Power station our greatest engineering feat

Manapouri Power Station in Fiordland has been voted New Zealand's greatest engineering feat by Auckland University engineering graduates.

The survey was undertaken to mark the centenary of the University's Faculty of Engineering. It asked 600 graduates from the faculty to name the greatest engineering feat in New Zealand during the past 100 years.The Manapouri Power Station received 12 per cent of votes, Americas Cup yacht Black Magic took 11 per cent and Grafton Bridge received nine. Built between 1964 and 1972, it is a massive feat of civil engineering with most of the station, including the machine hall and the first 10-kilometre tailrace tunnel, built underground. Excavating a large-scale project under a mountain was hard and dangerous work, requiring prodigious engineering skill to carve through the hard Fiordland gneiss and granite rock. "The Manapouri Power Station is an excellent example of how the vision and ingenuity of engineering underpins much of our essential infrastructure," Engineering Dean Professor Peter Brothers says. "It was such an unusual job because it was so remote and very clever technical solutions were required to get through the difficult terrain."Other high-polling achievements were Wairakei Geothermal Power Station (9%) and the Modern Jet Boat (8%). The Skytower polled at 5% and Auckland Harbour Bridge 3%.