WHAEO HYDRO ELECTRIC POWER SCHEME REBUILD
​The Whaeo Power Station is situated in the Kaiangaroa Forest about 80km from Rotorua in central North Island NZ. On New Year's Eve 1981 the headrace of the newly completed powerstation failed catastrophically sending millions of cubic metres of water down the penstock face, dislodging the powerstation from its foundations and burying it under tons of silt and gravel.
​
Alister was asked to be Resident Engineer overseeing the rebuilding/reinstatement of the power scheme in 1982. This was a hugely political project as well as being technically demanding, as a result of the failure. Health and Safety was also a huge issue, with comprehensive systems put in place to ensure risks were minimized. The works were let to a range of contractors undertaking specific portions of the rebuild project, and an important part of the role was coordinating all of these.
To reinstate the headrace, the final 200 metres were to be concrete lined, but before doing that the project team drilled many holes down into the ground and found huge caverns, which they pumped full of grout. It was clear these caverns were a major contributing factor to the failure.
​
The remedial work was all carried out successfully and the powerstation was recommissioned on schedule, and continues in production today.