Launceston Gas Works
Encyclopedia
The Launceston Gas Works was the principal supplier of gas to the city of Launceston
in Tasmania
before the creation of the Duck Reach Power Station. The gas works produced gas by heating coal and siphoning off the gas that it released. The first buildings on site were the horizontal retort buildings built in 1860 from brick and sandstone. The site was later used by Origin Energy
as their Launceston LPG outlet. The site is instantly recognisable by its steel braced, vertical retort building with the words "COOK WITH GAS" in the brickwork.
in Launceston.
At a public meeting at the Cornwall Hotel on the 18th May 1858, the Launceston Gas Company was formed. The company purchased the marshy paddock the same year due to its proximity to the North Esk River
. The first buildings on site were the Horizontal Retort buildings completed in early 1860. On the 5 April 1860, Launceston turned on its new gas street lighting for the first time and oil lamps were replaced by gas. The main source of gas was Newcastle
Coal from NSW. The gas was extracted by heating the coal until gas was produced. The site of the gas works was also directly opposite the TMLR
railyards on Willis Street which also helped when the gas works started to use Cornwall Coal from Tasmania's Fingal Valley. The site later expanded west with the new ownership of Origin Energy
. This involved the removal of Westcombe Street and the historic cottages that lined it in order to make a large gas cell (still standing) and LPG cylinder yard. This area has now been built over by the new Centerlink
building and car park.
and many more followed. An unusual feature associated with the cottage was a the Chief Engineer's private, heated swimming pool. It is said to still there, buried under the courtyard between the cottage and the gas laboratories. The pool was heated by steam from the Vertical Retort Building's boilers and was strictly out of bounds to all workers unless they were needed to fix it.
until the levee system was built over the wharves. The original building was a brick cottage but in the 1880s it had its facade rebuilt in a more victorian
style. The Headquarters have now been restored along with the other buildings on the site's north facing Boland Street. The company operated 123 gas lamps across the city as well as a special one outside the office. This lamp was later removed but is now back outside the office due to the restoration work.
, after which damage was repared quickly.
Today the building is falling into disrepair despite minor restoration work being carried out a few years earlier and most of the sandstone corners are heavily erroded. The north face of the building is only partially original and the chimney was demolished when the Vertical Retort came into operation.
The Meter Shop was also played a secondary role as the staff training centre and under Origin Energy ownership in the late 1900s, was solely used for this purpose. Gas Fitters, Meter Makers and Repairers had to do an apprenticeship that lasted 5 years with most men working for the company their whole life. Even the management stayed with a total of four Company Secretaries in 120 years. At its peak, the company employed up to 80 people. The company encouraged a family feeling among its employees, often organising annual Christmas picnics.
s is located in a small room on the ground floor, though lacking its firebox. The vertical retort is currently falling into ruin and large piles of droppings cover the floor and machinery due to the large number of pigeons that use the building as a roost because of the many decorative gaps in its brickwork.The tall metal chimney rises to 39m.
for town gas in 1978, the coal gas process produced many hazardous by-product gasses such as Ammonia
and Hydrogen Sulfide
which were always a potential hazard.
This building was also fitted with a drafting table where the Lab Assistant drew up site plans when they were needed. All the distribution maps for Launceston's gas mains were produced here.
complex has already been completed. The second stage will involve the construction of a whole new set of buildings: offices, retail outlets, restaurants, and apartments. These buildings are to be built on the south of the site facing Cimitier Street on top of the gas cell foundations. The third stage has currently been disapproved by the Launceston Council which would involve the development of the abandoned Origin Energy parking lot across Willis Street into more shops.
Launceston, Tasmania
Launceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
in Tasmania
Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is south of the continent, separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania—the 26th largest island in the world—and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 507,626 , of whom almost half reside in the greater Hobart...
before the creation of the Duck Reach Power Station. The gas works produced gas by heating coal and siphoning off the gas that it released. The first buildings on site were the horizontal retort buildings built in 1860 from brick and sandstone. The site was later used by Origin Energy
Origin Energy
-History:Origin Energy was formed in February 2000, as a result of a demerger from the Australian conglomerate Boral Limited, in which the energy business was removed from the building and construction materials business to form the new company....
as their Launceston LPG outlet. The site is instantly recognisable by its steel braced, vertical retort building with the words "COOK WITH GAS" in the brickwork.
History
Starting in 1826, Launceston was lit with lamps running on Sperm Whale Oil. These lamps were unpopular and local butchers soon replaced these with "slush" lamps that burned animal fat. These lamps were still dislike by many so in 1844, local man, Mr Pugh, produced his own coal gas for his house and a year later Benjamin Hyrons lit the Angel Inn with methane gas. Eventually, a group of Launceston businessmen, inspire by the success of the newly created Hobart Town Gas Works, came up this the idea of building a gasworksGasworks
A gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
in Launceston.
