Series:
Engineering Plans, Drawings and Some Photographs
Series Number:
Access:
Open
Start Date:
01 Jan 1917
End Date:
31 Dec 1990
Creating Agency:
| Electrolytic Zinc Company (NG569) | 01 Jan 1916 |
How to Use:
In 1993 the EZ Co demolished an office and store complex that had been on the site since 1918 and which had latterly been used to store inactive files and plans. As part of the preparation for demolition contract staff were engaged to retrieve all plans of current buildings and plant still in use. All other plans were to be disposed of by dumping. The State Archivist was able to halt the process and whilst many plans were already wet those considered worth keeping were dried out and others destroyed. AOT staff were assisted in this process by several former EZ co. engineering staff.
Series notes:
"A" and "B" Drawings relate to the original 10 ton zinc plant, including the 250 pound test plant and the initial site works. They were prepared in Melbourne in 1917 and 1918. By the Mid 1920s all planning and drafting was transferred to Risdon. The A drawings are approx. 3'x5' and the B drawings are the imperial quarto size (slightly larger than A4.)
"D" Drawings relate to the Zinc Rolling Plant
"FP" Foreign prints are plans drawn by companies supplying equipment to EZ which were incorporated into the EZ system
"S" "SS" and "FS" relate to surveys of the site undertaken in preparation for construction work.The bulk of the drawings relate to surveys undertaken to estimate quantities of raw material stored at the site.
"L" and "LL" Drawings relate to the Lithopone plant.
"M" Drawings relate to the Risdon site as a whole. or to works common to more than one division.
"P" Drawings were drawn for costing and investigation purposes when new plant, equipment and mcdificaitons were being considered. Only a few have been retained because if adopted they were redrawn with an appropriate divisional number.
"RR" Drawings relate to the various residue plants where by- products such as zinc oxide were processed.
"T1" referes to the pre - roasting plant, which was the first welded steel building at Risdon. It was built in 1924 and demolished in c 1970.
"U1" drawings relate to the production of various acids from nitrates and sulphates.
"W" and "WW" relate to the wharf (later Transport) Division.
"ZU" used for prints of the plans of the Company's operations at Port Pirie in South Australia. This operation reported to Melbourne but there was some technical cooperation. A few have been retained for comparative purposes.
"STD drawings are standard details. Because of the delays in getting spare parts from Europe or Amercia the practice began of disassembling and drawing the components of equipment purchased overseas. Initially a precaution to allow repairs and maintenance, it led to a regular process of modification and improvement. Hence pumps and other ancillary equipment often varied from the manufacturers original specifications. The ones held relate primarily to equipment in the zinc plant
Remote plan storage - This practice was conceived by a former Assistant General Manager (Engineering) who was concerned by the fire risk to the general office. A print of every drawing was made and stored in another site. Most were destroyed c1975. The C1 prints included here were obviously missed. The C1 plant was designed by ICI. The last of its type built in the world it proved something of a lemon. Many of the cancelled/superseded drawings were original English ones that were redrawn to conform to Australian standards, Tasmanian laws or EZ practices.
Cancelled drawing does not mean superseded unless this is specifically noted on the drawings. They may represent a design stage that was altered significantly prior to construction eg changing the fertiliser plant that was built in the 1950s from a riveted structure to a welded structure.
These records are part of the holdings of the Tasmanian Archives
System of Arrangement:
All plans have an alpha numberic code followed by a plan number.;;They are mostly stored in oversized folders and the folder number is recorded in the box/vol field for retreival purposes
Items: