Truganina explosives store
The explosives store Truganina ( English : Truganina Explosives Reserve ) is a former hazardous material storage at Altona in the Australian state of Victoria . It was in operation from 1901 to 1962, primarily to store civilian explosives for mining and construction . The camp included several storage sheds and a pier , which has a narrow gauge - horse-drawn railway were connected. The camp is similar to the Dry Creek explosives depot at Port Adelaide a witness to the economic history as well as the transport system in Australia .
location
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The Truganina explosives store in Altona is 16 kilometers southwest of Melbourne and 8 kilometers west of Williamstown on the coast of Port Phillip Bay .
history
From 1873, the Nobel explosives factory , which later became Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) and later Orica , in Deer Park , Australia , began producing explosives, mainly gelignite and dynamite, for quarries, mines and for building roads, railways, dams and tunnels Made to be independent of import from the UK and South Africa. These explosives were initially stored in specially designed Jack's Magazine along the Maribyrnong River above Footscray before being shipped to other parts of Australia or to New Zealand, New Guinea and the Pacific. As the population of Footscray increased, a more remote location to store explosives was sought. In 1900 Altona still had fewer than fifty inhabitants. The Truganina explosives storage facility, less than four kilometers from Laverton Railway Station, was chosen as a suitable location for a new explosives site because of its remote coastal location. A law passed in 1895, the Victorian Act 1456, also known as the Powder Magazines Act of 1896, authorized the governor to swap 225 acres of land originally owned by George Thomas Chirnside for 256 acres of inferior quality owned by the Victoria government to set up the explosives store and to build and operate a narrow-gauge railway line.
Narrow gauge railway
| Truganina Explosives Reserve Tramway | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Horse-drawn train, around 1954
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| Route length: | 2.7 km | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Gauge : | 610 mm ( 2 foot track ) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top speed: | 4.5 km / h | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The narrow-gauge railway with a track width of 610 mm (2 feet) began at the station of Laverton and carried along today's Merton Street and Queen Street today by the explosives store Truganina to a pier in the Altona Bay . It had eight side tracks running parallel to the main line and a shed and sidings at Laverton Station.
Explosives were shipped from the Deer Park factory to Laverton Station on the Victorian State Railways . There the explosives were reloaded in a human chain from the railway wagons into horse-drawn narrow-gauge wagons. With Clydesdale - draft horses , the narrow-gauge railway carriages were drawn to the explosives store then h at a speed of about 4.5 km /. The total length of the narrow-gauge railway was 2.7 km (133 chains ). The narrow-gauge railway line was in operation until 1936, when rail operations were replaced by road transport. After their arrival at the explosives store, the explosives were stored in the powder magazines until they were loaded onto ships for onward transport. Nine transports of explosives with 200 boxes of 50 pounds (22.7 kg) each were carried out each day . Nine horses and 43 carts were used for this.
If the explosives were to be shipped to other ports, the explosives boxes were brought by narrow-gauge railway to lighters moored at the 493 m long pier . The specially constructed motorless ships were towed by tugs from the jetty to their berths at Williamstown . From there, the barges brought their cargo onto special ships that were tied to specially anchored explosives buoys in Port Phillip Bay .
Magazines
Each magazine was about 9 by 5.5 meters in size and could store 20 tons of explosives. The magazines were built as light as possible to minimize damage from flying splinters. The walls of the magazines were made of brick. The wooden structure of the tiled roofs was not screwed to the walls, but only loosely placed and held down by gravity. This should minimize the damage to the building in the event of an explosion.
The explosives were stacked on air-permeable shelves so that air could circulate around the boxes at any time. The wooden boxes for explosives were made with brass nails or dovetail joints to minimize the possibility of sparks. Each powder magazine was surrounded on three sides by a large earth wall, with the open side facing away from the areas used by workers. These earth walls were designed to protect workers and their families from explosions if necessary. In the event of an explosion, the hills were designed in such a way that they would have dampened the effect, deflected the pressure wave and splinters upwards and seaward and contained the damage.
business
The administration of the explosives store and the operation of the narrow-gauge railway were subject to the Trade and Customs Commissariat. The site, surrounded by a two and a half meter high galvanized corrugated iron fence, was officially opened on May 1, 1901. Careful handling, transport and storage of the explosives were of the utmost importance to ensure the safety of employees and residents. Staff handling the explosives were instructed to wear leather aprons to protect their clothing and canvas overshoes to prevent sparks. Boots with nailed leather soles were considered too dangerous because sparks could have been struck from the boots, which could have caused an explosion.
Around 1950, the storage of explosives in Altona had reached its peak. Sixty-one magazines were up and running. Of these, 52 were used by Nobel Industries Limited , later ICI Australia , and nine by the government. A total of 36 people were employed in the explosives store. During this time the population of Altona grew to 4,000. Therefore, the risk of storing explosives in Altona was questioned and alternative locations were evaluated. On May 11, 1962, the auxiliary sailing ship Failie was the last to be loaded in the Truganina explosives store, and all remaining explosives were transferred to a newly built explosives store at Point Wilson . The first shipment from Point Wilson was on May 25, 1962.
Following the closure of the Truganina explosives store in 1962, the Victoria government sold most of the land but kept 16 acres for what was then the State Labor Protection Agency for experiments and demonstrations to destroy dangerous goods. Until 1994, the no longer needed or no longer usable explosives from the entire area of Victoria were brought there in order to professionally destroy them in a local bunker. In 1976, 0.8 hectares of the 16 hectares were transferred to the State Environmental Protection Agency for use as a vehicle test station. This use ended in June 1999. In June 2000, the Victoria Government commissioned Hobsons Bay City Council to manage the former Truganina explosives store as a park on their behalf.
