Perth Engineering Heritage Tour A + B
Tour A is CLaisebrook and surrounds. Tour B is Mt Eliza, Kings Park and surrounds.
Welcome
Welcome to the Perth Engineering Heritage walking tour of Perth City.
Follow this online tour guide and learn how engineers helped create the Engineering Infrastructure of Perth we know today.
You can start and end at any location, and take as long as you like, or stop for coffee or a cool drink along the way.
Keep this page open on your phone.
We have presented the tour locations in a convenient sequence for walking.
We have called this Engineering Heritage Tour A. This is additional to the Perth CBD walking tour.
We have now started Engineering Heritage Tour B . This is a tour at Kings Park.
You can also choose your own tour and see what sites are of interest to you.
Simply click on the green arrow "directions" symbol alongside the images of each location below. This will take you to Google Maps on your phone and help guide you to the best viewing location. Wander as you like when you reach the location, then click the green arrow, the next directions symbol, to find out how to reach the next location.
Safety
While exploring, please consider your safety at all times. Do not look at your phone while walking!
Please, please watch out for vehicles when crossing roads and stepping back to admire the engineering works.
If you are taking photographs, ask your companions to watch out while you are concentrating on photography!
Claisbrook Engineering Heritage TOUR A
East Perth Power Station
The East Perth Power Station was constructed between 1913 and 1916 by the Western Australian State Government, which announced that the facility would generate all the electricity needed in the Perth Metropolitan area.
The site of East Perth was chosen because coal could easily be delivered there by rail and because the enormous quantities of cooling water required by the condensing plant could easily be drawn from the Swan River.
Construction was completed at a total cost of £538,000.
The first three units consisted of Willans and Robinson steam turbines driving Brown Boveri alternators. Each one had a continuous rated output of 3 MW with the capacity to intermittently supply 4 MW giving the station a maximum output of 12 MW.
A fourth unit, a 7.5 MW C. A. Parsons and Company turboalternator, was commissioned in December 1922. It occupied the one and only spare bay that had been provided during the initial development of the turbine hall.
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In 1934, after many years of planning, tenders were invited for the supply of the major items of power plant for ‘B’ Station, the official opening ceremony being on 20th January 1938.
‘B’ Station consisted of a single 25,000-kilowatt set rated at 6,300 Volts, 40 hertz. Major advancements over ‘A’ Station included:
- Higher steam conditions: 600 psi at 800°F versus 210 psi at 600°F.
- Much reduced throughput of circulating water through a three-stage steam bleed-off from the steam turbine used for feed water heating
- A new power system control room
- Boiler flue gas directed through electrostatic precipitators which removed most of the particulates from the emissions & The introduction of a wet ash handling system which facilitated the disposal of boiler precipitator residue on the other side of the Swan River adjacent to the site of present-day Perth Stadium.
The one and only ‘C’ Station unit, Unit 7, was commissioned 19 June 1956. It generated 30,000 kilowatts at 22kV and 50 Hz. Being of post-war design, it delivered greater efficiencies than the South Fremantle units which, like the East Perth ‘B’ Station, were of pre-war design.
In 1968 the station was converted from coal to oil, but six years later returned to coal firing. The station was decommissioned and closed in December 1981, as more advanced and cheaper methods of electricity generation made the facility redundant.
The East Perth Power Station is considered to be one of the State's most significant industrial heritage buildings. It includes a range of remnant machinery and equipment that is believed to be unique in the world because it contains the five different stages of power generation technology that occurred in the 20th century.
Claisebrook Inlet
The Claisebrook main drain and the draining of Perth’s swamps
When it is borne in mind that Perth has no natural drainage and that many acres around us in all directions are covered in marsh and bog, producing foetid, unwholesome miasma, all year round, it is indeed matter for wonder how it is that pestilential fever is not forever stalking in our midst.
“The Inquirer” - August 1873".
