One of the most interesting portions of the work is the construction of large monoliths, which will be placed in the river in order to ensure that a sufficiency of water will always be available to supply the pumping machines.
The monolith on the right side of the river is now 20ft high, and looks a huge mass of reinforced concrete. The concrete buttress off the left bank of the river is about completed.
While the erection of the monoliths is going on, the head works are being pushed forward, and it is expected that at the end of the present month all excavation necessary for the grillage covered conduit and head gates will be completed.
The largest portion of the canal has been put in hand, and, under favourable conditions, three months should see most of the work finished. After the holidays a commencement was made on the work on the power house, which will consist of reinforced concrete.
The main distributing race has been completed with the exception of the necessary concrete lining in places where the ground is of an open nature, while all the pipes have been laid on the site, and the upper end built in and placed in position.
All the material for the river crossing has been delivered, and the heavy suspension bars and anchorages are being put in place.
Mr Phillips, the orchardist for the company, reports that the orchards on Ripponvale never looked better. The trees are looking healthy and showing magnificent progress notwithstanding the dry season, as a never-failing supply of irrigation water was available.
•As demonstrating the exceptionally hot summer which is being experienced in Dunedin this year, Mr H. Duckworth, of Oaklands, Anderson Bay, yesterday brought to this office some nicely ripened apricots.
These apricots were grown on a standard tree, situated in open ground. Mr Duckworth states that the condition of the apricots grown at Oaklands this year is far ahead of the condition of similar fruit in any previous year.
In his opinion, formed after a residence of 36 years at Anderson Bay, the present summer is the hottest ever experienced here.
Slow progress has been made of late with the Otira tunnel. The Otira correspondent of the Greymouth Star says that in the bottom heading - i.e., the advanced part of the tunnel - the progress for the last few weeks has averaged about 20ft per week.
This seems very poor progress compared with that of about six months ago, when 50ft was nearer the average. The reason of the slowness is the bad ground that is now being met with. This ground requires to be heavily timbered, and the water is rushing in as if a creek had been tapped.
There are still about 75 chains of solid rock to excavate between the bottom headings of Otira and Bealey. About one mile seventy chains will have to be lined before the tunnel is completed.
•The felling of a large kauri tree in the presence of a portion of the Parliamentary touring party at Messrs D. Goldie and Sons' Peria forest was a unique experience for the members of the party.
The tree - one of many hundreds in this forest - was 123ft long over all. It was 93ft to the first limb, was over 4ft in diameter at the centre, and it produced not less than 105 lineal feet of log timber.
The long 93ft stick probably will make one of four huge spars to come from this bush, to be used in re-rigging a large vessel at Fiji.
- ODT, 9.2.1917.
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