June/July 2012 issue

What’s in this issue

• From our Director

• From our President

• Our New Fellows

• Australia Day Honours

• Young Engineers Report

• Technical Presentations

- Katherine

• Gove Engineering Pro-

fessional Development

Evening

• Alice Springs site visit to

DAF Plant

• Technical Presentations

- Alice Springs

• Last Chance to tickets to

Excellence Awards

• Technical Presentations

- Darwin

• Science & Engineering

Challenge

• Sun Visors available for

purchase

• New Members

• Young Engineers Golf

Day

• Engineering Week/

Science Week - Dates for your Diary

• Eminent Speakers

• Fellows Luncheon

• Gearing up for Business

Expo

• Science Week Events

Calendar

• Engineering Heritage—

140th Anniversary of Overland Telegraph

• Venus Transit

• Dates for your Diary

Partners

This month has really demonstrated our commitment to the Year of the

Engineering Team. We have had events in Alice Springs, Gove and Jakarta as

well as multiple presentations in Darwin. Well done to our members in these

places who have contributed to the planning and conducting of these events. The-

se events are always advertised in the Weekly Email that we send to you each

Wednesday. We try and limit the number of emails that go out unless we are hav-

ing a poor response to an event and we need to know if you are coming or not.

Hence the Weekly is now our main source of information for you. Please take a

few minutes to have a read when it comes. The links to register are in there as well until the closing

time. If you get caught then please let us know.

It has been exciting to see our Jakarta group getting together again. If any of you are heading

in that direction then please let us know as I am sure they would be pleased to meet with you.

As you know the Engineering Excellence Awards are happening on 26 July. If you haven’t

purchased tickets you can call the Division and convince us as to why you haven’t registered yet.. We

will need to be strict about not accepting latecomers this year as the caterers need to know well in

advance for ordering purposes. Those that attended the presentations at City of Darwin were im-

pressed by the standard of projects that have been submitted. So come along and have a good night

with you friends and colleagues.

Charles Darwin University is revamping the Industry Engagement Group. This is a require-

ment to ensure the ongoing accreditation of the Engineering Degrees. If you think you would like to

be part of this group then please let us know. It will be a commitment of 3 or 4 meetings a year and

they would like to see some experienced members participate in this.

Bronwyn Russell

Director – Northern Division

Diploma in Project Management Courses - Register your interest now!

Course will be conducted at Engineers Australia Northern Division on the following dates:

• 15—16 October 2012 (Module 1)

• 11—12 February 2013 (Module 2)

• 15-16 April 2013 (Module 3)

• 17—18 June 2013 (Module 4)

• TBC August 2013 (Module 5)

For more informa4on on this course contact

Engineering Educa4on Australia on

03 9274 9600 or visit the website

www.eeaust.com.au

Well we are half way through the

year now and the Engineering Excel-

lence Awards are just around the corner!

I have now completed my application

for chartered status using the new Stage

2 competencies. I promised in my last

newsletter article that I would report

back to you on how it went. Many

moons ago, I had started my charted status application and

found writing the career episode reports a very laborious task

that I never seemed to be able to get around to finish. I also found

that the old style career episode reports were clumsy when trying

to reference competency units to parts of a story.

The new Stage 2 competencies, I am pleased to report,

are a much easier, intuitive, logical and fluent style of writing.

There are 16 elements in total. You must write 500 to 700 words

for each. It was easier to write because you could finish smaller

portions of the application at a time. Writing an example to prove

an element is much easier than the old style of writing a story

and then fitting the elements to match. For those of you who have

ever applied for a government position, it is very similar to an-

swering selection criteria. I would encourage those of you who

have tried before and didn’t get around to finishing, to try the

new style. I think you will be pleasantly surprised!

