Published Resources Details
Conference Paper
- Title
- A Brief History of Northern Territory Groundwater Development: Wells, Bores and Drilling Rigs
- In
- Engineering Heritage Matters: Conference Papers of the 12th National Conference on Engineering Heritage, Toowoomba, 29 September to 1 October 2003
- Imprint
- Engineers Australia, Barton, Australian Capital Territory, 2003, pp. 129-134
- ISBN/ISSN
- 064642775X
- Url
- https://search.informit.org/doi/10.3316/informit.339040840438093
- Abstract
This paper discusses the Northern Territory history of well and bore construction and drilling methods. Water supplies were needed for settlement and industry, and in the harsh Territory environment, groundwater rather than surfacewater is the dominant source. The development of groundwater for settlement, pastoralism. mining and agriculture was essential to the progress of primary industries - the backbone of the Territory's economy. Drilling rigs were scarce and boring was exceedingly expensive prior to the Second World War which meant that wells remained a dominant source of groundwater until then. The first drilling rigs were steam driven percussion rigs. In the 1920s, semi stationary percussion rigs that operated on diesel were introduced. Percussion drilling remained the dominant method until I960 when the first rotary air drilling rig arrived in the Territory, Rotary air drilling revolutionised boring because of its ability to drill deeper holes, and at a much faster rate. The technical advances in drilling, and the harnessing of groundwater has made an enormous impact on the survival of arid settlements; and primary industry almost totally relies on it. Groundwater now accounts for 90% of the Territory's water supplies and is a vital resource for the economy.
Related Published resources
isPartOf
- Engineering Heritage Matters: Conference Papers of the 12th National Conference on Engineering Heritage, Toowoomba, 29 Sept to 1 Oct 2003 edited by Sheridan, Norman (Barton, Australian Capital Territory: Engineers Australia, 2003), 183 pp, https://search.informit.org/doi/book/10.3316/informit.064642775X. Details