heavy cross-beams. The cross-tunnels along the crest of the rock rib has now been opened to its full depth. We walked along to the cookhouse + saw a load of material descend the jig tram. Descended to the new pier bridge which is now finished + is a very handsome piece of work. The longest
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span is supported by a number of heavy cables + a tramline has been laid across. Near this bridge, on the left bank, an electric crane has been erected + this is at present employed in lifting gravel +c from the river-bed for concrete work. Took a 1/2pl. photo (7) of the new bridge from the right bank of river. We next visited the entrance of Tunnel No1 + going in to the junction of the two adits took a 1/2pl. photo (8) looking out + showing both. Left No1 Gorge at 2.20, reached Arapete at 3.35 + gig at [1st stouse?] at 4.5[0] pm. Beautiful evening, but turned chilly + dark before getting home. Parted with Brown at Queen St[reet]. at 6.pm + reached Woodside a few minutes later. Milked cows in dark + turned in early.