At a public meeting at the Cornwall Hotel on the 18th May 1858, the Launceston Gas Company was formed. The company purchased the marshy paddock the same year due to its proximity to the North Esk River
North Esk River
The North Esk River is a river in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the tributaries of the Tamar River together with the South Esk River. It starts in the Northallerton Valley below Mt Ben Nevis in the states North East joining with the St Patricks River, flowing through Launceston. Launceston's...
. The first buildings on site were the Horizontal Retort buildings completed in early 1860. On the 5 April 1860, Launceston turned on its new gas street lighting for the first time and oil lamps were replaced by gas. The main source of gas was Newcastle
Newcastle, New South Wales
The Newcastle metropolitan area is the second most populated area in the Australian state of New South Wales and includes most of the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie Local Government Areas...
Coal from NSW. The gas was extracted by heating the coal until gas was produced. The site of the gas works was also directly opposite the TMLR
Tasmanian Main Line Company
The Tasmanian Main Line Company was a private railway that opened a narrow gauge line from Hobart to Evandale, near Launceston, where it connected with the Launceston and Western Railway.- Initial proposals :...
railyards on Willis Street which also helped when the gas works started to use Cornwall Coal from Tasmania's Fingal Valley. The site later expanded west with the new ownership of Origin Energy
Origin Energy
-History:Origin Energy was formed in February 2000, as a result of a demerger from the Australian conglomerate Boral Limited, in which the energy business was removed from the building and construction materials business to form the new company....
. This involved the removal of Westcombe Street and the historic cottages that lined it in order to make a large gas cell (still standing) and LPG cylinder yard. This area has now been built over by the new Centerlink
CenterLink
CenterLink was founded in 1994 as a member-based coalition to support the development of strong, sustainable LGBT community centers. The organization plays an important role in supporting the growth of LGBT centers across the country and addressing the challenges they face, by helping them to...
building and car park.
Notable Buildings
The Chief Engineers Cottage
The Chief Engineer of the site used to live in an ornate cottage on the NE corner of the site. The first engineer was William Falconer from ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and many more followed. An unusual feature associated with the cottage was a the Chief Engineer's private, heated swimming pool. It is said to still there, buried under the courtyard between the cottage and the gas laboratories. The pool was heated by steam from the Vertical Retort Building's boilers and was strictly out of bounds to all workers unless they were needed to fix it.
Company Office
The Company Office is located next to the Chief Engineer's Cottage and used looked out across the North EskNorth Esk River
The North Esk River is a river in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the tributaries of the Tamar River together with the South Esk River. It starts in the Northallerton Valley below Mt Ben Nevis in the states North East joining with the St Patricks River, flowing through Launceston. Launceston's...
until the levee system was built over the wharves. The original building was a brick cottage but in the 1880s it had its facade rebuilt in a more victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
style. The Headquarters have now been restored along with the other buildings on the site's north facing Boland Street. The company operated 123 gas lamps across the city as well as a special one outside the office. This lamp was later removed but is now back outside the office due to the restoration work.
Horizontal Retort
Built from brick with sandstone edging, the Horizontal Retort building was erected in 1860 and is one of the oldest buildings on site. The central portion of the building used to have a 39.3m (129ft) brick chimney and housed 18 retorts with room for an additional 6. On either side of the main building were to wings, one for the storage of coal imported form England and NSW and the other being a purifying house which also contained the "smiths" and gasfitters shops. Gas produced in this building was stored in a 15m (50ft) diameter gasometer. The brick chimney was built by A Henderson with Francis and Miller being contracted to build the main building, all at a total cost of £3333. In 1929, this building was flooded to a depth of 4ft during the great floods of 19291929 Tasmanian Floods
The most deadly floods in Tasmania's history occurred in April 1929 when 22 people were killed and 40 injured. The floods helped to prompt the construction of flood levees in the city of Launceston, Tasmania's second largest city and an important economic centre in the North of Tasmania.Flooding...
, after which damage was repared quickly.
Today the building is falling into disrepair despite minor restoration work being carried out a few years earlier and most of the sandstone corners are heavily erroded. The north face of the building is only partially original and the chimney was demolished when the Vertical Retort came into operation.