- Perth Location
Located on a low sandy spur, approximately 15m high, 500m wide and 3km long, bounded to the west by a high limestone ridge (Kings Park/Parliament House; to the south and east by the Swan River; to the north by a series of 10 or so freshwater lakes and lagoons which drained into the Swan River.
- The Lakes
The majority of these lakes were shallow. During the hot summer of 1833, they dried up leaving the settlers to depend on shallow wells and a few springs.
Development of Perth to the north was hindered by the presence of these lakes, which often flooded in winter months – as Lake Kingsford did in 1847.
The next year the Colonial Health Committee found that the lakes were a direct influence on disease in Perth and recommended that a permanent drain be constructed.
- Convict Drains
The first drains were completed by convict labour in August 1848 and drained an area encompassing the current CBD into Claisebrook and thence into the Swan River.
By 1854 it was found that these drains were insufficient
Two Royal Engineer Lieutenants – Crossman and Wray were commissioned to examine the drainage of the lakes. They recommended constructing a much larger new drain.
Following further flooding over the next four winters, these works were doubled in capacity.
Even these measures were insufficient to avoid further flooding in 1870’s and an entirely new drain was constructed in 1877.
- The Gold Rush
During the early 1890’s the discovery of gold in the north and east of WA resulted in a significant increase in the population of Perth – from 8,500 in 1818 to 61,000 by 1901.
Many of these people were itinerant, staying in Perth only long enough to gather supplies before setting off to the Goldfields. Large tent cities were established, generally around the shores of the northern lakes. Reticulated water was limited to only about 2,750 properties in the City and nightsoil collection only reached about 5,500. Everyone else relied on the shallow wells which were becoming increasingly polluted with the influx of the gold diggers
- The Great Typhoid Outbreak
Typhoid became endemic.
- 1895: 566 cases, 70 deaths;
- 1896: 663 cases, 89 deaths;
- 1897: 1408 cases, 134 deaths;
- 1898: 800 cases, 74 deaths;
Water samples from the reticulated scheme water were also found to contain typhoid. More than 500 ratepayers gathered in the Perth Town Hall in November 1896 and demanded that something be done!
City of Perth - Main Drainage System
A new system of main drains was constructed to drain the shallower northern lakes and prevent flooding of the large ones at a cost of over £100,000.
The drainage works undertaken were some of the largest engineering works ever carried out by the Perth City Council (Drainage did not come under central government control until about 1910).
They were of mass concrete construction, 4ft (1.6m) in diameter, which discharged into the Claisebrook open channel Enclosed in an 8’6” (2.6m) circular brick drain in 1905.
The Council was so proud of its achievement that they commemorated it in a small gallery built off the main drain. This was last sighted in 1983. With more stringent Occupational Health and Safety regulations, further human access was shortly thereafter banned, this gallery soon became an urban myth.
In 2021 the Water Corporation’s ROV (remote operated vehicle) team was doing an inspection of the main and rediscovered the Gallery. It was found to be a corbelled brick-built chamber, with a 3m x 2m “Foundation Stone” set into the concrete clearly reading:
References:
S.H. Parker Esq.
Mayor 1901
E.H. Gliddon City Engineer
E.G Jedsted Res Engineer
Thos Hill Contractor
East Perth Gas Works
Construction of the gasworks began in 1915 when the first gasholder was erected on the southernmost portion of the site. Prior or soon after this, the Claisebrook Drain was re-routed to the south to allow the construction of other plant elements such as retorts in which coal was heated to produce volatile gas and solid coke.
The plant reached full production in 1924 and it remained in service until the 1970's, after treatment the gas was passed into gas holders for storage. A total of five gas holders were installed, three of which were relief holders used to store raw gas prior to cleaning.
The landmark 20-sided gasometer known as the "No. 2 Cityholder" was removed in 1985.
Purified gas was distributed to customers from the two operational holders located in the southwestern corner of the site.
