Engineering and Water Supply Department, and predecessor agencies (GRG53)

Origins of the Department:

Although a Civil Engineer was appointed in June 1839 (1) and a Colonial Engineer's Department established in August 1841 (2), the appointment on 1 January 1852 of a Colonial Architect and Supervisor of Works (3) left the title 'Engineer' in abeyance for a number of years, until the appointment of an Engineer and Architect on 1 December 1860 (4).

It is partly in this latter appointment and partly in the establishment on 9 July 1856 of a Waterworks Commission (5), that one can clearly see the antecedents of what eventually became the Engineering and Water Supply Department. (The earlier organisations fall into place more naturally as forerunners of the Public Buildings Department.) The Waterworks Commission was abolished and control of waterworks vested from 24 December 1858 in the Commissioner of Public Works (6). The Waterworks Department was placed on the estimates on 1 July 1860 (7) . In 1867 the Architect's functions were made separate and those of the Engineer were embodied in a new department of the Engineer-in-Chief (8).

Although ostensibly in separate streams, from March 1867 to April 1878 the Departments of the Engineer-in-Chief and the Engineer of Waterworks were in the hands of the same individual. However, Waterworks was reorganised in 1878 to become the Hydraulic Engineer's Department (9), and was for twelve years under a separate administrator.

A Water Conservation Department also had a brief independent existence under the Commissioner of Crown Lands and Immigration from 1883 (10) to 1888.

On 1 June 1888 the Office of Hydraulic Engineer was abolished (11). The Departments of the Hydraulic Engineer and Conservator of Water were amalgamated and placed under the control of the Engineer-in-Chief in the same year (12).

A single large department dealing with both engineering and water supply was the order of the day from 1888 to at any rate 1902. However, on 7 August 1902, after the office being in abeyance for almost fifteen years, a Hydraulic Engineer was appointed (13). Official public service lists show him between that time and 1917 on the strength of the department of the Engineer-in-Chief, yet the apparently anomalous situation existed from 1903 to 1917 of his tendering annual reports of the Hydraulic Engineer's Department (14).

Meanwhile in 1906 the Engineer-in-Chief's Department was renamed the Engineering Department (15).

In the Public Service List for 1918 the apparent separation of spheres was regularised. The term Engineer-in-Chief's Department was reintroduced and the Hydraulic Engineer's Department is shown as separate (16).

Eventually on 1 November 1929, following a report by a Special Committee appointed to suggest economies in administration, the Department of the Engineer-in-Chief and Hydraulic Engineer were amalgamated to form the Engineering and Water Supply Department (17). On July 1, 1995 Engineering and Water Supply became the South Australian Water Corporation, abbreviation SA Water.

Responsibility for Railways, Tramways, Harbours and Jetties:

For most of the period between the 1860's and 1917 railway engineering was linked administratively with other engineering activities. The Railways Department was placed on the estimates on 1 July 1860 (18). From 8 June 1865 the Engineer and Architect (William Hanson) also held the office of Acting Manager of Railways (19). On 8 June 1867 the Engineer-in-Chief (Henry Coathupe Mais, appointed 27 March 1867) succeeded him and became also General Manager of Railways (20). During an interim period between 7 June 1869 and 31 December 1870 the Railways Department was under a Superintendent of Railways and Tramways (Charles Bonney) (21). However, the Engineer-ion-Chief was once more appointed Manager of Railways on 1 January 1871 (22).

On 1 January 1874 a Superintendent of Tramways was appointed (responsible to the Manager of Railways), the department itself then becoming Railways and Tramways (23). In November 1876 the position of General Traffic Manager was created and the Engineer-in-Chief's role in relation to Railways was changed from Manager to Engineer of Railways, enabling him 'to devote the whole of his time to construction and maintenance' (24).

On 1 July 1880 the Engineer-in-Chief also assumed the office of Engineer of Harbors and Jetties, a position originally created on 9 March 1876 as a separate department under the Treasurer (25). The Engineer-in-Chief continued to hold the secondary offices of Engineer of Railways and Harbors and Jetties during the period of office of Mais' successor, Alexander Bain Moncrieff, appointed on 19 April 1888 (26). This was so despite the South Australian Railways Commissioners Act of 1887 (27) which removed the railway staff as a whole from the public service, strictly speaking, giving responsibility to three Railways Commissioners, who were nevertheless required to submit regular reports to the Commissioner of Public Works.