Governor Cottage
Located on the south of the site bordering Cimitier Street, this small tin-clad building was used as the gaswork's distribution point. As with the rest of the southern half of the site, this building is in disrepair with all of its windows brocken by vandals. Inside, most of the original machinery is still intact and many of which displaying intricate patterns and decorations cast into them. Some of the equipment includes gas meters and a large electric impeller along with numerous pipes and valves.Meter Shop
The Meter Shop was were the new gas meters were assembled and tested. By 1958, there were 6333 meters across Launceston. The Gas Fitters did the meter rounds by bicycle, often loading the bicycles with everything they needed from 20 ft pipes to plywood. The Engineering staff and the company fitters also used the building to write up the daily logbooks.The Meter Shop was also played a secondary role as the staff training centre and under Origin Energy ownership in the late 1900s, was solely used for this purpose. Gas Fitters, Meter Makers and Repairers had to do an apprenticeship that lasted 5 years with most men working for the company their whole life. Even the management stayed with a total of four Company Secretaries in 120 years. At its peak, the company employed up to 80 people. The company encouraged a family feeling among its employees, often organising annual Christmas picnics.
Vertical Retort Building
The 29m high (not including stack height) Vertical Retort Building was built in 1932 as the primary gas production facility. The vertical retort is the most recognisable building on site and is an iconic building in Launceston. The building is built from 2 layers thick of brick reinforced with external steel bracing. The inscription "COOK WITH GAS" is written in the top floor's brickwork. The building climbs four stories with a still intact track system used to carry the coal to the top floor (visible running up the front of the building). Inside, the coal fell into a massive brick block, divided into 6 separite shutes, where it was heated by a series of boilers to extract the gas. One of the boilerBoiler
A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated. The heated or vaporized fluid exits the boiler for use in various processes or heating applications.-Materials:...
s is located in a small room on the ground floor, though lacking its firebox. The vertical retort is currently falling into ruin and large piles of droppings cover the floor and machinery due to the large number of pigeons that use the building as a roost because of the many decorative gaps in its brickwork.The tall metal chimney rises to 39m.
Laboratory and Workshop
Located between the Chief Engineers Cottage and the Vertical Retort, the Laboratory was an essential part of the site. Every day, samples of gas were tested in this building for quality. The laboratory was no safe place, before switching to ButaneButane
Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or...
for town gas in 1978, the coal gas process produced many hazardous by-product gasses such as Ammonia
Ammonia
Ammonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . It is a colourless gas with a characteristic pungent odour. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to food and fertilizers. Ammonia, either directly or...
and Hydrogen Sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide
Hydrogen sulfide is the chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless, very poisonous, flammable gas with the characteristic foul odor of expired eggs perceptible at concentrations as low as 0.00047 parts per million...
which were always a potential hazard.
This building was also fitted with a drafting table where the Lab Assistant drew up site plans when they were needed. All the distribution maps for Launceston's gas mains were produced here.
Future
The gasworks are currently being developed in a large 3 part scheme costing $35 million. The first stage costing $8 million involving the restoration of the cottages on the north of the site as part of the new CenterlinkCenterLink
CenterLink was founded in 1994 as a member-based coalition to support the development of strong, sustainable LGBT community centers. The organization plays an important role in supporting the growth of LGBT centers across the country and addressing the challenges they face, by helping them to...
complex has already been completed. The second stage will involve the construction of a whole new set of buildings: offices, retail outlets, restaurants, and apartments. These buildings are to be built on the south of the site facing Cimitier Street on top of the gas cell foundations. The third stage has currently been disapproved by the Launceston Council which would involve the development of the abandoned Origin Energy parking lot across Willis Street into more shops.
See also
- Launceston, TasmaniaLaunceston, TasmaniaLaunceston is a city in the north of the state of Tasmania, Australia at the junction of the North Esk and South Esk rivers where they become the Tamar River. Launceston is the second largest city in Tasmania after the state capital Hobart...
- Coal gasificationCoal gasificationCoal gasification is the process of producing coal gas, a type of syngas–a mixture of carbon monoxide , hydrogen , carbon dioxide and water vapour –from coal...
- GasificationGasificationGasification is a process that converts organic or fossil based carbonaceous materials into carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and methane. This is achieved by reacting the material at high temperatures , without combustion, with a controlled amount of oxygen and/or steam...
- Origin EnergyOrigin Energy-History:Origin Energy was formed in February 2000, as a result of a demerger from the Australian conglomerate Boral Limited, in which the energy business was removed from the building and construction materials business to form the new company....
- Tasmanian Main Line CompanyTasmanian Main Line CompanyThe Tasmanian Main Line Company was a private railway that opened a narrow gauge line from Hobart to Evandale, near Launceston, where it connected with the Launceston and Western Railway.- Initial proposals :...