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Rubicon Hydro Electric Power Scheme
Rubicon State Forest,, RUBICON VIC 3712 - Property No B6467
Rubicon Hydro Electric Power Scheme
Rubicon State Forest,, RUBICON VIC 3712 - Property No B6467
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Statement of Significance
The Rubicon hydro electric scheme is historically, technically and socially significant to the industrial heritage of Australia at a National level for the following reasons.
1. It was the first state-owned hydro electric scheme to generate electricity in mainland Austrialia, and among the first in the world to be remotely controlled. It formed an important element in the state-wide supply scheme developed by the State Electricity Commission, especially in relation to the supply of the north-east of the state. For the first ten years of its operation it supplied on average 16.9% of electricity generated by the SEC during a period in which electricity became an important source of industrial power.
2. The scheme is still operating today. Apart from the non-destructive enlargement of aqueducts and the supply of larger Pelton wheels in one power station in 1965-55, the scheme is little changed. All of the dams, all the power station buildings and most of the pipelines are still intact exactly as built. It currently retains what is now Victoria's most significant remaining industrial tramway system which is used for patrol purposes.
This tramway has the last tramway trestle bridges still in use in the State.
Only one other hydro electric scheme in Australia, that at Lake Margaret in Tasmania, rivals Rubicon in its range of features, age and intactness.
3. It has substantial social significance. SEC staff took great pride in the maintenance and operation of the scheme. The interiors of the power stations have been kept in immaculate condition. At an Australian Heritage Commission workshop on social significance held at Alexandra on 19th July 1993, four out of the five workshop groups nominated the Rubicon hydro electric scheme as being socially significant to the people of the district. Several of the groups also nominated the tramway and haulage system separately as well as the hydro scheme.
4. The Rubicon hydro electric scheme forms an essential element of the cultural landscape in the Rubicon Forest. It is surrounded by the remains of eight sawmills and the remains of the timber tramway system which facilitated the construction of the hydro scheme. Three of these sites have been nominated for the Register of the National Estate and one has been recommended to the Land Conservation Council as an Historic Reserve. These sites reinforce the significance of the hydro scheme in the historic landscape just as the hydro scheme contributes to the understanding of the social history of the former sawmilling communities.
Classified: 20/10/1993
1. It was the first state-owned hydro electric scheme to generate electricity in mainland Austrialia, and among the first in the world to be remotely controlled. It formed an important element in the state-wide supply scheme developed by the State Electricity Commission, especially in relation to the supply of the north-east of the state. For the first ten years of its operation it supplied on average 16.9% of electricity generated by the SEC during a period in which electricity became an important source of industrial power.
2. The scheme is still operating today. Apart from the non-destructive enlargement of aqueducts and the supply of larger Pelton wheels in one power station in 1965-55, the scheme is little changed. All of the dams, all the power station buildings and most of the pipelines are still intact exactly as built. It currently retains what is now Victoria's most significant remaining industrial tramway system which is used for patrol purposes.
This tramway has the last tramway trestle bridges still in use in the State.
Only one other hydro electric scheme in Australia, that at Lake Margaret in Tasmania, rivals Rubicon in its range of features, age and intactness.
3. It has substantial social significance. SEC staff took great pride in the maintenance and operation of the scheme. The interiors of the power stations have been kept in immaculate condition. At an Australian Heritage Commission workshop on social significance held at Alexandra on 19th July 1993, four out of the five workshop groups nominated the Rubicon hydro electric scheme as being socially significant to the people of the district. Several of the groups also nominated the tramway and haulage system separately as well as the hydro scheme.
4. The Rubicon hydro electric scheme forms an essential element of the cultural landscape in the Rubicon Forest. It is surrounded by the remains of eight sawmills and the remains of the timber tramway system which facilitated the construction of the hydro scheme. Three of these sites have been nominated for the Register of the National Estate and one has been recommended to the Land Conservation Council as an Historic Reserve. These sites reinforce the significance of the hydro scheme in the historic landscape just as the hydro scheme contributes to the understanding of the social history of the former sawmilling communities.
Classified: 20/10/1993
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