By Col Bruton
When the North Bulli Iron and Coal Mining Company first investigated the concept of mining for coal at Coledale, then called “Priena” after a town in Spain, one of the first concerns was, “From where do we obtain a permanent water supply?”
Naturally, any mining operations need a good water supply to be of any success. There were the options of damming local creeks or catching springs in the Heights and Middle Heights area. Just north of the Coke Works, there was a Huge Dam (in a young boy’s eyes), built across Carrighs (now Carricks) Creek for the quelling of the coke ovens when they were opened.
The name “Priena” was dropped, with the proposed mine being called Bulli North No. 2 Colliery. The Bulli North No.1 Colliery was at “Austermere”. The mine surveyor at the time suggested that it might be possible to draw water from the Upper Loddon River. There was a quite large natural waterhole, carved out of the Hawkesbury sandstone by thousands upon thousands (probably millions) of flooding flows that cause corrosion. Corrosion occurs when grains of sand are continually swirled around, causing the cutting back of the sandstone, firstly as a small hole, then gradually into a much larger pond. Do this for a couple of million years and you have some beautiful, natural, deep ponds. The ones you wish that were there in your backyard.
Eventually, the need for a permanent water supply became quite urgent.
A pumping station was built, along with a 150mm steel pipe laid across the Nepean Ramp, to “Initial Rock”, immediately above Priena Mine. The steel pipe was then squeezed between initial rock and the escarpment, then fastened above ground, to the escarpment itself. On leaving the escarpment, the steel pipe was laid underground to where the pipe drove a Pelton wheel.
The Pelton wheel was a fairly new idea, having been invented by Lester Pelton, from the Californian Gold Fields in 1877. The Pelton wheel then drove a turbine which produced power. So the intellection of the steel pipe from Upper Loddon River gave the mining company two “gifts”. One of a permanent water supply. The other, an abundance of electricity, generated by the turbines driven by the water supply. Meaning, of course, there was no need for steam engines to supply power to the mine and eventually to the coke ovens. Later on, as the mining company expanded, water and electricity were distributed to “selected homes”. Water and electricity were also extended to serve the Hicks Point Jetty.
Some parts of Coledale, or North Bulli as it was then called, received a water supply and electricity long before the people of Wollongong.
Along with many projects of its kind, all the work was carried out with manual labour. Exceptional heavy lifting and lowering was executed using a series of pulleys, where one man could lift or lower several hundred kilos of pipes or other material. Very hard slogging, even in its time. But then, men were so much tougher in 1886.
About the writer
Col Bruton was born in Marrickville on 2 June 1934. He lived in a fibro weekender in the middle of Sharky Beach and attended Coledale Public, often going barefooted to school via Sharky Beach and The Menzies. “From an early age, I learnt the difference between high tides and big seas because it determined how I went to school. All up, I have 10 academic and technical qualifications; was the most qualified person on the then Water Board staff of over 12,000; spent most of my time in hydraulic control diagrams and in water investigations.” Col also taught civil engineering at Wollongong Tech. He was active in Surf Life Saving, Illawarra Canoe Club, Illawarra Alpine Club and Kosciuszko Ski Patrol, a Skiing Judge and Honorary Ranger. Col says: “Worked from 1950 to 2008. Retired? Not bloody likely.”
