Thursday 28 January 2010

Street Manhole Covers - Gas


Manhole (or valve) covers seem to be frequently associated with public utilities like gas, water (drainage), sewer (plumbing), electricity and telecommunications. These covers assist with the supply of gas around Paddington, Woollahra and Bondi Junction.


Established as a penal colony in 1788, Sydney was only incorporated in 1842. Until May 1841, the population of 30,000 was reliant upon oil for heating and cooking and light after dark, oil and the extensive hours of sunshine that Sydney enjoys to this day. The 24th May was the first night of reticulated gas supply in Australia provided by The Australian Gas Light Company which had been formed in 1837. Of the lamps lighted, 22 were street lights and about 160 were households. After incorporation, the City of Sydney began an extensive lighting of the streets but still left it to AGL to provide the power source for the next 50 years.


Fidax Foundry
was established in 1947 and is located in Silverwater, a suburb in the inner West. The Jenco 4035 G trap is manufactured by DEKS Industies which was also established in 1947.

22 comments:

Olivier said...

belle série, ils ont du vécus..

Sean said...

Cool pics....

myletterstoemily said...

dear julie,

my husband's business is drilling for natural gas.
i can't wait to show him your incredible photos!

have a great day...evening, for you, i guess.

lea

My name is Riet said...

Hé that is great, all these different tops. Great shots.

Nancy C said...

I love this series.

Davine said...

Isn't it amazing what we actually see when we look at our world around, above and below us. I love you photos.

bitingmidge said...

This is exactly the sort of texture that we miss so much, living as we do in a city without history!

It's always there, usually it's felt more than seen.

Sunshine Coast Daily Photo - Australia

Ann said...

I love your minutae, all these things we don't have time to stop and see. I noticed something this morning that I didn't know was there - must get of shot of it.

I have started posting earlier, I'm going to start joining some of the the other memes (mono, reflections) when I get suitable shots and it was too much for my poor brain to remember to post the memes early so I can link them on the respective sites while I'm having breakfast.

How was the tennis - whom did you see?

Bruce Caspersonn said...

More good stuff, Julie, you are always busy. How on earth do you get the washing, ironing, dusting etc. done?
Bruce.

Julie said...

Tut tut ... Bruce!

Three Rivers, Michigan said...

The real street art - but I especially like how you have captured the various pavements surrounding the first one.

Anonymous said...

Wonderful.

Jim said...

I enjoy seeing the contrast with all the different types.

Anonymous said...
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Joan Elizabeth said...

Population 30,000 quite a contrast to the population numbers they have been bleating about in the press lately.

Glennis said...

very original photos.

SP said...

This is a great post. Apparently Japan has really beautiful manhole covers - I just interviewed a guy who has written a book about them. His blog is here: http://drainspottingbook.blogspot.com/

Julie said...

Thanks for that link to drainspotting in Japan, SP. Very colourful but ... I would hate for that to happen in Sydney. I am learning the history of the piping under the city by hunting out this covers. I would not wish them to be "trashed" with colour.

Although, Brisbane has its traffic light boxes all individually painted and they look fine.

Dina said...

Great collection! I love stuff like this. And Sydney's story is like none other.

(I posted a little series once about how many men does it take to open a manhole cover. An American reader commented that the PC way to call them now is "personal access panel." LOL)

Julie said...

Personal Access Panel boils down to PAP!

I am glad you like this series, Dina. I am having such a ball finding the material. There is just so much around and it is leading my research into places I never dreamt of. There is another post coming later this week. Wednesday I think.

Dina said...

PAP, haha, good one. I agree.

Anonymous said...

These pictures roar "priceless"!