I" I I PACIFIC POWER I I : ~YD~tyD-OCT~C lJGtIT!liG : \ I ." .: .Offi[~!It!(j YATION fFJ> OffiCLj : I I I ~--i--:-~~~~~~~ . ~; . I ~~t~_: +--1_ -l-I-+--+-+--f-ll. I I '. I : fl(OtiT llEVATIOfI :" I REMAINS OF PYRMONT 'A' I POWER STATION I I Anne Bickford and Associates MAACA Heritage Consultants 135 Catherine St Leichhardt NSW 2040 I Phone 02 - 95699672 Fax 02 - 95500261 I FINAL REPORT I February 1994 I I I 1 I CONTENTS PAGE List of Figures 2 I List of Photographs 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4 I 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Client I 1.2 Liaison 1.3 The Study Area 1.4 The Brief 5 I 1.5 The Study Team and Authorship 1.6 Timing I 1.7 Constraints 2. BRIEF HISTORY OF PYRMONT 'A' 6 2.1 From "Pyrmont and Ultimo: A History" 1982 I 2.2 From "The Significance of White Bay and Balmain 7 Power Stations to Sydney's Industrial Heritage"...1989 I 2.3 From "Report Pyrmont Power Station"... 1990 3. DRAWINGS OF PYRMONT 'A' 8 I 4. GUIDE TO THE SET OF DRAWINGS OF PYRMONT 'A' 9 I 5. BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE DRAWINGS 11 6. SITE SURVEY 12 6.1 Fieldwork I 6.2 Results of Fieldwork 13 I 7. DIRECTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH I 8. THE ORIGINAL SHORELINE 14 I I I I I Anne Bickford and Associates Remains of Pyrmont 'A' Power Station February 1994 I I I 2 I LIST OF FIGURES NUMBER I [Consecutively following Executive Summary] I Location Map 1 Evolution of Pyrmont 'A' Power Station. Phase I (1903-1914) 2 I Evolution of Pyrmont 'A' Power Station. Phase II (1914-1925) 3 I Plan of Pyrmont Bay 1836 Showing Shoreline 4 1836 Shoreline Digitized Onto 1993 Plan 5 I Crossections of 1993 Shoreline Plan 6 Pyrmont 'A' Power Station During Construction 7 I of Boiler House No. 3. I 1987 Aerial Photo of Site 8 June 1990 Site During 'B' Station Chimney Stack Removal 9 I Key to Overview Photographs 10 [In front of photographs at end of Report] I I LIST OF PHOTOGRAPHS NUMBER [At end of Report] I Remaining front offices, Pyrmont Street looking north 1 I Remaining front offices, Pyrmont Street looking south 2 Rear elevation of remaining front offices. Basement level 3 I remains of Power Station in foreground Detail : original steel stanchion at corner of front offices / 4 I engine room. Note later roofline above Site overview from roof terrace of front offices looking 5 I south-east Site overview from observation platform looking 6 I east and south I Anne Bickford and Associates Remains of Pyrmont 'A' Power Station February 1994 I I I 3 I Site overview from elevated lane looking north and east 7 I Detail overview from roof terrace of front offices. 8 Arrow symbol indicates ,detail photo I Detail. Remains of steel stanchion on original engine 9 room (left). Concrete base to later steel stanchion from i Extension No. 4 (right). Detail. Front view of concrete stanchion base in Photo 9 . 10 I (Extension No. 4 - engine room) I Detail. Engine room 11 Detail. Engine room 12 I Detail. View down wall/column line between engine room 13 (left) and Boiler Houses Nos. 3 and 4 (right). Looking west I Detail. Engine room looking west 14 Detail. Remains of north facade and stair wells of 15 I Boiler Houses Nos. 3 and 4 looking east. Note window sills along top of remaining wall I Detail. Remains of coal conveyor tunnel Boiler House 16 No. 4 looking north. North facade and stairwell remains I in background. Detail. Remains of coal conveyor tunnel and flanking 17 forced draft air ducts - Boiler House No. 3. Note remains I of original chimney stack base (top right) I I I I I I Anne Bickford and Associates Remains of Pyrmont 'A' Power Station February 1994 I I I 4 I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY I In 1993 and early 1994 the Pyrmont 'B' Power Station was demolished. The demolition of the coal storage area revealed the remains of the I Pyrmont 'A' Power Station. The construction of Pyrmont 'A' began in 1903 and changes to the Station were completed by 1925. It was i demolished in 1949 to make way for Pyrmont 'B'. The site was inspected and the remains recorded in black and white film. The approximately 400 construction drawings of the Power I Station, held as aperture cards by Pacific Power, were examined. The most significant drawings were printed at A2 size, collated in chronological order, and bound into a folder. Research to compile a I brief history of the site took place. A guide to the construction drawings and a brief analysis of them was prepared for this Report. Five copies of the Report and two copies of the folder of