Public Works Department (Western Australia)
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The Public Works Department (PWD) was the
State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
Government Agency A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administrati ...
of
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
, which was charged with providing and maintaining public infrastructure such as
dams A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, ...
, water supplies,
schools A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
,
hospitals A hospital is a health care institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emerge ...
,
harbours A harbor (American English), harbour (British English; see spelling differences), or haven is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be docked. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is a ...
and other public buildings. The department is no longer operational, having its responsibilities reassigned to other State Government Departments and corporate entities since 1985.


History

The history of the department is difficult to accurately describe given the broad range of tasks performed by the department and also the evolutionary development of the organisation. The department was instrumental in the success of Western Australia, aiding in transforming it from a colonial settlement to a prosperous state. Given the remoteness of Western Australia, the importance of the P.W.D. with its self-sufficient design and construction skills will probably never be fully appreciated.


Pre P.W.D.

Construction of infrastructure in the Swan River colony was originally overseen by
Henry Willey Reveley Henry Willey Reveley (1788–1875) was a civil engineer responsible for the earliest public works at the Swan River Colony, the foundation of the state of Western Australia. Life Reveley was the son of Willey and Maria Reveley (later Gisborn ...
, an English civil engineer. Reveley arrived at the colony in 1829 and was initially employed without pay, however in 1830 the matter was raised and a salary awarded retrospectively. He continued in this position until 1839, completing structures such as the
Round House Roundhouse may refer to: Architecture and buildings Types * Roundhouse (dwelling), a kind of house with circular walls, prehistoric and modern, all over the world ** Atlantic roundhouse, an Iron Age stone building found in the northern and weste ...
in
Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...
and the Old Perth Courthouse in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
using convict and military labour, along with contract labour. He was also involved with building roads and bridges, jetties and tunnels. Reveley's position was downgraded after his departure and his replacement,
Henry Trigg Henry Trigg (1791–1882) was the Superintendent of Public Works in Western Australia from 1839 to 1851 and founder of the Congregational Church in Perth. Biography Henry Trigg was born on 30 June 1791 in Gloucester, England, the son of Henry ...
, was given the title of Superintendent of Public Works. He held this role from 1839 until 1851, with most of his early work focused on jetties, The Perth Causeway and the
Rottnest Island Rottnest Island ( nys, Wadjemup), often colloquially referred to as "Rotto", is a island off the coast of Western Australia, located west of Fremantle. A sandy, low-lying island formed on a base of aeolianite limestone, Rottnest is an A-class ...
settlement. Henry Trigg was succeeded as Superintendent of Public Works in 1851 by
James Austin James Austin may refer to: Sports * Jim Austin (baseball) (born 1963), former baseball pitcher * Jim Austin (rugby league), New Zealand rugby league player * James Austin (judoka) (born 1983), English judoka * James Austin (American football) (19 ...
. Austin served for two years until 1853 when he resigned and was replaced by
Richard Roach Jewell Richard Roach Jewell (1810 in Barnstaple, Devon, England – 1891 in Perth, Western Australia) was an architect who designed many of the important public buildings in Perth during the latter half of the nineteenth century. He was employed to sup ...
who was given the title Clerk of Works of the Colonial Works Office, where he served until he retired in 1884. James Manning was also made a Clerk of Works and worked in parallel with Jewell, who worked in Perth while Manning worked from Fremantle. Jewell had been promoted to Superintendent of Public Works before he retired and in 1880 the department was called the Works and Railways Department. Recommendations made in 1884 were implemented in 1885 which resulted in
John Arthur Wright John Arthur Wright (25 November 1841 – 24 February 1920) was an Australian company manager, magistrate, Member of Upper House, public service head, rail/tramways engineer, railways commissioner and railways contractor. Wright was born in Dover ...
being appointed as Director of Public Works and Engineer in Chief. George Temple-Poole was made the Superintendent of Works and
Clayton T. Mason Clayton may refer to: People *Clayton (name) * Clayton baronets * The Clayton Brothers, Jeff and John, jazz musicians *Clayton Brothers, Rob and Christian, painter artists *Justice Clayton (disambiguation), the judges Clayton Places Canada * Cla ...
was made General Manager of Railways and Maintenance Engineer. Upon Wright's resignation in 1889 it was decided to split the Works and Railways with Mason becoming Acting Commissioner of Railways and Poole becoming Acting Director of Public Works. In 1891 C. Y. O'Connor arrived in Perth to take up the role of Engineer in Chief.


