Spotswood Pumping Station - Historic Engineering Marker #20 Spotswood, Victoria, Australia
By
Team MavEtJu on 19-Oct-15. Waypoint GA7656
Cache Details
| Difficulty: | |
| Terrain: | |
| Type: | Virtual |
| Container: | Virtual |
| Coordinates: | S37° 49.900' E144° 53.680' (WGS 84) |
| 55H 314725E 5810773N (UTM) | |
| Elevation: | 5 m |
| Local Government Area: | Hobsons Bay |
/144.894667,-37.831667,14/400x200?access_token=pk.eyJ1IjoiY2F1Z2h0YXR3b3JrIiwiYSI6ImNqa2l4ZzNzMDE5bjgzdm1sZGpuODF1Mm0ifQ.q8YMzVyzDJJlJHHV8EMjwQ)
Description
Spotswood Pumping Station - Historic Engineering Marker #20
The Spotswood Pumping Station was built in the 1890s as a key component of the Melbourne Sewerage Scheme. Functioning as the heart of the system, the pumping station played a vital role in helping to overcome the city's early public health and sanitation problems. For almost 70 years from 1898, all the sewage collected in Melbourne's underground sewers passed through the pumps at Spotswood, on its way to the treatment works at Werribee.
Construction of the pumping station began in March 1894, with the local Footscray firm Messrs Garnsworthy & Smith being awarded the contract to prepare the site and foundations. Their first task was to excavate a massive hole measuring 20 metres by 100 metres and almost 25 metres in depth - much of it was blasted out of solid basalt. From the hole was removed some 25,500 cubic metres broken rock and spoil, weighing almost 70,000 tonnes, with the aid of steam cranes and a small steam locomotive.
Work progressed around the clock in continuous shifts with arc lamps providing illumination at night. Electric power for the lighting was supplied by generators at the Melbourne Glass Bottle Works next door.
In the excavated hole were constructed the brick and concrete lined tunnels for the inlet sewers, access tunnels, steel pipes for the outlet sewers, and twelve large elliptical pump wells formed with thick unreinforced concrete walls, strong enough to carry the weight of the buildings and heavy machinery. The space surrounding the wells was then filled with crushed rock.
Construction of the Pumping Station buildings and installation of the machinery commenced in late 1895 and would take almost two years to complete.
When logging this virtual, please add a photo of yourself or your GPSr at the plaque.
For more information, please see this page at the Heritage Register at the Engineers Australia website: https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/portal/heritage/spotswood-pumping-station-1897-1965
Logs
Thanks for another excuse to visit Team MavEtJu AND during school bloody holidays too
Today I was making a quick pass for a photo.
Great to see a little history still standing.
Love the "Halls Of Justice".
TFTV
One of my children is helping out at an astronomy gig at Scienceworks, so the perfect opportunity to finally log this one. Just before closing time, I wandered down from the top to take a selfie, before we got kicked out... to be let back in an hour later for the event.
Thanks for publishing this historical point of interest.
GCA#221
Off to Altona for an hour of PoGo and we stopped past this location to grab a happy snap (to follow). We had to take the photo through the locked gates as entry is by fee and while I might be interested, I am not that interested
Took nothing, left nothing.
Thanks for listing these geocaches. I hope to get around and find a lot more of them as time permits.
*Overall Experience: 3*
GAFF 1
Walked back to the van and drove past the gate as leaving and would you believe there was a security guard there. Stopped, jumped out and asked him if he would mind taking a close up photo. Handed the tablet through the bars in the gste. Couldn't really expect him to try and juggle the GPS and the tablet so there is no close up of the plaque with GPS but I think we've proved we were here. The obliging guard even took a photo of the sign on the other side of the doorway. He didn't even ask why I wanted them. Bet it's not everyday that he gets requests like ours.
So we will claim a 2TF on this one. Go Tassies, 2 finders and both from the Apple Isle.
Thanks.
