JUNE 11. THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2389

4. REGULATION OF PRESSURE

The pressure shall be maintained within 4 per cent. above or below the declared pressure at the consumers’ terminals. The Council shall maintain a suitable recording voltmeter, and on complaint by any consumer that the variations in voltage exceed these limits, or on the instructions of the Inspecting Engineer, the Council shall connect a recording voltmeter to record the pressure between the lines at their entrance to the consumers’ premises, and shall supply to the Inspecting Engineer a chart showing the variations in voltage between the lines at this point for a period of seven consecutive days. If the variations thus recorded exceed the above limits the Council shall take immediate steps to comply with this regulation. If after thirty days a similar chart shows that the above limits of variation in voltage are not complied with, a breach of these regulations shall be deemed to have been committed. If the accuracy of the Council’s recording voltmeter is questioned by the consumer, a standard instrument shall be supplied by the Inspecting Engineer, the readings of which shall be accepted as final.

5. SWITCHBOARD.

All switchboards shall be made of and mounted on material that is not inflammable, and the maximum permissible current in any switchboard conductor or conductor leading thereto shall not exceed the values permitted under the rules of the Institute of Electrical Engineers of Great Britain.

6. CIRCUIT-BREAKERS.

All outgoing feeders and distributors from any powerhouse or sub-station shall be provided with automatic circuit-breakers or fuses set to open circuit at 50 per cent. excess current over the rated full load of such feeder or distributor, with a time-limit not exceeding ten seconds.

7. DISTRIBUTION.

The distribution may be carried out either by underground or overhead conductors, provided that if at any time it is deemed by the Minister to be detrimental to the public safety for the conductors or any particular class of conductors to be overhead such conductors shall, on receipt of notification to that effect from the Minister, and within ten months of such notification, be laid underground, and all consequent and necessary alterations made by and at the cost of the Council.

8. OVERHEAD ELECTRIC LINES.

Overhead electric lines shall be of stranded hard-drawn copper, aluminium, or other material of not less than ·0129 square inches in section, provided that service wires of short span may be not less than ·0072 square inches. The lines shall be covered throughout with triple jute braiding thoroughly impregnated with weather proofing compound, provided that where circumstances permit the lines may, with the consent of the Minister, be bare.

The stress in overhead conductors shall not exceed 25,000 lb. per square inch for copper and 12,000 lb. per square inch for aluminium in the extreme case of a temperature of 20° Fahr. and a wind-pressure of 18 lb. per square foot of diametrical plane occurring simultaneously. The span between supports and the sag shall be determined to conform with the above limiting stresses, provided that the span shall not exceed 200 ft.

No overhead electric lines shall come within 2 ft. of any other aerial wires or cables except where it may be permitted to pass either wires between other wires at a pole or support.

Where an aerial line crosses a street the angle between the line and the direction of the street at the place of crossing shall not be less than 60 degrees, and the spans shall be as short as possible. The minimum height of the conductors shall be 18 ft. above the street-level.

An aerial line shall not be permitted to remain erected after it has ceased to be used for the supply of energy, unless the Council intends within a reasonable time again to take it into use.

9. SUPPORTS FOR OVERHEAD ELECTRIC LINES.

All aerial wires shall be attached to suitable insulators, carried on cross-arms of suitable material and cross-section, and they shall be so attached to the insulators or guarded that they cannot fall away from the support. Conductors, covered with insulating material, shall be so attached that their insulation shall not be impaired where they are secured to the insulator.

Every support for an aerial line shall be of durable material and properly strengthened against forces due to wind-pressure, change of direction of line, and unequal length of span. The factor of safety of such supports shall be at least 4 (four) if of iron, steel, or reinforced concrete, and 6 (six) if of wood, taking into consideration all possible stresses, including wind-pressure at 30 lb. per square foot on plane surfaces and 18 lb. per square foot of diametrical plane for cylindrical surfaces.

10. LOCATION OF OVERHEAD LINES.

Except by permission of the Minister of Telegraphs, or subject to an agreement between the Post and Telegraph Department and the Council, all overhead electric-light pole lines shall be placed on the opposite side of the street to that on which any telegraph lines exist; and where the erection of the electric-light wires necessitates the alteration of any existing telegraph wires, and such alteration is approved by the Minister of Telegraphs, the cost of the alteration shall be borne by the Council.

Where electric lines are on one side of the street and telegraph lines on the other, and service is required to be given from either to the other side of the street, the Council and the Minister of Telegraphs shall give to each other reasonable facilities as far as possible to effect supply.

In running the lines authorized by this license through streets where no telegraph line exists the Council shall keep to the one side of the street, and in running wires to the opposite side of the street the Council shall arrange so as to interfere as little as possible with the route on that side of any future telegraph line.

11. TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE.

Where electric lines are permitted to be supported on telegraph poles all details of the support and of the insulation shall be approved by the Minister of Telegraphs, who may require the Council to remove such electric lines at any time from such telegraph poles on reasonable notice and without compensation of any description.

Where overhead electric lines cross telegraph lines the electric lines shall be protected for the crossing-span with a triple covering of jute braiding and thoroughly compounded.

At telegraph crossings the electric wires shall cross over or under the telegraph wires as may be decided by the Minister of Telegraphs.

Where lead-covered telephone cables are crossed above or below by the electric-light wires the latter wires shall be insulated with a triple covering of jute braiding thoroughly compounded throughout the crossing-span, and over every such span they shall, if the Minister of Telegraphs so requires, be suitably suspended from effectively earthed steel bearer-wires.

In cases where it may be required to cross with the electric-light wires through any other aerial wires or through cables because of the impracticability of crossing above or below (and crossing shall be effected above or below if possible), all such through crossings, if permitted, shall be effected at a pole. In every case of a through crossing, no matter whose property the lines crossed through may be, the method of carrying the electric-light wires across the pole, of protecting them thereon, of preventing other wires from coming in contact with them, and of protecting persons working on the poles from danger of shock shall be to the satisfaction of the Minister of Telegraphs. The electric-light wires shall be insulated with a triple covering of jute braiding thoroughly compounded where they pass through on the poles and over the whole length of the span on each side of the pole crossed through. Where the insulated wires cross through on the pole they shall be encased in some approved hard protecting substance for the entire length of the arms on such pole. If metal pipe is used to encase the wires it shall be effectively earthed.

Efficient guard-wires, effectively earthed, or other suitable protective devices, shall be erected where electric wires intersect telegraph wires or cables, if so required by the Minister of Telegraphs.

Earth-wires, where led down poles, shall be protected by a casing for a distance of 8 ft. from the ground.

The cost of all necessary guard-wires and special provisions required to comply with this clause, or deemed to be necessary as a protection to telegraph wires generally, shall be borne by the Council, whether the telegraph lines are erected before or after the electric lines. In the latter case the Council, on receipt of notice from the local officer of the Telegraph Department that it is proposed to run a telegraph line along the route, shall forthwith make the necessary changes required to comply with this clause at any points at which electric lines already cross such routes.

12. RAILWAY CROSSINGS.

No work of any nature shall be erected or constructed upon, over, or under any part of the New Zealand Government railways until the Council has obtained the consent of the Minister of Railways thereto, as required by section 4 of the Government Railways Amendment Act, 1910 (No. 2).

13. SERVICE CONNECTIONS TO OVERHEAD LINES.

Service lines from aerial lines shall be taken from insulators, and shall not be tapped off between insulators. They shall be led as directly as possible to insulators firmly attached to some portion of the consumer’s premises which is