I also have an update for you on the legislation for regis-

tration of engineers, technologists and associates. Recently, I con-

tacted the Queensland President, Steven Goh and he put me in

touch with the Registrar in Queensland, Clare Murray. Clare pro-

vided me with a copy of the Queensland legislation and has of-

fered to come and meet with us when we are in the throws of

getting the legislation through. I have also discussed the legisla-

tion with several government officers which are also keen to pur-

sue the NT legislation. Another thought that came out of my dis-

cussions is that it could also be based on the NT legislation for

registration of Architects. If any members have any views on

which they would prefer, or the legislation in general please get

in contact with me. Watch this space……

One last note. For those of you who do not know, I am

moving on from my position with the Northern Territory Gov-

ernment. I will be starting up a new consultancy office for the

Highland Infrastructure Group (HIG for short) here in Darwin.

The company is run by some Queensland colleagues of mine that

have asked that I start a Darwin Office for them. It was a very

hard decision for me. As most of you know, I love working with

the government and I have worked with some awe inspiring peo-

ple and great teams during my time in the public service. Howev-

er, this was an opportunity I couldn’t refuse and I am looking

forward to the challenges that lie ahead of me.

Louise McCormick

President Northern Division

Partner

Congratula4ons to our newest Fellows:

• Lakshman Rajaratnam

• Jamal Ahmad El-Den

Congratula4on to members who have

recently become Chartered:

• Jacinta Kelly MIEAust CPEng

• Michael Collins MIEAust CPEng

• Tom Gooding MIEAust CPEng

• Chandon Kalase MIEAust CPEng

A belated congratula'ons to a member and supporter of

Northern Division who were recipients of Australia Day

Award

Dominic V Fracaro

Awarded Member of the Order of Australia

For service to the community of the Northern Territory

as a supporter of a range of charitable, historical, educa-

'onal and spor'ng organisa'ons, to the visual arts, and

to business.

Brendan J Lawson FIEAust

Awarded Public Service Medal

For outstanding public service to the Northern Territory,

par'cularly in the successful management of major in-

frastructure projects.

The Young Engineers have had a mix-

ture of social and professional learning

events recently. Early June saw the

return of the ten-pin bowling competi-

tion. There were six teams involved in

Darwin, and appropriately for Year of

the Regional Engineering Team, a team

from Alice Springs also took part in the

competition, playing on the same night at their local bowling

alley. After two games of bowling the scores were tallied and the

eventual winners were... the architects! Some of the Young Engi-

neers events involve creating networking opportunities with

fellow professionals, hence the team of young architects were

invited along again, although having won the bowling trophy for

the past two years, we may “forget” to invite them next year so

that an engineering team can win!

Another popular event returned later in June – a visit to

the Naval base and a guided tour of one of their patrol boats.

Although confirmation of the tour was only given two days be-

fore hand, a group of ten were able to make it and shown around

the Navy Patrol Boat HMAS Glenelg. The one hour tour took in

amongst things the bridge, living quarters and engine room, with

lots of interesting facts and figures on everything from engine

performance to the onboard water recycling system. A big thanks

for the Navy for offering the tour. No doubt will do it again next

year for those that missed out.

There are more events coming up – including the golf

day 14 September and we are very pleased to announce that the

YEA National Committee will be coming to Darwin for their next

quarterly meeting at the end of August. After a long time push-

ing for them to come up here, it will be great to finally show

them what the Northern Territory has to offer engineers. There

will be a chance to meet the national reps in a networking func-

tion, plus for those of them that are here for a few days a couple

of social trips are in order. You can keep up to date with our

events through Facebook (look for the YEA Northern Division

page) twitter (follow @YEA_ND) and LinkedIn (via the Young

Engineers Australia Northern Division group). And of course we

are always looking for ideas of events, social and professional, so

come along to one of our monthly meetings or email

yeand@engineersaustralia.org.au

Thanks,

J-P

President of YEAND

Sponsor

A message from the President of Young Engineers

Young Engineers at the Navy Patrol

Boat HMAS Glenelg

The Architects Winning Team

Technical Presentations Gove Engineering Professional - Project Entrants Katherine Development Evening

Sponsor

Technical Presentations by project entrants in the

2012 Engineering Excellence Awards were held in Katherine in

May 2012. Over 22 members, non-members and their guests

attended this event, including the Mayor of Katherine, Faye Mil-

ler and Chief Executive Officer. David Laugher, along with Wil-

lem Westra Van Holthe and his wife Jennie.

