Photos from the Gregor Wallace Collection
The 1960s saw prolonged droughts and harsh water restrictions in Melbourne. There were also deadly bushfires on the fringes of the city in the Dandenong Ranges in 1962, and again in 1968.
Growing concerns about long-term water security led to a Parliamentary Public Works Committee inquiry between 1965 and 1967.
In response to the Inquiry’s final report, the Bolte Government immediately approved works for a 20 km diversion tunnel from the Thomson River in Gippsland into the Upper Yarra reservoir. Detailed planning also began for the construction of the massive Thomson Dam to significantly add to Melbourne’s water storage capacity.
The dam wall and diversion tunnels were built in three stages between 1969 and 1985.
The works included an additional 4-foot diameter pipeline along the Yarra Valley to take the increased flows.
These photos were taken near Lal Lal Falls, south of Warburton township on the 11 October 1974.
The photos cover two pipe sections from their arrival on the site to bedding onto screenings pads in the trench dug for them. The easement was widened significantly to allow for the new pipeline.
By today’s standards it looks like a fairly casual workplace.