Burswood Sewerage Plant
1909 - Claisebrook Sanitary Sewer completed with a large septic tank at Claisebrook, an under river 760mm syphon and 2 filter beds built at Burswood (opposite the Stadium). Claisebrook played a major part in the early development of Perth’s sewage system. This system consisted of gravity fed cisterns which collected the raw sewage. From their it was firstly discharged into the Swan River, then later pumped across the river to settle in lagoons built on Camfield. The Perth Stadium is now located on the site of the lagoons.
1914 - 3 pump stations built in Perth – Ozone, Mill St, and Hill St for the CBD, 103 km of sewers
Large sewers were egg shaped “Monier” concrete pipes and small ones were round earthenware (vitrified clay)
1915 – a new syphon was laid and four new filter beds constructed (vic Camfield Car Park) later expanded to 10 by 1920 as a massive expansion of the system was undertaken.
These beds were 30.5m in diameter and 1.8m deep, smell complaints started to be made immediately on completion, 1920-21 dry summer exacerbated algae blooms. “Practically everywhere in Perth waters there float a mess of brown matter, sometimes thick and evil looking and sometimes in long green slimy strings, which cling to the body of a swimmer who happens to pass near enough to it. This matter is gradually spreading int Melville water and can even been seen in Freshwater Bay” West Australian
1923 - Commenced construction of the 60“(1525mm) Perth Main Sewer from Subiaco to Highgate and the Swanbourne and Subiaco treatment plants
1936 Burswood ceased to function
Claisebrook Pumping Station
In 1936 a pump station was constructed to pump this sewerage into the Perth Main Sewer. It consisted of 3 x 12” (305mm) and one 10” (255mm) Thompson pumps. The existing 7Ml septic tank was used as the suction tank. The pump station at Horden St picking up Vic Park and Rivervale also pumped into this site across the Causeway. With the completion of the Mt Pleasant pump Station, this arrangement is now only used when the replacement Armagh St Pump Station’s pressure main (discharges in front of Murdoch Hospital on South St) is offline.
The Sewerage was quite anerobic, so a ventilation Chimney was constructed on the corner of Smith and Lincoln St to vent the H2S. This only ran for six weeks due to smell complaints. With the completion of Claisebrook Cove this pump station was replaced by the one beneath your feet which consists of pumps of approximately the same size but three times the capacity We still use the circa 1909 Septic Tank!
Perth Bunbury Railway
The South Western Railway was constructed for the Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) by various private contractors from 1891. Construction was completed in two parts. The first, East Perth to Pinjarra, was undertaken by William Atkins (former mill manager of the Neil McNeil Co. Jarrahdale) and Robert Oswald Law (who built the Fremantle Long Jetty).
Work began in 1892 but was slowed by difficulties with building the bridge over the Swan River. and opened on 22 May 1893.
Originally called the Swan Bridge and later the Bunbury bridge, it was a single-track, timber railway bridge. Construction was delayed due to troubles with sinking the jarrah piles into the soft riverbed: they were intended to be sunk 42 feet (13 m) below the water level but reached this depth under their own weight as soon as they were put in position. Ultimately, they had to be driven to 85 to 96 feet (26 to 29 m) before a solid footing was found.
Following concerns for its safety, a so-called "temporary" replacement bridge was built between 1930 and 1932.
After 63 years of use, the temporary structure was closed when a new concrete dual-track Goongoongup Bridge was built as part of the electrification of Perth's suburban railways. concrete railway bridge opened in 1995.
The old timber bridge was demolished in early 1996.
Windan Bridge (opened April 2000) is immediately adjacent and carries road traffic from the Graham Farmer Freeway.
MTT Bus Workshops
Opened in Kensington St in February 1961
Central bus heavy maintenance facility with the takeover of various private suburban bus companies. Machine shop, panel shop, air shop, engine shop, transmission and axle shop, trimming shop, paint shop and servicing bays. Could (and did) entirely rebuild bus bodies from supplied chassis.