construction I drawings were produced. It is considered that the remains of the Pyrmont 'A Power Station have I been examined and recorded to a sufficient level to allow its total demolition. No further work is needed on Pyrmont 'A'. I However, it is possible, though unlikely, that remains of historic structures which were there before the construction of Pyrmont 'A' could still exist on the site. For example, a well from a 19th century I dwelling could have been dug into the bedrock and now be obscured by the remaining concrete footings of the 'A' Station. Therefore it is advisable that during any future demolition or construction on the site I provision is made for archaeological advice in case of unexpected I archaeological finds. I I 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 The Client The client is Pacific Power, formerly the Electricity Commission of I NSW. 1.2 Liaison I The liaison officer is Ms. Sue McIntyre of the Environment, Fuet and Technology Development section of Pacific Power, Sydney. Mr. Paul Hill, Project Officer Decommissioned Power Stations, briefed the study I team at the site. I Anne Bickford and Associates Remains ofPyrmont 'A' Power Station February 1994 I I FIGURE 1 I LOCATION MAP B ( REV. 237211 Dawes fit. I WALSH I . I I BAY I Millers pL I U. I I I \ \ \ \ \ \ I \ 3 \ \ \ \ \ I \ \ \ I \'------ I I I I I I I I I I 7 I fIGURE 2 I EVOLUTION OF PYRMONT 'A' POWER STATION I PHASE I: (1903-1914) AI'l'IlQ')( It-1A;re J..OU.TI01'4 of I EXI'!m1J6ot f!oQlAIJV.J.lt-f \oJAlJ,.. I I I 1Il a! I ;z \LI ~I -" -!l ~. III I~T~l :% H.~ 1.. Ql1iI of :% ~I UI U.I I ",. ~ .5 - S 0\ 0 :% tI:o U.I "3 5 as.. u) :z. I :z \ 4 I PY~MOt-lT ""7TItlii-ET I I I I PHASE I: 1903-1914 I I I I I I I FIGURE 3 I EVOLUTION OF PYRMONT 'A' POWER STATION I PHASE 2: (1914-1925) I A~(I)( IMAn! LO'ATl()J OF I ex~llJ~ &~~O~ WAU- I ni·-....·-=.............,..-- '-'-'-'l'-'-'-'! I r!t~-- I I I LJ. I I .I I I I I &oIl.a.. ~~ ~~ 4- I 12 !:r-r-.,.. I I '7'&.~ I ~~ I: :_-----t &<l1LEll J.lOw;1s. N~ ~ o I 13 ! 11 !: ~I 6 I I I I I I I I PHASE 11 :1914-1925 I I I I I i j. ~( ':i· .\ V t , f Y 1. ~ ( ...- ~"Z~~Y ~ /" {L~' .. ~ __ . ..- '- .__._+--.............. ',', ..... ,; '~~ .' , ~:~..;" ..;;'..' 'j ~r-------------------------------------------------=---------------- - - -- - ---- ---- - - - - -- ISLAND LEGEND Coo.Ulna for 1836 CoooUlna for 199~ GeologIcal crosa Sectlon LJ Un.. - ••a FIgure 5 DARLING HARBOUR o 100 200m 1 ---_.'1=:===:::1 -I SCALE I I I PROPERTY SERVICES GROUP I CONTAMINATION ASSESSMENT OITY WEST REDEVELOPMENT PROJECl PYRMONT BAY MASTER PLAN I . FIGURE 4 I ORIGINAL FORESHORE AND . Souroe, Original foreshora digitized from GEOLOGICAL SECTION UNES' I plan of Estate of Pyrmont. 1636 ,I , .I ~ PSG-flG4 @I DAMES &. MOORE 08018.128.11 .. ~lI-H3 I I - - - ---- - - - ----- -- - - 10 10 8 P)m1ont Road I Approximate I P)m1ont 8 ',location of I Pow"," orlglnal , SlaUon SRA Properly I foroshora • boundary I ~ 2 2 o '~,'!~!-~I~~ o . ~!~ &W~u&m~t -2 E . ~ aBly and dayoy _do ... ! ii! -0 ~'~, -8 -8 -10 ,- ,- -10 -12 -12 -14 --'---------------------------.:...---------- --..:-1-14 A A SECTION A " A 10 P)m1onl 10 Rood 8 Approxlmato I Approxmato Power Station . · I' location at 8 .. ground level orlglnci !.P)m1ont 8 Power , toroahoro 8 .I 1Station SRA Properly L-~L.."';;:::'.....__ _ _ I boundary . 4 r I'orooh.... 1 I I Road .. .. 2 ',,-- \\I1art 11 2 '~ Fm: oandoton. and dayoy oando 0 ~,----- 0 E -2 , £otuarfne oodment ' _____ -2 E ~lyand dwiicindo ~, ApptoxImato lovol of cooling wat... ouUol ! ... canal entrance LEGEND !- f/J\Ir-, ..... ! ii! !'Jlll- ii! -8 ApproXimate rock levels prior .:I:. Groundwalor/Soawater level to construction at Power station -8 (reproduced from Dougloo and -8 PortnOlll report July 1992) Sandoton. bOcirodc Horizontal Seale 1:1000 -8 Vortlcol Exaggeration 5:1 -10 -10 -12 -12 PROPERTY SERVICES GROUP CONTAMINATION ASSESSMENT -14 -14 CITY WEST REDEVELOPMENT PROJECT PYRMONT BAY MASlER PLAN B B FIGURE 6 ....... SECTION B B GENERAUZED GEOLOGICAL· CROSS SECTIONS : ~ PSO-flCtl ~ ','. OAm 15-1-03 DAMES & MOORE ,'.. 08078.028.71 ..').. I FIGURE 7 PYRMONT 'A' POWER STATION I DURING CONSTRUCTION OF BOILER HOUSE No. 3 I I I I I I I I I I ()~IGtIt..lAL &OILeR fo{OlA$S I ~oo~ Ta ~e 176MOU~+'ED Fo~ ~,t.e~ HO/,($ f-.l ~ 4 I I· I I I I I I ----------------------------------- ----_ __ .. __ - ----- FIGURE 9 SITE DURING 'B' STATION CHIMNEY STACK REMOVAL JUNE 1990 (PACIFIC POWER CN5.0031 1.3) -'~- I I 5 I 1.3 The Study Area The study area is the site of the Pyrmont 'A' Power Station at Darling I Harbour.