The Gas Stripping Tower is a heritage-listed

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

at 277 Montague Road, West End,

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia. It was designed by Robert Dempster & Sons Ltd and built in 1912. It was added to the

Queensland Heritage Register The Queensland Heritage Register is a heritage register, a statutory list of places in Queensland, Australia that are protected by Queensland legislation, the Queensland Heritage Act 1992. It is maintained by the Queensland Heritage Council. As a ...

on 21 October 1992.

History

This demountable cast iron tower was manufactured in 1912 by Robert Dempster & Sons Ltd, of

Elland Elland is a market town in Calderdale, in the county of West Yorkshire, England. It is situated south of Halifax, by the River Calder and the Calder and Hebble Navigation. Elland was recorded as ''Elant'' in the Domesday Book of 1086. It ha ...

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

, and transported in segments to

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, where it was erected at the

West End Gasworks West End Gasworks is a heritage-listed gasworks at 321 Montague Road, West End, Queensland, West End, Queensland, Australia. It is also known as South Brisbane Gas and Light Company Works. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 22 ...

in Montague Road operated by the South Brisbane Gas & Light Company. The South Brisbane Gas & Light Company was established in 1885, in direct competition to the Brisbane Gas Corporation. Initially the companies supplied gas to both sides of the

Brisbane River The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Go ...

, but in 1889 agreement was reached whereby the BGC supplied the northside, and the SBGLC to the south of the river. As a result of growing demand for gas and the need to upgrade their facilities, in 1911 the company sent their principal engineer to Britain to assess the latest in gas production technology. The decision to erect a stripping tower was a result of this visit. The tower was used in the removal of

tar Tar is a dark brown or black viscous liquid of hydrocarbons and free carbon, obtained from a wide variety of organic materials through destructive distillation. Tar can be produced from coal, wood, petroleum, or peat. "a dark brown or black bit ...

and

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous was ...

from raw

coal gas Coal gas is a flammable gaseous fuel made from coal and supplied to the user via a piped distribution system. It is produced when coal is heated strongly in the absence of air. Town gas is a more general term referring to manufactured gaseous ...

by Gas Stripping. Gas was piped into the base of the tower, from where it rose to the top via a series of internal baffles over which water was sprayed from a header tank at the top of the tower, stripping the gas of coal tar and ammonia in the process. The liquid was drained via a water seal at the bottom, and sold as ammonia liquor. By 1949 more sophisticated techniques were being employed to remove impurities from gas, and the tower was no longer used. With the availability of natural gas to Brisbane in the 1970s, the company's Montague Road works were made redundant and in 1975 most of the structures on the site were demolished. In the same year the stripping tower was acquired by the National Trust of Queensland, who dismantled the structure and stored it pending availability of a suitable relocation site. In 1979, it was reassembled in Davies Park, approximately from its original position. In 1988, Allgas Energy Ltd (formerly the South Brisbane Gas & Light Company) refurbished the tower and landscaped the surrounding area, as a bicentennial gift to Brisbane. Although relocated, the tower survives as the only one of its type in Australia.

Description

The gas stripping tower is constructed of curved cast components, which fit together to form a slender tower surmounted by a work platform, a water tank disguised as a lantern drum, a

cupola In architecture, a cupola () is a relatively small, most often dome-like, tall structure on top of a building. Often used to provide a lookout or to admit light and air, it usually crowns a larger roof or dome. The word derives, via Italian, from ...

and a superimposed weathervane. It stands approximately high with a diameter of about . Spare relief work decorates the panels, and an access stair and handrail, braced by decorative cast

brackets A bracket is either of two tall fore- or back-facing punctuation marks commonly used to isolate a segment of text or data from its surroundings. Typically deployed in symmetric pairs, an individual bracket may be identified as a 'left' or 'r ...

, accentuates the profile. The 1988 renovation work involved sand blasting the exterior, repainting it in the original reddish-brown colour with an epoxy finish, and highlighting the relief work in silver. Also the cupola was removed, repaired and painted silver before being replaced on the tower. The tower is adjacent to Riverside Drive, and is visible from both river banks. Decorative paving and a commemorative plaque, which were 1988 improvements, define the immediate area.

Heritage listing

Gas Stripping Tower was listed on the

on 21 October 1992 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. Through its association with the South Brisbane Gas and Light Company, the place demonstrates the evolution of Queensland's history, in particular the evolution of the former West End river bank industrial area The place demonstrates rare, uncommon or endangered aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage. The place demonstrates rare aspects of Queensland's cultural heritage, being the only surviving gas stripping tower in Australia. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The place exhibits aesthetic characteristics valued by the community, in particular its contribution to the riverscape along the

Milton Milton may refer to: Names * Milton (surname), a surname (and list of people with that surname) ** John Milton (1608–1674), English poet * Milton (given name) ** Milton Friedman (1912–2006), Nobel laureate in Economics, author of '' Free t ...

Toowong Reach The Brisbane River is the longest river in South East Queensland, Australia, and flows through the city of Brisbane, before emptying into Moreton Bay on the Coral Sea. John Oxley, the first European to explore the river, named it after the Gov ...

of the Brisbane River

References

Attribution

External links

{{commons category-inline, Gas Stripping Tower, Brisbane Queensland Heritage Register History of Brisbane West End, Queensland Industrial buildings in Queensland Articles incorporating text from the Queensland Heritage Register 1912 establishments in Australia Towers completed in 1912 Industrial buildings completed in 1912