Formation of the Department

The department started on 1 January 1901 with O'Connor as the Engineer in Chief having succeeded the Department of Works & Buildings.


Leaders

Engineer in Chief: * C. Y. O'Connor 1901–1902 * C.S.R. Palmer 1902–1904 * James Thompson 1904–1925 Director of Public Works * Sir Russell Dumas 1941–1951 Principal Architects * John Harry Grainger 1897–1905 * Hillson Beasley 1905–1917 * William Burden Hardwick 1917–1927 * John Melvin James Tait 1927–1930 * Albert Ernest (Paddy) Clare 1930–1960 * Walter Green 1960–1967 *
Leonard Walters Leonard Walters (born 27 November 1931) is a Canadian boxer. He competed in the men's featherweight event at the 1952 Summer Olympics The 1952 Summer Olympics ( fi, Kesäolympialaiset 1952; sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1952), officially know ...
1967–1968 *
Stanley Cann Stanley may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Stanley'' (1972 film), an American horror film * ''Stanley'' (1984 film), an Australian comedy * ''Stanley'' (1999 film), an animated short * ''Stanley'' (1956 TV series) ...
1968–1980 * William Bateman 1980–1985 For more details, refer to
Western Australia Government Architect Between 1891 and 1985 the Principal Architect of the Public Works Department (Western Australia) was responsible for the delivery of the state government’s public buildings capital works program throughout Western Australia. In 2003 the gover ...
.


Department buildings

For a considerable time the department was housed in buildings adjacent to and extending west from The Barracks Arch in
Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...
. In 1966 both the P.W.D. and
Metropolitan Water Board The Metropolitan Water Board was a municipal body formed in 1903 to manage the water supply in London, UK. The members of the board were nominated by the local authorities within its area of supply. In 1904 it took over the water supply functi ...
moved into new office accommodation at
Dumas House Dumas House is a fourteen-storey office building constructed in Perth, Western Australia, during the 1960s. The building is located close to St Georges Terrace, Kings Park, and Parliament House. Background Dumas House was part of the 1955 pl ...
, on Kings Park Road in West Perth. Mechanical and Electrical workshops of the P.W.D. were located for a long time in the former Jewell St in
East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...
. Another major workshop was in
Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...
. Most country towns had depots and offices designed to service staff based regionally, which were built to cater for the specific tasks of the workforce.


End of an era

The Public Works Department became the
Building Management Authority A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
on 1 January 1985.


Responsibilities


Agriculture

The three supposed
rabbit-proof fence The State Barrier Fence of Western Australia, formerly known as the Rabbit-Proof Fence, the State Vermin Fence, and the Emu Fence, is a pest-exclusion fence constructed between 1901 and 1907 to keep rabbits, and other agricultural pests from th ...
s were initially constructed by the Agriculture Department but after inspections of of completed fence a decision was made that it was generally substandard so the construction was handed over to the P.W.D. in 1904. The department needed to strengthen of the fence before resuming construction. The project was overseen by
Richard John Anketell Richard is a male given name. It originates, via Old French, from Frankish language, Old Frankish and is a Compound (linguistics), compound of the words descending from Proto-Germanic language, Proto-Germanic ''*rīk-'' 'ruler, leader, king' an ...
who set up a workforce comprising nine construction parties, 189 camels and 128 horses. The P.W.D. was also responsible for providing mechanical and electrical services to numerous agricultural research stations based remotely around Western Australia. The department also built and maintained the
Camballin Irrigation Scheme The Camballin Irrigation Scheme consisted of the Fitzroy River Barrage, the Seventeen Mile Dam The Seventeen Mile Dam was constructed as part of the Camballin Irrigation Scheme by the Public Works Department of Western Australia Western A ...
which was constructed to grow rice in the Kimberley, as well as numerous other irrigation infrastructure around the state. Responsibility for agricultural matters and the rabbit proof fence were handed on to: *
Agriculture Protection Board Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
* Department of Agriculture and Food (Then known as the Department of Agriculture) *
State Barrier Fence Advisory Committee State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...


