Duck Reach Power Scheme - Historic Engineering Marker #87 Trevallyn, Tasmania, Australia
By Team MavEtJu on 12-Oct-15. Waypoint GA7586

Duck Reach Power Scheme - Historic Engineering Marker #87

Duck Reach Hydro-Electric Power Station is located beside the South Esk River above the Cataract Gorge on the outskirts of Launceston, Tasmania.

The power scheme was built by the Launceston Town Council to provide electric street lighting to replace gas lights. The station generated direct current for arc lamps and alternating current for both incandescent lamps and electric motors.

The first machines were commissioned in 1895. As the demand for electricity increased, the station was expanded by installing more machines and larger machines. In 1929 the station was destroyed by an extreme flood and rebuilt in 1930. The station continued to operate until 1955 when a much larger scheme (the Trevallyn Power Development) harnessed the full potential of the river.

While only one machine remains in the power house, many of the other components are still on site: the inlet weir, headrace tunnel, forebay, two penstocks, the distributor, the station building, tailrace, winding shed, access footbridge and three stone cottages built for the operators.

The power station is open to the public during daylight hours and contains interpretive signs and photographs displaying its illustrious past. The site lies at the upper end of the popular Cataract Gorge walking track which begins at the Kings Bridge (Historic Engineering Marker, 1992).

Contents of the plaque:

Electrical engineer Kynaston Murray and City Engineering Charles David designed this scheme for Launceston City Council. It was the first commercial hydro-electric scheme in Australia, built in 1895 to light the city streets, initially supplying direct current for arc lamps and alternating current for incandescent lamps and motors. Between 1905 and 1921 the Council converted the station to three phase AC power and expanded its capacity to 2000 kW. After record floods destroyed the building in 1929, the station was rebuilt and ran continuously until 1956.

THE INSTITUTION OF ENGINEERS AUSTRALIA, LAUNCESTON CITY COUNCIL 2006.

When logging this virtual, please add a photo of yourself or your GPSr at the plaque.

For more information, please see the nomination PDF at the Heritage Register at the Engineers Australia website: Proposal and appendix.