Closed in 1998 with the privatisation of the MTT and breakup into private suburban bus companies. Also modern buses do not need the heavy maintenance like those from previous generations. For example, engines are not rebuilt on a mileage basis anymore but on failure.
PWD Works Depot, Jewel St
The Mechanical and Electrical depot for the PWD were located at Jewel St until the merger with the MWB in 1985
Haig Park
Originally called Tea Tree lagoon (only filled seasonally due to flooding). Bordered by Wittenoom St to the south between Plain St and Trafalgar Rd.
The brook was a timber laced drain approx. 3m wide with the outlet from the Claisebrook Main drain discharging at Plain St Redeveloped in early 90’s as part of the East Perth Redevelopment
Tile Yard
Due to the plentiful supplies of good quality clay and coal, a brick work and tile year was established on the other side of Claisebrook opposite Haig Park which operated until the mid 1990s.
Kings Park Engineering Heritage TOUR B
Mt Eliza, (Kings Park)
Our marvelous Mt Eliza Mt Eliza House (Kaarta Gar-up) has been offline for much of 2023 as Water Corporation complete their pipe renewal project within the grounds. The Mt Eliza house will become the meeting ground for future management and employee meetings and work activities for important group meetings and team building days.
Next time you’re at the House take a moment to look around – the Reservoir at Mt Eliza remains really important to Perth’s water supply today.
Perth’s initial reservoir - old Pond One located at Mt Eliza was built as part of the Victoria Scheme in 1890 and held 784 thousand gallons (3.6ML).
The 1890’s were a period of rapid population growth in Perth, but this resulted in a strain on the city's water supply. It’s said that some households in Perth went without water for days because the path connecting to the Mount Eliza reservoir was too small.
Due to Perth’s steady growth in demand, WC progressively added more storage: • In 1902 came Pond Two with a much greater capacity of 2.4 million gallons (11ML) • Then in 1911 Pond Three – with a 10-million-gallon (45ML) capacity • And in 1924 Pond Four – at 13.6 million gallons (62ML) and • Lastly the “new” Pond One 1935 – at 10 million gallons (45ML). This incorporated the floor and some of the walls of “old” Pond Two, and old Pond One was demolished.
Just to confuse you even further, Ponds 3 & 4 then became Ponds 2 & 3!
Over the years a number of different mains have also fed into Mt Eliza: • In 1890, the 305mm main from Victoria Dam – a section of which is up on the third floor at JTWC. • This was amplified in 1895 to 525mm – and a piece of this was recovered recently from the Reservoir (not in use). • In 1925, a 915mm locking bar pipe from Canning and Wungong Dams, a piece of which is in the front reception at JTWC; and • In 1961 the 1370mm from Serpentine Dam (and later on everything south, including Desal) which is the current inlet.
Mt Eliza Reservoirs and Reticulated Water for Perth
When it is borne in mind that Perth has no natural drainage, and that many acres around us in all directions are covered in marsh and bog, producing foetid, unwholesome miasma, all year round, it is indeed matter for wonder how it is that pestilential fever is not forever stalking in out midst
“The Inquirer” - August 1873.
Prior to 1890, Perth drew all its water from private wells, many of which were polluted by adjacent cesspits
Waylen Report (1883) – Typhoid and diphtheria were considered endemic. Sanitation Commission Report (1885) called for: Removal of all cess pits, to be replaced by a night soil scheme
Creation of a clean water supply scheme for Perth
The first clean water scheme for Perth, was eventually completed in 1890 and consisted of:
- An Impounding Reservoir on Mundy’s Brook of 240 million gallons (1.09GL).
- A Service Reservoir on Mount Eliza of 643,650 gallons (2.9ML); and
- 1,364 chains (27.4km) of 12” (305mm) Cast Iron water supply main
- All for the princely sum of £116,324 4s 7d ($232,649.46)
During the early 1890’s the discovery of gold in the north and east of WA resulted in a significant increase in the population of Perth – from 8,500 in 1818 to 61,000 by 1901.