The two presentations included Aurecon for the RAAF

Base Tindal AEWC Facilities and Cullen River Bridge. Other

patrons in the restaurant were also very interested in the presen-

tations and asked a few questions.

The event included a 3-course dinner of extremely good

food provided by the Stonegrill Paraway Motel.

All who attended enjoyed the event immensely.

A dinner celebrating “The Year of Regional Engi-neering Team” was recently hosted by Pacific Aluminium and Engineers Australia at the Walkabout Hotel. Sunny Bhatti, Young Engineers Aus-tralia (YEA) representative for Regional Special Interest

Group (RSIG) Engineers Australia and Richard Parry, volunteer for the YEA Northern Division were the Master of Ceremonies with guest speakers, Dr Rob Heywood and Paul Mastin. Dr Rob Heywood from Engineering Solutions is a foren-sic structural engineer and an educator. He is the Deputy Chairman of the Engineer Australia’s Structural College Board and recently completed a series of “Forensic Engineering” presentations in regional centres and capital cities around Aus-trlaia. As guest speaker, Rob provided insight to civil and struc-ture failures, investigations and determination of root causes. Rob gave a personal recount of the 2011 Christchurch earth-quake recover operation, the civil, structural safety hazards when working in a major disaster area, techniques used to de-fine search areas and how victims were located. Changes have come about to design standards as a result of this natural disas-ter. In summary Rob reinforced the importance of the engineer-ing profession, our responsibilities to the community and the importance of sound engineering practices. Paul Mastin, Superintendent Mechnical Engineering at Gove Operations, originally from the UK spoke about his di-verse engineering career. A light hearted entertaining presenta-tion Paul explained how his career had covered a wide range of industries including gearbox, watch and spy camera manu-facturing, heavy industrial processes and materials handling. Highlights included his work as a volunteer for two years as an engineer in a developing country, where he met his Australian wife. Paul has been employed by Gove Operations since 1994 where he has worked on numerous projects including the G3 expanstion. Paul was presented with an Engineers Australia Fellowship by Bronwyn Russell, Director, Engineers Australia Northern Division, celebrating his continual support as a Char-tered Engineer. The evening was celebrated as a success with the aim to make it a yearly event for Gove Operations. This event was partly funded by Young Engineers National Engineers Austral-ia.

Sunny Bhatti

Alice Springs site visit to DAF plant

Supporter

On Thursday the 21 June 2012, over 30 engineering and technical people from lo-

cal /Territory government, local consultancies and private business attended the com-

bined AWA and Engineers Australia Technical Tour at the Alice Springs DAF Plant,

Commonage Road, Alice Springs.

The Dissolved Air Flotation has been operating since 2008, and Power and Water's (PWC)

Water Services staff Abdul Basit Bashir, Billy Flanagan, Lewis Manners, Mark Wiltshire

provided an enthusiastic explanation about the 8 ML of wastewater received each day on

the 47 hectare site, and the treatment required for reuse south of Alice Springs.

Wastewater from the site has been limited in the past to nearby grazing areas adjacent to

the showgrounds as Alice Springs is topographically divided by the MacDonnell Ranges.

Options for further reuse include the provision of reticulated reuse water that meets the health standards for irrigation for cara-

van parks, recreational areas and roadside enhancement, and this is currently being negotiated with key stakeholders including

government and developers.

Another challenge is the need for bacteriological analysis of routine samples for pathogens , parasites (rotavirus) and E.

coli, where a 36 hour time frame is critical in the determination of performance of tertiary treatment prior to irrigation for recrea-

tional areas. PWC has been working with the local Department of Resources laboratory to fulfil this requirement.

Upon the conclusion of the tour, many of the participants took the opportunity for drinks and eats at the Gap-View,a

nearby 'watering hole' overlooking the MacDonnell Ranges Gap that separates the Alice Springs urban area, north of the Mac-

Donnell Ranges, and the emerging development, the wastewater ponds and the airport to the south of the town.