Energy

The P.W.D. began issuing electrical licences in 1925. These tasks were later handled by: * State Energy Commission of Western Australia * S.E.C.W.A. *
Western Power The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to the various nations and states in the regions of Europe, North America, and Oceania.
*
Office of Energy An office is a space where an organization's employees perform administrative work in order to support and realize objects and goals of the organization. The word "office" may also denote a position within an organization with specific du ...
* Energy''Safety'' (A division of the
Department of Commerce The United States Department of Commerce is an executive department of the U.S. federal government concerned with creating the conditions for economic growth and opportunity. Among its tasks are gathering economic and demographic data for bu ...
)


Harbours and rivers

The department was responsible for the construction of
Fremantle Harbour Fremantle Harbour is Western Australia's largest and busiest general cargo port and an important historical site. The inner harbour handles a large volume of sea containers, vehicle imports and livestock exports, cruise shipping and naval vis ...
and many other smaller regional jetties and wharves. Day labour from the department also ran the facilities of the harbours. The department was also responsible for conducting surveys of rivers and coastal features. During the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
, a number of works were undertaken on the basis of unemployment relief. One of these was the diversion of the
Harvey River The Harvey River is a river in Western Australia and is the southernmost of the three major waterways which drain into the Peel-Harvey Estuary, with its delta in the southern extreme of the Harvey Estuary. It is about 90 km in length, risi ...
between 1931 and 1934 and employed over 2500 men. After the disbanding of the P.W.D. these tasks were taken on by: * Department of Marine and Harbours *
Department for Planning and Infrastructure The Department for Planning and Infrastructure was a department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for implementing the state's planning, infrastructure and transport policies during the Gallop and Carpenter governments. I ...
*
Swan River Trust The Swan River Trust was a Western Australian state government statutory authority defined by the Swan and Canning Rivers Management Act 2006. The Trust reported to the Minister for Environment. It was preceded by the Swan River Management A ...
* Department of Conservation and the Environment


Mechanical & electrical (M&E) services

The department built electrical switchboards for installation on sites around the state. Many of the old P.W.D. switchboards can still be seen at ports and water and sewerage installations. These were generally constructed in the Jewell St workshops. The department was also the forefather of the
State Engineering and Implement Works State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...
which later became the State Engineering Works with a workshop in
North Fremantle North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' is ...
.


Public buildings

The P.W.D. was responsible for the construction of various government buildings such as police stations, schools, hospitals, lighthouses, military buildings, agricultural research stations, courthouses and prisons. This was often undertaken on a contractual basis with design and maintenance also undertaken by the department. Some notable buildings were: * Claisebrook Abattoir * Perth GPO * Council Chambers, Perth *
Government House Government House is the name of many of the official residences of governors-general, governors and lieutenant-governors in the Commonwealth and the remaining colonies of the British Empire. The name is also used in some other countries. Gover ...
* Perth Technical College * Sunset Hospital In the wake of the breakup of the P.W.D., these roles were assumed by: *
Building Management Authority A building, or edifice, is an enclosed structure with a roof and walls standing more or less permanently in one place, such as a house or factory (although there's also portable buildings). Buildings come in a variety of sizes, shapes, and fun ...
: 1 January 1985 ~ 11 September 1995 * Western Australian Building Management Authority - 11 September 1995 ~ 11 September 1996 * Department of Contract and Management Services - 1 July 1996 ~ 30 June 2001 * Department of Housing and Works - 1 July 2001 ~ * Department of Treasury and Finance - Building Management and Works * Department of Finance - Building Management and Works