Many of these people were itinerant, staying in Perth only long enough to gather supplies before setting off to the Goldfields.
Large tent cities were established around the shores of the northern lakes.
Reticulated water was limited to only about 2,750 properties in the City and nightsoil collection only reached about 5,500.
Everyone else relied on the shallow wells which were becoming increasingly polluted with the influx of the gold diggers
Typhoid became endemic;
- 1895: 566 cases, 70 deaths;
- 1896: 663 cases, 89 deaths;
- 1897: 1408 cases, 134 deaths;
- 1898: 800 cases, 74 deaths;
Water samples from the reticulated scheme water were also found to contain typhoid.
More than 500 ratepayers gathered in the Perth Town Hall in November 1896 and demanded that something be done!
The major supply main from the Dam to the City was more than doubled in capacity; from 305mm to 510/535mm.
Reticulated water was extended into several inner-city suburbs
Growth of Mt Eliza
- 1890 – Pond #1 – 784,000 gallons
- 1901 – Pond #2 – 2.4 million gallons
- 1911 – Pond #3 – 10 million gallons
- 1924 – Pond #4 – 13.6 milion gallons
- 1935 – new Pond #1 (incorporating old Pond #2) - 10 million gallons
Inlets:
- 1890 – 330mm from Victoria Dam
- 1895 – 525mm from Victoria Dam
- 1925 – 915mm from Canning and Wungong Dams
- 1961 – 1370mm from Serpentine Dam
Bores:
- 1905 – Central Pump Station Leederville, 3 bores
- 1906 – Causeway Pumping Station
- 1931 – Kings Park Pumping Station
Connections:
- 1905 – 300mm to Claremont Reservoir
- 1914 – 460mm to Mt Hawthorne Reservoir
- 1918 – 760mm into North Perth
- 1924 – 760mm to Scarborough
- 1925 – 760mm to Fremantle
- 1955 – 760mm to Swanbourne
- 1960 – 1065mm to Bold Park Reservoir
The Pensioner Guard Rifle Range
The Pensioner Guards were English military personnel who served on convict transportation ships en-route to the Swan River Colony between 1850 and 1868 and were given employment and grants of land on arrival.
Their initial employment lasted for six months, or the duration of the voyage, whichever was the longer time. After this they became "pensioners" and had to serve 12 days per year as well as whenever called upon.
They paraded annually in Perth at the Pensioner Barracks.
Part of their purpose was to maintain law and order in the colony.
Many enlisted in the British Army as boys, around 15–17 years of age, and served in many parts of the world including India, Afghanistan, China, Crimea for about 21 years before being pensioned off.
This meant several guards were under 40 years of age and had young families when they came to Western Australia.
As an incentive they were promised a two-room cottage and a plot of land sufficient to grow crops, vegetables and keep livestock. In the interim they were given accommodation in the barracks
Designed by Richard Roach Jewell, the Barracks were originally built from 1863 to 1866 and was later extended to house an additional 21 families.
Each family apartment had two rooms, each about 4.0 by 3.4 metres (13 by 11 ft), with at least one fireplace.
The outbuildings included a cookhouse, firing range and gunroom, washhouse, stores and stables.
The Rifle Range itself was the first permanent European feature constructed on this tableland and was built in 1862 by convict labour.
The Rifle Range extended from the Old Observatory to the State War Memorial Concourse and remained in use until 1895.
The Rifle Range at the back of Kings Park had been closed for several months due to complaints of stray bullets. Several alterations have now been made to prevent bullets going over the hill” and the Range has now been reopened to the “great satisfaction of the Volunteers, whose competitions have all been delayed.” 11th May 1886- Dundee Courier “Rifle Range Kings Park back in action”
The King’s Park “bottle guns”
In the late 1870’s two British military experts, Jervois and Scratchley, had recommended extensive defensive works for the major Australian ports. The Empire became very worried about Russian Aggression and the colonies, pushed along by public pressure, began strengthening their defences on the lines recommended.