From 13 June 1909, when Graham Stewart succeeded Moncrieff, the Engineer-in-Chief ceased to hold the parallel titles of Engineer of Railways and Harbors and Jetties (28). Nevertheless, 'Railway Staff' as well as 'Public Service Staff' continue to be shown in public service lists as part of the Engineering Department until the reorganisation of 1918.

Waterworks and Sewers:

Prior to 1868 the Waterworks Department's chief responsibility was the Adelaide City, Port and Suburban Waterworks (known from 1880 simply as Adelaide and Suburban Waterworks). On 1 January 1868 a superintendent was appointed for the waterworks at Port Pirie, and on 8 January 1875 a similar official for Port Augusta. In 1884, under the Hydraulic Engineer (when there were further waterworks under superintendents at Gawler, Kapunda and Mount Gambier) an administrative distinction was made between Adelaide Water District and Country Water Districts (29).

Sewage was discharged into the Sewage Farm for the first time on 7 January 1881 (30). It is in that year that the heading 'Sewers' (linked with 'Waterworks') appears for the first time in the Section of the public service list showing the administrative structure of the Hydraulic Engineer's Department (31).

Engineer of Public Works and Waterworks:

A series of files for 1875 bears the label 'Engineer of Public Works and Waterworks Department'. One of the Assistant Engineers (W.B. Hull in the Engineer-in-Chief's Department used the title Engineer of Public Works and Waterworks, but it does not appear in public service lists.

Same agency as GA 136 - different system of archival control.

For records of South Eastern Drainage Board see also GRG 35 and GA 136.

References:

(1) S.A. Government Gazette 20 June 1839, p. 1.
(2) S.A. Government Gazette 6 August 1841, p. 2
(3) Accession 54 (Statistical returns) 1852, p. 92.
(4) S.A. Government Gazette 6 December 1860, p. 1.
(5) Act No. 28 of 1855-1856.
(6) Act No. 17 of 1858.
(7) Accession 54 (Statistical returns) 1860, p. 212
(8) 27 March 1867. S.A,. Parliamentary Papers 1868-1869, No. 2, p. 36.
(9) S.A, Parliamentary Papers 1879, No. 2, p. 54.
(10) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1884, No. 2, p. 53.
(11) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1889, No. 2, p. 62, footnote.
(12) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1888, No. 29, p.x.
(13) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1903, No. 29, p. 45.
(14) E.g. S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1903, No. 29, p. 45ff.
(15) It comprised Public Works Staff, Railways Staff, Glanville Workshops, Pinnaroo Railway, Waterworks - Adelaide District, Waterworks - Country Districts, Outer Harbor, S.E. Drainage, Adelaide Sewers, Miscellaneous. S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1907, No. 2
(16) S.A. Parliamentary Paper 1918, No. 2 The Engineer-in-Chief is shown as responsible for River Murray Works, Water Conservation and S.E. Drainage, and the Hydraulic Engineer for Waterworks, Sewers and Glanville Workshops.
(17) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1930, No. 29, p. VII.
(18) Accession 54 (Statistical returns) 1860, p. 214, footnote a. Port Elliot and Goolwa Tramway had been a separate department since 1854 and remained so till 1870.
(19) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1867, no. 10A, p. 36.
(20) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1868-1869, No. , p. 36.
(21) S.A. Government Gazette 3 June 1869, p. 749. (Report for 1869; S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1870-1871, No. 16, p. 12-18)
(22) S.A. Government Gazette 26 January 1871, p. 132.
(23) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1875, No. 2, p. 45.
(24) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1877, No. 66, p.6; footnote 'a' under Engineer-in-Chief. 1877, No. 2, p. 47. 1878, No. 2, p. 46. For letters received by Engineer-in-Chief's Department: Office of Locomotive Engineer, 1878ff see GRG 42/5.
(25) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1877, No. 2, p. 38; 1881, No. 2, p. 54 a footnote 'a' under Engineer-in-Chief; 1881, No. 2, p. 42, footnotes.
(26) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1889, No. 2, p. 58.
(27) No. 414.
(28) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1910, No. 2 , p. 65.
(29) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1885, No. 2, p. 63-64.
(30) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1881, No. 25, p. 114.
(31) S.A. Parliamentary Papers 1882, No. 2, p. 60.