Accidents and incidents
There were no notable accidents during operation. The stables in the Truganina explosives store were probably deliberately burned down by a tramp in 1904. The suspect was not arrested due to a lack of evidence.
When an ammunition lighter ran aground in a storm on April 9, 1946 , it was feared that it would explode. It was loaded with 300 tons of ammunition, mostly grenades . The ammunition could not be unloaded onto trucks at low tide because of the seaweed and the softness of the sand. An attempt was made to tow the lighter back into the sea at high tide using tugs.
Landscape, cultural and monument protection
plants and animals
Areas with native, exotic and salty vegetation and the hills of the residual dune system form a landscape with different characteristics that appears timeless. The high metal fence protected the site from human access, so that the land has been largely undisturbed for more than 100 years, and a natural, indigenous ecosystem has developed as a result. Three bird species of local importance live in the explosives store , the white-bellied sea eagle , the red-backed heron and the Ypsilon quail . The camp is also home to four species of bats, eight other species of mammals, and two species of reptiles.
Prehistory and early history
Archaeological research on the property has unearthed many stone artifacts including anvils, hammerstones, and axes with sharpened blades, suggesting that the coastal land has been inhabited by Aboriginal tribes for approximately 6,500 years. Remnants of Aboriginal settlement have also been found on the property, which along with the artifacts indicate that the area was used as a camp site. The area is part of the traditional land of the Yalukit Willam clan, who settled in the coastal areas that stretch from the north shores from Port Phillip to Wilson's Promontory . Little is known about the lifestyle of the Yalukit Willam clan. The Wurrundjeri Tribe Land Compensation Council and the Council of Cultural Heritage take care of the cultural heritage in the region.
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The name of the explosives store is derived from Truganini (1812–1876), who was long considered the last real Tasmanian woman. She was a daughter of the Aboriginal Elder Mananga of Bruny Island.
building
The Truganina explosives store is listed in the Victorian Heritage Database Report under Hermes number 70270. The 16 hectare salt marshes and old sand dunes have a high conservation value and are home to rare animal and plant species. The property remains state owned and has been nominated for listing on the Victorian State Heritage Register. The Keepers Quarters residence is already listed as Local Heritage by Hobson's Bay City Council.
Narrow gauge railway
Little has been preserved of the former narrow-gauge railway. The only visible part of the route can be seen on the south side of the explosives store, where it curves from a gate towards the jetty. There are still rails in a concrete channel built on the track curve with the embossing "WIW Australia" and a crown symbol, possibly the trademark of the Commonwealth Steel Company , whose Waratah Iron Works supplied many railways. The route disappears under the earthworks for a new pedestrian path.
During road works on the northeast corner of Queen Street and Merton Street, the embankment made of blue stone gravel came to light. At this point, the narrow-gauge railway line probably led with a suitable curve radius over the property on the corner. Another section of the driveway has been preserved near the ford west of Merton Street, again only as the earth dam that turns west from the entrance to Laverton train station and is partially covered with a modern cycle path. In these two sections and other sections of the routes inside the explosives store, the rails and sleepers are missing, but gravel and little metal parts can still be seen. The sections of the road inside the explosives store are either buried or overgrown.
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Laverton Explosive Tram on Facebook .
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Altona Laverton Historical Society: Truganina Explosives Reserve - Establishing an Explosives Reserve. Retrieved August 25, 2018.
- ↑ a b c Railpage: Truganina Explosives Reserve and Tramway (Historical).
- ↑ a b Truganina Explosives Reserve Brochure. Retrieved August 25, 2018
- ↑ Bridget Jolly: High And Dry By The Mangroves? South Australia's Dry Creek Explosives Magazine. First presented at the Fifth Australian Urban History Planning History Conference , University of South Australia, 13. – 15. April 2000 and published in the Conference Proceedings , edited by Christine Garnaut and Stephen Hamnett, University of South Australia, Adelaide 2000, pp. 222-232.
- ↑ Bridget Jolly: A Significant Site: the Former Dry Creek Explosives Reserve in: Journal of the Historical Society of South Australia, No. 29 , 2001, ISSN 0312-9640 , pp. 70-84.
- ^ Report of the Chief Inspector of Explosives to the Honorable the Chief Secretary, on the Working of the Explosives Act During the Year 1904. Presented to both Houses of Parlia1fent Pursuant to the Provisions of Section 35 of Act No. 1090. December 31, 1904. Retrieved August 25, 2018. p. 3 of 8.
- ↑ Grounded Munition Ship Scares Altona. In: The Argus 10 April 1946. Reproduced by Greg Milne: This Month in 1946. In: Around Altona. Issue 82, April 2015, page 12.
- ↑ Truganina Explosives Magazine Complex (former) and trees . Victorian Heritage Database. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ↑ a b Conservation Reserves . Hobson's Bay City Council. Archived from the original on October 29, 2007. Retrieved March 22, 2009.
- ^ EC Thompson: Truganina. The History of School No. 192, based on the research of George F. Green, head teacher 1932-1935. Educational Magazine, Vol 17, No 10.
- ↑ www.womenaustralia.info. Retrieved June 18, 2009.
- ^ Altona Explosives Reserve (Former). In: Victorian Heritage Database Report. Hermes Number 70270.
- ↑ Truganina Explosives Reserve Preservation Society: Truganina Explosives Reserve Keepers Quarters Restoration Project.
- ↑ a b Truganina Explosives Reserve Tramway. In: Victorian Heritage Database Report. Hermes Number 22240,
Coordinates: 37 ° 52 ′ 38.6 ″ S , 144 ° 48 ′ 21.3 ″ E