Supporter

Engineering Excellence Awards Technical Presentations Project Entrants - Alice Springs

Over 45 members, guests and general public attended the

Technical Presentations for Alice Springs Project entrants in May

2012 at the Crowne Plaza, Alice Springs.

Uterne Solar Power Plant entry by Suncorp and Alice

Springs Power Network Upgrade were the two entrants that fea-

tured for in the Technical Presentations.

Nstional President, David Hood took time out of his busy

schedule to attend this “Year of the Regional Engineering Team”

event as did the Hon Member for Braitling, Adam Giles.

It was pleasing to see the support that Alice Springs

showed for our project entrants. The winners of last year’s Na-

tional Engineering Excellence Awards, CAT Projects who went

onto win the “Sir William Hudson” Award in 2011, showed their

support with 11 attending to support this year’s project entrants.

A good evening was had by all who attended and it gave

the opportunity for our National President to meet many mem-

bers from Alice Springs.

With 12 entrants in this year’s Awards, the Technical Presentations which were held in Darwin and hosted by the City of Darwin in their upstairs function room provided members and guests with an interesting evening. Project Entrants were given 10 minutes maximum to tell all about their projects and the last opportunity to “sway the judges” opinions. Keely Quinn kept her finger on the bell to ensure that they didn’t run over time with so many entrants for this year’s Awards. Darwin City Council proudly hosted this event, as they have done for the past 3 years by providing food and beverage for those who attended. The enthusiasm and dedication by those who entered the Awards was highlighted during the presentations. Good luck to all the entrants in this year’s Awards and we look forward to sharing a great night with you all on 26th July 2012.

Engineering Excellence Awards Technical Presentation Project Entrants - Darwin

Supporter

The 2nd & 3rd of May saw

the 2012 Science & Engineering

Challenge take place at Charles

Darwin’s University Casuarina

Campus, with 15 teams from 12

schools from Darwin, Palmerston

and Alice Springs.

The 2 day event was re-named the

Northern Territory Challenge and

incorporated a team from Alice Springs, made up of 2 schools.

This was due to funding constraints that mean that an Alice

Springs event wasn’t feasible. Thankfully interested schools in

Alice Springs, with the help of the Alice Springs organising com-

mittee, banded together to make a team and get them to Darwin.

The days flew by as over 200 students per day took part

in fun, but educational, hands on science & engineering activities.

New activities, such as the I-Fell Tower proved popular with stu-

dents and spectators alike as creations made to stand as a tower

were put to the test with crushing, and entertainingly destructive,

force.

Over the 2 days school teams battled it out to be the

champion of the Northern Territory for 2012. Alice Springs won

day one, with an impressive 1236.74 with Marrara Christian Col-

lege following up with 1126.94. Day two, had The Essington

School win with a score of 1198.89, with Casuarina Senior College

following up with 1125.02. After the 2 days, this placed the Alice

Springs team in first place in the Northern Territory, not bad con-

sidering teams were made up of 2 different schools of students

thrown in to teams together AND the long 2 day bus ride to get

to Darwin!

Of course, none of the Youth Programs could go ahead

without the support of volunteers. Volunteers from the NT Gov-

ernment, Aurecon, the Defence Force, AECom, GHD and CDU

advised, assisted and observed our hundreds of students over the

2 days, and hopefully convinced just a few that engineering and

science are great careers to consider.

A HUGE thank you goes to the Department of Educa-

tion and Training and Charles Darwin University, without their

support, this event could not happen. The support of DET and

CDU allow Engineers Australia to inspire the next generation of

engineers and scientists.

Science & Engineering Challenge - Alice Springs comes up Trumps

Supporter

Protect your vehicle while promo4ng

Engineering. Northern Division has

sun visors for your car for sale

only $20.00 each.

