Person
D'Alton, John (c. 1829 - 1904)
- Born
- c. 1829
Kilkenny, Ireland - Died
- 30 September 1904
Brighton, Victoria, Australia - Occupation
- Civil engineer and Municipal engineer
Summary
John D'Alton CE was Municipal Engineer for the Borough and Shire of Stawell in Western Victoria from 1870 to 1882. His most significant contribution was the design and building of the innovative Stawell water supply system that has served the community for over 130 years. Water was captured from the Fyans Creek in the Grampians, then conveyed via a 12 km above-ground timber flume constructed over rough terrain, a 1 km tunnel through the Mount William Range, and a 25 km pipeline to a reservoir at Big Hill in Stawell. The tunnel was created used the cutting-edge Australian technology of steam-powered air compressors and rock drills developed by Robert Ford. The water supply flume system is the only surviving example in Victoria.
Details
Chronology
- 1861
- Life event - Migrated to Victoria
- 1861 - 1862
- Career position - Engineering draftsman, Working for John Usher CE, Ararat [Original designs for bridges, roads, buildings, reservoirs, and surveys]
- 1863 -
- Career position - Government Mining Surveyor and Registrar, Pleasant Creek and Barclay Divisions of the Ararat Mining District
- 1870 - 1871
- Career position - Municipal engineer, Borough of Stawell
- 1871
- Career event - Granted Certificate of Competency as Engineer and Surveyor (CE), (2nd Class Cert B), Shires Statute and Boroughs Statute 1869 VIC
- 1872 - 1875
- Career position - Municipal engineer, Shire of Stawell
- 1874 - 1882
- Career position - Municipal engineer, Borough of Stawell
- 1886 - 1889
- Career position - Municipal engineer, Shire of Portland
- 1891 - 1897
- Career position - Municipal engineer, Town of Brighton
Related entries
Children
Sibling
Published resources
Journal Articles
- Peake, Owen, 'Stawell water supply - sources in the Victorian Grampians: a tale of a visionary engineer and great engineering achievement', Engineering Heritage Australia magazine, 1 (7) (2015), 18-20, https://www.engineersaustralia.org.au/sites/default/files/Learned%20Society/eha%20magazine%20vol%201%20no%207%20June%202015.pdf. Details
Newspaper Articles
- Davidson, Robert, 'North-western canal scheme', The Age (1878), 7, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article5938532. Details
Resources
- 'D'Alton, John (1829-19040930)', Trove, National Library of Australia, 2009, https://nla.gov.au/nla.party-1772570. Details
Helen Cohn; Ken McInnes
Last modified: 5 March 2025