The Waitaki dam and power station
was a "make work" construction project during the 1930s depression.
The construction camp was the
birthplace of New Zealand's social security and welfare systems.
Construction began in 1928; the
dam was constructed in two parts.
First a coffer dam was built
which diverted water to the Otago side of the river channel allowing the
building of the Canterbury side of the dam which incorporated 11 sluice
gates. These gates then allowed water to pass through while the Otago side
of the dam was constructed.
The gates were then closed and
concrete was poured behind them.
The dam was the last in New
Zealand to be constructed without modern machinery.
More than half-a-million cubic
metres of material was excavated using picks and shovels. Steam powered
pumps were used to keep excavations dry.
The section of the dam between
the powerhouse and the Canterbury side of the river acts as a 354
metre-long ungated spillweir which can cope with a flow of 6,740 cubic
metres per second (the mean flow of the river is 350 cubic metres per
second).
Early in 1935 the station had
two 15 megawatt generators operating, enough to meet nearly half the
electricity needs of the South Island at the time.
Three more generators were
added and in the late 40s to early 50s the powerhouse was extended to
accommodate two more generators.
Key statistics
The dam contains a total of
173,000 cubic metres of concrete