To purchase your visor online visit:

www.engineersaustralia.org.au/

northern-division/resources

Or call 8981 4137

UPCOMING HERITAGE EVENT

Celebrating 140 years of the Overland Telegraph

August 21 & 22, 2012

Plaquing ceremony

Accommodation may be available at Dunmarra Inn

or camping available

Followed by dinner at Dunmarra Inn

Registration opening soon

Alice Springs Team Overall Winner

Day 2 winners Essington School

The following members have joined or re-admitted to Northern Division since April 2012. Welcome and we

hope to see you at future events and look forward to assisting you further with your professional development in

the coming year. All membership enquiries should be forwarded to nt@engineersaustralia.org.au or by phoning

8981 4137. Welcome to all who have returned and those new students and graduates.

Welcome to Northern Division’s New Members

Supporter

Miss Anne Ababa StudIEAust Mr Jopies Alex GradIEAust Mr Felix Matthew Baker StudIEAust Mr Callan Camilleri StudIEAust

Mr Shinoi Chunatu Sunil Kumar Chunatu StudIEAust

Mr Thomas Ellison Cowie StudIEAust Mr Steven Croft StudIEAust Mr Mario De Venansius StudIEAust Mr Barry Densley StudIEAust Mr Joshua Adamo Di Lembo StudIEAust Miss Roa Elicanal StudIEAust Mr Matt Fairless StudIEAust Mr James Lewelyn Ferreras StudIEAust Mr Michael David Francis StudIEAust Mr Abraham Joseph Gamuza StudIEAust Mr Rhett Hicks StudIEAust Miss Theresa Hogan StudIEAust Mr Mohammed Ibrahim StudIEAust Mr Gregorius Indra Putra StudIEAust Mr Robert John Jackson StudIEAust Miss Sara Louise Johnston GradIEAust Mr Naman Joshi StudIEAust Mr Radhesh Krishnan StudIEAust Mr Wenyin Li StudIEAust Mr Lawrence Liang StudIEAust Miss Skye MacFarlane StudIEAust

Mr Ashaar Muhammad Nawaz StudIEAust

Re-Admissions

Mr Robert Michael Nichols StudIEAust Mr Sanjay Niroula StudIEAust Mr Michael Nixon StudIEAust Mr Oma Fitra StudIEAust Mr Taylor Matthew Opie StudIEAust Mr Ashton Pettit StudIEAust Mr Anthony Pizanias StudIEAust Mr Brandon Ashley Quinn StudIEAust Mr Shane Ratcliffe StudIEAust Mr Mohamad Rhein StudIEAust Mr Kirby Edrian Sanchez StudIEAust Mr Karti Singh-Freeman StudIEAust Mr Rowan Dean Smith StudIEAust Mr Drew Lawrence Stokes StudIEAust Mr Mitchell David Tonkin StudIEAust Mr Nguyen Vu Tran StudIEAust Mr Trung Minh Tran StudIEAust Mr Gab Villamer StudIEAust Mr Jayde Nicholas Walding StudIEAust Mr Kris Wilson StudIEAust Mr Ashraf Youssef StudIEAust Mr Clark Zhao StudIEAust Mr Michael Collins MIEAust Mr Manfred Erich Hader MIEAust Mr Ben Langdon MIEAust

Mr Paul Mangohig GradIEAust

New Members New Members cont….

Supporter

Young Engineers Golf Day - Get your team together today!

Supporter

Engineering Week/Science Week - Dates and Events for your Diary

Defence of Darwin Experience

Cocktail Event

When: Thursday, 9th August

Time: from 5:00 - 7.00pm

Where: Defence of Darwin

Experience, East Point Museum

All welcome

This is a free public event and is

available to all who wish to attend

Food and beverage will be served

To register visit: To register visit: To register visit: To register visit:

https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defencehttps://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defencehttps://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defencehttps://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/defence----ofofofof

----darwindarwindarwindarwin----experienceexperienceexperienceexperience----cocktailcocktailcocktailcocktail----event/event/event/event/

Women in Engineering

Luncheon

Where: Cornucopia Fannie Bay

When: Wednesday, 8th August 2012

Time: From 12 noon

Lunch will be at attendees

own expense

Women in Engineering are proud to ad-

vise that INPEX has come on board as a

sponsor for this special interest group

This luncheon will be a networking event

to get ideas for 2012/13

All Women in Engineering members

including CDU students are welcome to

attend this luncheon.

