Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 2 stripsFuji 100eltham shire council, equipment, grader-towed, graders, roadmaking, trailers, shire of eltham

Eight colour photographs showing Council graders 1-7. old towed grader in Council yard 8. Road grader, 1990sgraders, equipment, eltham shire council, grader towed, roadmaking

Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 2 stripsKodak GA 100 5095shire of eltham, grader towed, graders

Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 2 stripsKodak GA 100 5095shire of eltham, grader towed, graders

Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 2 stripsKodak GA 100 5095shire of eltham, grader towed, graders

Roll of 35mm colour negative film, 2 stripsKodak GA 100 5095shire of eltham, grader towed, graders

Construction of the main road from South Tawonga to the Bogong High Plains, to provide access to the construction sites for the new Kiewa Hydro Electric Scheme, was commenced early in 1938, the work being undertaken on behalf of the Commission by the Country Roads Board. For the construction work, the Commission purchased three Caterpillar - model R07 - diesel crawler tractors equipped with Kay Brunerei (Brunner) hydraulically operated trailbuilders (angle dozers). This acquisition resulted from a visit to the United States of America in May, 1937 by the Construction Engineer ( Mr. C.H. Kernot) and Assistant Civil Engineer (Mr. J.F. Douglas) where they saw this relatively new type of equipment in use. With the co-operation of the CRB, the Commission demonstrated the operation of these machines at Fishermen's Bend on 6th April, 1938. They were then sent to Kiewa where they commenced operation towards the end of the month. From South Tawonga, the route led immediately across the Western Branch of the Kiewa River necessitating the construction of a bridge 100 feet long. By the end of 1939, the excavation had been 'opened up' for a distance of 19 1/2 miles (approx. 31 km) and of this length, 10 miles (approx. 16 km) had been surfaced.The purchase and use of this type of mechanical equipment in road making was a huge investment, as prior to this most of the work would have been done manually with the use of picks and shovels. Not only were many months of hard manual labour saved, but a very significant amount of time in providing access to the proposed work sites for the new Kiewa Hydro Scheme. This photo is an excellent reminder of how primitive the early machinery was compared to the present but also represents the forward thinking of the State Electricity Commissions engineers in purchasing such innovative equipment . A black and white photograph showing the type of machinery used for road making in the 1930's. It shows a grader being towed by a caterpillar tractor.On the top left hand corner of the photograph , hand written in black ink is the words 'Kiewa Road Making 25/8/1938'. On the right hand side of the photo has been stamped in blue the Number 1. It has been developed on Velox paper (marked on back of photo) with a gloss finish.road making, state electricity commission, caterpillar tractor, kiewa

Newspaper. Norman Penrose collection: newspaper cutting depicting road making machinery on a road near Warburton. The road is being widened and remade. It is a bush road with a truck, a grader and two tractor towed scrapers.person, bendigo, norman william penrose, norman penrose collection, road making equipment