Published Resources Details
Conference Paper
- Title
- A cradle for all the developments of electric welding in the world
- In
- Engineering Heritage Victoria, Speakers Programme
- Imprint
- 24 October 2019
- Url
- https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/event/2019/09/cradle-all-developments-electric-welding-world
- Abstract
Between 1920 and 1926, the Metropolitan Gas Company, Melbourne pioneered the use of electric welding in creating all-welded gasworks, under the direction of engineer-in-chief Joseph Newell Reeson MInstCE, with Harry Ernest Groves MVIE superintendent of construction branch, and engineer Allan Ramsay Moon AMIE(Aust).
They created the world's first fully electric welded gasholder at South Melbourne in 1922; the world's largest all welded structure in the 2,750,000 cubic feet Fitzroy gasholder in 1926; and formed one of the most complete welding organisations in the world.
Together with the world-leading welding equipment developments by EMF Electric Pty Ltd, Melbourne became a leading centre of electric welding technology and innovation. Electric arc welding was quickly adopted by many government agencies to repair and strengthen bridges, to accommodate heavier railway locomotives, or for electric trams. Manufacturers started to use welding instead of casting, automatic welding equipment was invented to enable welded steel pipes to be made, and boilers, electricity transmission towers, excavation equipment, railway rolling stock, cars and domestic appliances started to be made using electric-arc welding. During the late 1920s, early 1930s, after extensive testing of materials and determining the strengths of different types of welds, building regulations gradually changed to permit all-welded steel framed industrial and commercial buildings to be designed and built, as well as all-welded bridges, leading to the first Australian Standard for welding of steel structures AS CA8-1933.
In the 1950s, the Melbourne gasworks were considered to be 'a cradle for all the developments of electric welding in the world', 'the museum of world welding'. Now they are mostly gone. However, their technological significance should be recognized in the redevelopments of the sites, and any of the remaining welded structures still on-site. There are many lessons that we can still learn from this early pioneering work, and from the unfortunate removal of the fabric from our collective memories. We should also be identifying, recognising and protecting other significant early electric arc welding sites, for their scientific and technical significance.