To register visit:

https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/forms/

aew-women-in-engineering-luncheon/

Friend

Eminent Speaker Series - Dr Trevor Bird

Friend

Eminent Speaker Series - Dr Robert Barr

Fellows Luncheon - Kick off to the New Financial Year

The Mayor of City of Darwin,

Katrina Fong Lim attended the first

Fellows luncheon for the financial new

year. She spoke of her vision for the

City of Darwin and development of a

Master Plan for the future, including

transport and street scapes for the city

and its surrounds. Katrina was inter-

esting and informative and spent

about 20 minutes answering questions from the floor.

20 Fellows attended the event with the presentation of a

certificate for our newest Fellow Lakshman Rajaratnam who is

our coastal and water representative on the Division’s manage-

ment Committee.

The event was held in the Waterfront Foyer on the 2nd

Floor of the Darwin Convention Centre which provided a bril-

liant outlook for those who were facing towards the wave pool

and the weather was just perfect.

Friend

Gearing up for Business Exhibition and Display - Darwin Convention Centre

The Gearing up for Business Expo was held recently at

the Darwin Conven'on Centre. Engineers Australia Northern

Division was invited to par'cipate in this event by the Depart-

ment of Business and Employment. This was a perfect oppor-

tunity for the Division to highlight “what we do” and how we fit

into the puzzle. Organisa'ons such as Laing O’Rourke, Inpex,

ICNT, Recruitment organisa'ons (specifically rela'ng to Indige-

nous employment) and promo'onal organisa'ons were in-

volved in this event.

This provided a networking opportunity for the director

and staff with some excellent outcomes from this event. With

over 28 exhibitor booths the event proved extremely busy.

Event Date Loca4on Website/More Informa4on

Na'onal science week @

Nightcliff Middle school

14-Aug-12 Nightcliff Middle School More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Astronomy exploratorium 15-Aug-12 CSIRO Science Educa'on Centre More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Science week dance party 17-Aug-12 CSIRO Science Educa'on Centre More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

“Magic marvellous materials”

science spectacular

17-Aug-12 St. Mary's Catholic Primary

School

More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Henbury school science fair 17-Aug-12 Henbury School Hall More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Manme Mayh: The Gardens of

Stone Country

4-25 August

2012

Nomad Art Gallery More info:

www.darwinfes'val.org.au/

Engineering Heritage Bus Tour 15-Aug-12 QANTAS Hangar More info:

www.engineersaustralia.org.au/

northern-division/events

Dinosaur Hunt 11-19 Aug-12 Darwin More info: www.scienceweek.net.au

Café Sci 16-Aug-12 Darwin

Friend

Engineering Heritage - 140th anniversary of Overland Telegraph

On 22 August 2012, Engineering Heritage Australia will

be commemorating and celebrating the completion of the Over-

land Telegraph 140 years ago on 22 August 1872. The project is

regarded as the largest national projects of the 19th century and

on a comparable significance to the NBN today.

The spot where the single wire was joined was at Frews

Ironstone Ponds which is about 30km south of Dunmarra.

Engineering Heritage Australia will be installing a new

interpretive sign , re-enacting the

joining charade, making fine speech-

es and visiting the actual Frews Pond

on Hayfield Station. There may even

be some Morse Code communication.

The Lead up to the joining of the

wires

The South Australian Govern-

ment had contracts with the British

and Australian Telegraph Company

who were building the line north of

Port Darwin including the submarine

cable to Java ( immediately west of

Bali). This contract contained savage

penalties of approximately £3000 per

month if completion of the Overland

Telegraph Line was not achieved by 1

January 1872. This was a massive

incentive for the South Australian

Government to complete the work on time.