In response from a request from the Legislative Council, the UK government offered two ex-Royal Navy guns to the colony for coastal defence purposes
The Kings Park guns, familiarly known as “bottle guns” based on their appearance, bore the official designation of RML (Rifled Muzzle Loading), 7 inch (calibre) 6.5 ton, Mk 1 guns. They fired a 50.8 kg shell to a range of about 3650 metres.
Even before the guns arrived onboard the SS Suffolk in 1881, they were considered obsolete. They were landed on the beach near Fremantle where they lay undisturbed for several years, as colonial financial constraints prevented their being adapted for service use. Finally, they were taken to the Western Australian defence facility at Karrakatta.
In 1905 the guns were moved to Kings Park, Perth, and mounted at Mount Eliza, overlooking Perth Water. However, in 1932, following the landscaping of the State War Memorial concourse, the guns were sold for scrap and dismantled.
The mountings were removed but the guns survived and were buried between the State War Memorial and the first rotunda. They remained buried until 1966 when after several unsuccessful attempts; they were in their buried locations using a magnetometer.
After excavation, restoration and mounting on timber replica carriages was then undertaken.
Successful completion was heralded by the firing of blank charges in a ceremony on 23 February 1969.
In October 2003, after further horticultural developments at Kings Park, the guns were subsequently relocated to HMAS Stirling. They were displayed at the entrance to Garden Island
The Narrows Bridge(s)
The Narrows Bridge is a freeway and railway crossing of the Swan River in Perth, Western Australia.
Made up of two road bridges and a railway bridge constructed at a part of the river known as the Narrows, located between Mill Point and Point Lewis, it connects the Mitchell and Kwinana Freeways, linking the city's northern and southern suburbs. The original road bridge was opened in 1959 and was the largest precast prestressed concrete bridge in the world. Construction of the northern interchange for this bridge necessitated the reclamation of a large amount of land from the river.
The riverbed at the site of the proposed bridge was not ideal for bridge building, with soft mud extending down as deep as 80 feet and sand beds below that going a further 40 feet down. Construction on the road system began in 1956, and the contract for construction of the bridge was built by Danish firm Christiani and Nielsen in conjunction with Western Australian engineering firm J. O. Clough & Son.
The bridge cost £1.5 million, as part of a wider road system costing £3.5 million. Construction of the bridge took 2 years and 5 months. It was officially opened by Governor Charles Gairdner on 13 November 1959. He unveiled a plaque on the bridge together with Premier Sir David Brand, Commissioner of Main Roads
A plan to widen the Narrows Bridge at the cost of $70 million plan would involve the addition of four extra traffic lanes and was part of a $230 million package upgrading and extending the southern end of the Kwinana Freeway.
The construction of a separate bridge was also deemed necessary because the foundations of any new structure might settle in the soft river bed at a different rate from the existing bridge. The bridge was constructed by the incremental launching technique, with 28-metre segments pre-cast on both shores and pushed out into place as the construction progressed. The bridge was divided into two strips lengthways, with the eastern half launched separately from the western half, and the two decks were later joined at the bridge's centre line.
The construction of a third bridge was needed due to the lack of previous planning provisions when the second bridge was constructed. The railway bridge deck was made from nine steel girders each weighing up to 99.5 tonnes and up to 54 metres long. These girders were built in Kwinana, brought to the site by road and lowered into position with a crane.
References
- ↑ https://encore.slwa.wa.gov.au/iii/encore/record/C__Rb2955973__S015099PD__Orightresult__U__X3?lang=eng&suite=def
- ↑ Encore -- The Bunbury Railway Bridge across the Swan River at East Perth [picture] (slwa.wa.gov.au)
- ↑ Encore -- Metro Bus Maintenance Workshop, Kensington Street, East Perth during construction [picture] (slwa.wa.gov.au)