Railways

''See also List of railways constructed by the Public Works Department of Western Australia'' The department built and maintained minor railways which serviced regional infrastructure (generally wharves). Other railways were built for specific tasks such as the construction of
Mundaring Weir Mundaring Weir is a dam (and historically the adjoining locality) located from Perth, Western Australia in the Darling Scarp. The dam and reservoir form the boundary between the suburbs of Reservoir and Sawyers Valley. The dam impounds the Hel ...
and abandoned upon completion of the required task. Various major railways throughout the state were constructed by the P.W.D.. Prior to the formation of the P.W.D. railways were managed by: *
Department of Works and Railways The Department of Works and Railways was an Australian government department that existed between November 1916 and April 1932. At its abolition, its functions were absorbed into the Department of the Interior. Scope Information abou ...
: 31 December 1879 ~ 30 September 1890 * Department of Works and Buildings: 1 October 1890 ~ 31 December 1900 Since the P.W.D. these roles have been taken on by: *
Western Australian Government Railways Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
*
Westrail Western Australian Government Railways (WAGR) was the operator of railway services in the state of Western Australia between October 1890 and June 2003. Owned by the state government, it was renamed a number of times to reflect extra responsi ...
* Public Transport Authority


Roads

The P.W.D. was responsible for the construction of roads and bridges around the state. This task was later relegated to: * Main Roads Board - 1 January 1926 ~ 31 December 1929 * Main Roads Department - 1 January 1930 ~ *
Main Roads Western Australia (MRWA) Main Roads Western Australia (formerly the Main Roads Department) is a statutory authority of the Government of Western Australia that is responsible for implementing the state's policies on road access and main roads. It operates under the ''M ...


Vehicles and mobile plant

The country sections of the P.W.D. maintained a selection of hire cars for visiting government department officers. These along with other P.W.D. transport vehicles and plant such as Malcolm Moore graders, rollers and loaders etc. were maintained by P.W.D. mechanics in P.W.D. workshops.


Water and sewerage

Public Works Department was responsible for water supplies, drainage, irrigation, sewerage and water resource management for many years after assuming this role from the Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Department (1 January 1912 ~ 31 December 1920). The P.W.D. was responsible for the construction of many dams, reservoirs and conveyancing systems throughout Western Australia. Water and sewerage services in Western Australia were split when the
Metropolitan Water Supply, Sewerage and Drainage Board Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...
took over responsibility for the metropolitan region while the country areas remained serviced by the P.W.D. until disbandment. The Metropolitan Water supply Sewerage and Drainage Board were based at Loftus Street Leederville with the head office remaining there, in 1977 the workshops were relocated to Lemnos Street Shenton Park with Mechanical Fitting,(both on site and workshop based), Machining, Welding, Drawing, Automotive Mechanical, instrument sections, sheetmetal, and separate pipe line maintenance crews. There were also smaller depots, among these were Balcatta and Tinga Place at Kelmscott. Smaller waste water treatment plants were located at Swanbourne and Westfield with plants at Beenyup, Woodmans Point and Lemnos Street Shenton Park remaining. There were a large network of pumping stations and treatment plants all over the Metropolitan area which their large workforce maintained. These tasks were later assumed by: * Water Authority of Western Australia: 1 July 1985 ~ 31 December 1995 * Water Corporation - 1 January 1996 ~ *
Department of Water The Department of Water is a defunct department of the Government of Western Australia that was responsible for management of Western Australia's water resources. It was replaced by the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation (Western ...


Other

*
Department of Local Government and Regional Development Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
1 July 2001 ~ 30 June 2009 * Department of Local Government 1 July 2009 ~ *
Department of Regional Development and Lands Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...
1 July 2009 ~


Notes


References

''(source: State Records Office of Western Australia)'' * Le Page, J. S. H. ''Building a state : the story of the Public Works Department of Western Australia 1829-1985'' Leederville, W.A : Water Authority of Western Australia, 1986.


External links


Electrical Licensing History in W.A.


{cbignore, bot=medic
Building Management and Works, at Department of Finance
Defunct government departments of Western Australia History of Western Australia Ministries established in 1901 1901 establishments in Australia 1984 disestablishments in Australia