The fact remains that the rotor burst, and in doing so entirely wrecked the turbine cylinder and the whole of the steam turbine itself. The rotor and fragments of the' cylinder were thrown in various directions in the immediate vicinity. Part of the rotor was hurled against one of the steel columns of the building, from which it apparently glanced and buried itself in the 6,600 volt switchboard which has recently been erected for controlling the auxiliary plant in the power house. Chis completely wrecked a section of the switchboard, thus cutting off the supply to the two main. circulating water pumps which were supplying the condensers of two 18,000 machines, running on load at the time. 7 The steam end of the turbine is an absolute wreck. beyond repair, but it is believed from a superficial examination that the gen-orator is intact and may possibly be serviceable when another turbine is built for it, a matter of at least 12 months.
Immediately after the accident the power house was filled with live steam caused through the pipe serving the turbine having been blown off when the rotor ex ploded; consequently a total shut down of the power supply took place. The supply on various parts of the system was restored at 12.05 p.m., and the remainder as it became possible to clear things up in the power station and get other machines into commission.
Tt has been suggested above that the cause of the turbine rotor bursting may have been due to failure of the over-speed trip gear to operate. On the _other hand there is also the possibility of the turbine shaft itself having a flaw. It is too early to attempt to pronounce a definite opinion, but at the moment the former theory is considered the more likely.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.