The detailed events in the last few months leading up to

the joining of the wires at Frew Ponds are difficult to piece to-

gether from the published material. It is clear that work was

proceeding on several fronts with independent parties working

out of communication with other parties for considerable times

and in some cases being supplied from different supply routes

either from the south or from the Roper River.

Taylor says that the very last pole was planted on 9 Au-

gust. All that remained was for Burton to finish wiring north

from Tomkinson Creek ( between Powell Creek and Attack

Creek).

Joining the Line

Construction of the northern section of the line was de-

layed during the 1871/72 Wet Season which was particularly

heavy and Todd inspected the incomplete section between El-

sey to Tennant Creek in July 1872, accompanied by Patterson.

Todd decided to institute a ‘pony express’ or horse relay

in order to maintain telegraph operations across the gap be-

tween the two ends of the line. The first horse relay was over a

distance of 421 km and was carried out by John Lewis and one

of his men on 24 June 1872, arriving at Tennant Creek on 1 July

1872. The horse relay was

progressively reduced in

length as the line was built.

Relief from the non-

completion penalties of the

contract had come when the

submarine cable between

Darwin and Java failed on 23

June 1872: however Todd

pressed on to have the Over-

land Telegraph completed as

soon as possible.

Engineer, Robert Pat-

terson, leading his team at

Frew Ponds on 22 August

1872, joined the wires. He

wrote the following account

of the event in his diary:

“Half the party seized hold of

me and the wire, and the other half of the other end, and

stretched with all might and main to bring the two ends

together. All our force could not do this. I then attached

some binding wire to one end. The moment I brought it

to the other end the current passed through my body

from all the batteries on the line. I had to yell and let go.

Next time I proceeded more cautiously, and used my

handkerchief to seize the wire. In about five minutes I

had the joint made complete, and Adelaide was in com-

munication with Port Darwin. It would have been with

England had not the (overseas) cable broken down”

John Lewis described the scene as follows:

“On 22 August, I went with Patterson and Mitchell to a

point a few miles east of Frew’s Ironstone Ponds, where

the two ends of the wire were to be joined, connecting

Engineering Heritage - 140th anniversary of Overland Telegraph cont…...

Engineering Heritage Bus Tour

When: Wed, 15th August 2012

Where: Qantas Hangar,

MacDonald Street, Parap

Time: From 5:00pm

Followed by BBQ at Qantas Hangar

Over 10 heritage sites visited.

Register at

https://engineersaustralia.wufoo.eu/

forms/engineering-heritage-bus-tour/

Open to all members

and the general public

Adelaide with Port Darwin.

We met Will Harvey who told us the wires would not be

joined until 12 o’clock, so we returned to camp, then made

for the last join and arrived there at about 12 o’clock.

At ten minutes past twelve on 22 August, 1872, the wires

were really joined. Twenty-one shots were fired from our

Colt revolvers, and as bottle of supposed brandy was bro-

ken over the last post (I think it was cold tea).

Among those present were Messrs. Patterson, Rutt, Mitch-

ell, Howley, Ricks, Hands, Bayfield, Hack and myself. It

had long been a desire of mine to see the wire connected

between south and North....”

Todd officially opened the Overland Telegraph Line at Central

Mount Stuart and the message he sent to Adelaide read:

“We have this day, within two years, completed a line of

communication two thousand miles long through the very

centre of Australia, until a few years ago a Terra Incognita

believed to be a desert”

On the morning after the line was joined the Adelaide

Post Office issued its usual daily weather report and for the first

time it included a report from Port Darwin where the weather

was stated to be “fine, cool and clear”. That information had been

conveyed from Darwin to Adelaide by the Overland Telegraph.

The Adelaide Advertiser newspaper explained the significance of

this weather report and said “...how many of our readers grasp

the fact that our communication with Port Darwin is practically

instantaneous?”

The cable ship Investigator located the fault in the under-

sea cable and spliced in a new section which came into service on

20 October 1872

The link between London and Adelaide was available for

commercial traffic on Monday 21 October 1872; however, the

congratulatory telegrams between the Mayors of London and

Adelaide were not sent until Tuesday 22 October 1872. The latter

date is considered to be the official opening date by the Institu-

tion of Engineers, Australia.

