The Author
David de la Hyde: MSc.; BSc. (Math., Comp. Sci.); BE(Elec).
Wairoa Hydro Scheme - location map

 

I joined the Tauranga Electric Power Board (TEPB), in 1972 just after after the Lloyd Mandeno Power Station had been commissioned. As a hobby I started taking photos of the evolving Wairoa River Development Scheme - Mini Hydro Project (Later known as the Kaimai Hydro Power Scheme). Many people assisted and encouraged me, and in alphabetical order some of these were:

Jack Bickers (Systems Technician TEPB), Hugh Binney (Manager TJGC), Peter Browne (Electrical Engineer Tauranga City Council (TCC)), Roger Burchett (site engineer), Shirley Crowley (Board Member TEPB), Eddie Graham (C.E. TEPB), Anne Hyde, Roger Jamiesion ( Systems Technician TEPB), Evan Mackie: DSO & Bar, DFC (US) - (Chief Inspector TEPB), John Polkinghorne (Secretary Tauranga Electric Power Board), Les Simpson (Transmission Engineer TEPB), Peter Thorpe (Sec. TEPB),Tom Webster (Assistant transmission Engineer TEPB), Rex White (C.E. TEPB), Jeff Wilson (Director - Mandeno, Chitty and Bell Ltd.)

North Island of New Zealand

It is now getting on to thirty years since the scheme was completed, and my life is slowly but surely approaching its end. I felt that it is a pity if some of the illustrative photos were not put on to the Internet, for anyone interested in this type of scheme to view; so I decided to create this web site.

I have tried to make this site visually appealing, as pictures of engineering construction work often resemble a nightmare of concrete mixed with steel reinforcing rods.

It can be noted that I use the "nom de foto" 'David de la Hyde' because a Google search for "David Hyde" turns up thousands of references to the TV actor David Hyde Pierce. The surname I have chosen, is that of the junior branch of the Hyde family from which I am descended - "de la Hyde" family of Brimpton, Berkshire.

Link: Photos of the Wairoa Hydro Development Scheme A4 format (at 200 dpi) for downloading

The A4 format photos which can be downloaded from the link above, may be suitable for school projects, for instance.

Notes:
In the period 1993 to 1994 TEPB became Trustpower and was listed on the New Zealand Stock Exchange
 
  Additional information can be found in Trust Power's Kaimai generation review:
http://www.trustpower.co.nz/index.php?section=111
  (Copy and paste the address into your web browser)

KAIMAI HYDRO DEVELOPMENT SCHEME


 
Wairoa Hydro Development Map Note: Please click on the blue rectangles to go to the web page.
Mclarens Mandeno Mangapapa Ruahihi Ruahihi Canal Omanawa Mclarens Dam Omanawa Dam Intake Lake Mangaonui weirs and intakes weirs intakes weirs intakes weirs intakes forebay canal Mandeno water level controller Lake Mangapapa dam Mangapapa penstock tunnel Ruahihi Canal collapse Lake Mangapapa

"On 11th March, 1903 the Bay of Plenty Times Editorial, in commenting on the Waipori Scheme 61 kilometers from Dunedin, mentioned the possible use of the streams of Papamoa, Oropi and Kaimia for electricity generation. About 1910 the Tauranga Borough Council determined on a policy of development and proceeded with installation of a water supply. After completion of this scheme H.W. Climie & Son were retained as consultants for a program of street improvement, sanitary drainage and electricity supply."

In this web-site details of the development of the following small hydro power stations are given: Omanawa, Mclaren Falls, Lloyd Mandeno, Lower Mangapapa, Ruahihi and Kaimai 5 (K5).

Lloyd Mandeno
 


A central figure in the Wairoa River Electrical Power Development (named by TrustPower as the Kaimai Hydro Power Scheme) was Lloyd Mandeno who worked for the Tauranga Borough Council from 1915 to 1926:
 
"He set up a shop in Devonport Road as a demonstration room, generating electricity with a dynamo driven by an oil engine; within a year 100 installations had been made. He then persuaded R. S. Ready to build a new home without a chimney, relying solely on electricity. To provide hot water he designed a galvanised-iron cylinder, insulated with six inches of pumice, with a 350-watt heating element ... "

Lloyd Mandeno was instrumental in the development and construction of Mclaren Falls Power station. Another interesting initiative by him was:

"In 1925 Tauranga became the first electric-power authority in the world to use the single-wire earth-return system of line construction, known as ‘Mandeno’s clothesline’, which made it economically viable to reticulate remote and sparsely populated areas. This system was used in Northland during the late 1930s, in the central North Island after the Second World War, and subsequently in Australia, South America, South Africa, India and the Soviet Union. Mandeno later modified it to prevent interference on telegraph lines."

Reference: "Tauranga 1882-1982: The Centennial of Gazetting Tauranga as a Borough" edited by A.C. Bellamy. Tauranga City Council, 1982.