Waitaki Dam New Zealand North Otago 80+ Y/O Trade Ad Card

Description

Waitaki Dam New Zealand North Otago 80+ Y/O Trade Ad Card
NOTE:
THESE ARE NOT POSTCARDS
THEY ARE TRADE/ADVERTISING CARDS.
THEY ARE MUCH SMALLER THAN A STANDARD POSTCARD
AND
THERE IS ADVERTISING TEXT ON THE BACK!
THE CARD DIMENSIONS ARE APPROXIMATELY
2 5/8 '' x 1 3/8 ''  or  6.5 cm. x 3.5 cm.
ORIGINAL  80+ YEARS OLD  TRADE - ADVERTISING CARD
WAITAKI DAM
Work began on the Waitaki Dam, the first large state hydroelectric scheme in the South Island since
Lake Coleridge, in mid-1928 at a site 7 km from the Kurow railhead. It was the last major dam built by
pick, shovel and wheelbarrow, tools anachronistically retained because politicians wanted to reduce the
unemployment rate. At its peak 1200 men laboured in often dangerous and freezing conditions; 350
houses and 700 huts sheltered them from the extremes of North Otago winters, but work conditions and
high accident rates made Waitaki a bleak site.
The dam is 48 m high and 542 m long. Unusually, Waitaki does not have a spillway - the water flows
over the top, making a spectacular sight in floods as the flow breaks up on the disrupters on the dam
face. When Governor-General Lord Bledisloe opened Waitaki on 27 October 1934, its 30 megawatts
provided about half the mainlands electricity. Modifications have boosted that to the current 90
megawatts.
The old village, once home to 40 staff and their families, has struggled to survive. Covenanted by the
Heritage New Zealand but empty since the late 1980s, it was put up for mortgagee sale in 2001, lock,
stock, houses, lodge, garages and utilities.
NOTE:
THE REVERSE SIDE HAS TEXT ABOUT THE IMAGE ON THE FRONT
THE CARD DIMENSIONS ARE APPROXIMATELY
2 5/8 '' x 1 3/8 ''  or  6.5 cm. x 3.5 cm.
NOTE:
THE IMAGES ABOVE IS LARGER THAN THE CARD
TO SHOW THE DETAIL.
THIS CARD IS NOT A MODERN REPRODUCTION
IT IS 80+ YEARS OLD
IT IS NOT PERFECT
THE FRONT AND BACK MAY HAVE:
PAPER LOSS - SMUDGING - ROUNDED CORNERS
SEE IMAGES ABOVE!
10
WE COMBINE SHIPPING
BUY 1 TO 4 TRADE ADVERTISING CARDS AND THE TOTAL TO SHIP IS
BUY 5 TRADE ADVERTISING CARDS AND SHIPPING IS FREE
NOTE:
ON LARGER INTERNATIONAL ORDERS WE MAY REQUIRE REGISTERD
MAIL AND WILL SPLIT THE COST WITH THE BUYER.
INQUIRE IF CONCERNED!