Ar�cle supplied by Trevor Horman

Engineering Heritage Commi�ee

Volunteers Required

Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge

Would you like to assist our

Engineers of the future?

If you some spare time available please contact Keely

Date: Friday 10th August 2012

Time: Volunteers required: 8:00am - 2:30pm

Email: kquinn@engineersaustralia.org.au

Tel: (08) 8981 4137

Venus Transit

A transit of Venus is one of the rarest of all astronomical

events. It occurs when the orbit of the planet Venus take it be-

tween the Earth and the Sun.

Our generation is very fortunate to have two such transits

occur in our time. Grandparents, born between 1901 and 1910

never saw a Venus transit in their lifetimes. The last transit was

in December 2004, the next on June 5th/6th, 2012. Transits don't

occur every 8 years. They occur in pairs separated by 8 years

with more than a century gap separating each 8 year pair. The

next pair of Venus transits occur over a century from now on

2117 Dec 11 and 2125 Dec 08. The last pair were in 1874 and 1882

and the pair before that were in 1761 and 1769. Observing and

timing the 1769 transit was the main reason that Captain Cook

and Charles Green were appointed by the Royal Society to travel

to Tahiti in 1769 (see sketch right). After the transit on the return

voyage, Cook searched the South Seas for months looking for the

great southern continental land mass, Terra Australis, that it was

thought was necessary to balance the great continental masses in

the northern hemisphere. There was no such continent but in the

process, he stumbled upon Australia.

On the 6th June in 2012, Engineers Australia staff took the

opportunity to look at this phenomena through a telescope and

3D flass which was kindly supplied by a visiting German Tourist

on the Esplanade of Darwin. With lines 20 deep it was a truly

“Inspirational” event.

Sponsorship Opportunities

Are you interested in

sponsoring

Engineers Australia

Northern Division?

Our sponsorship prospectus

is now available for 2012/13

Want to know more?

Contact Karen on 8981 4137

Or email

krelph@engineersaustralia.

org.au

Date

Ac'vity

Venue and Registra'on

26 July Engineering Excellence Awards Fannie Bay Racecourse “Schweppes” marquee

Registration: www.engineersaustralia/northern-division/events

4 August Cricket Match against Young Planners and BBQ East Point

7-10 August Back to School Program Young Engineers Various

7—10 August

8 August

9 August

Engineering Week

Women in Engineering Luncheon

Defence of Darwin Experience Cocktail Function

Register at www.engineersaustralia.org.au/northern-division/events

10 August Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge Royal Darwin Showgrounds

From 8.00am

15 August Heritage Bus Tour - Science Week Qantas Hangar Parap

Registration

Www.engineersaustralia.org.au/northern-division/events

15 August - 20 August Science Week Various

16 August Eminent Speaker, Dr Trevor Bird

From Wireless to Astronomy - Lessons from Engineering Career

Engineers Australia

14 Shepherd Street, Darwin

Registration www.engineersaustralia.org.au/northern-division/events

19—25 August SMART Regional Katherine Region

28 August Marita Chang, Young Australian of the Year Darwin (details to be provided)

31 August YEA National Meeting/Dinner Tim’s Surf & Turf

31 August Marita Cheng, Young Australian of the Year Alice Springs (details to be provided)

1 September YEA National Meeting Engineers Australia

14 September YEA Golf Day RAAF Base

14 September Sunchase Solar Car and Boat Challenge Alice Springs

16 September Eminent Speaker, Dr Robert Barr

Green Electricity Schemes Costs and Benefits

Engineers Australia

14 Shepherd Street, Darwin

Registration www.engineersaustralia.org.au/northern-division/events

29 September YEA Heritage Bridge Painting and camping Litchfield

October YEA Networking Event TBA

October YEA CPEng Event TBA

21-22 August Frew Ponds Heritage Event— Celebrating 140 years of Overland Telegraph

Find details inside