In the September 1972 edition of The Australian Pipeliner, Maurie Stratton wrote, “The development of gas and oil pipelines in Victoria can broadly be divided into three eras.” In an article entitled Development of Gas & Oil Pipelines in Victoria, Mr Stratton, Executive Officer, Victorian Ministry of Fuel and Power set out in detail the development of the industry up to and including 1972. Writing about the different eras Stratton says, “the first one [era] occurred from the time the first gasworks were erected in Melbourne about 1880 to the formation of the Gas & Fuel Corporation of Victoria in 1951 and the building of the first refineries in the state about this time. The second era covered the period during which Victoria’s three modern refineries were commissioned and the first high pressure long distance gas and oil pipelines were laid.

“In 1952 the first cross country pipeline to convey either gas or oil in Victoria was laid from Corio to Newport. This line, which was 33 miles long and had an 8 inch diameter, was the longest pipeline yet laid in the state, the first one to be laid across open country and the fist one to be authorised by special legislation. Another notable aspect of this pipeline was that it was one of the first to be laid in Victoria by a contractor using techniques and mechanical equipment of the type being evolved in the United States of America following the large expansion of the natural gas industry in that country after the Second World War. The construction contractor was Taylor Woodrow.

“In 1955 the Gas & Fuel Corporation of Victoria commenced construction of the Morwell-Dandenong-West Melbourne 18 inch transmission pipeline to convey Lurgi gas from the gas making plant in Morwell to the gas making plant in West Melbourne. The line was laid by the Corporation using its own staff. The Corporation imported excavators, sidebooms and welding and bending equipment from America and trained its own welders.

“One of the last occurrences of significance in pipe laying in the pre-natural gas era resulted from the Corporation’s decision in 1964 to lay a 51 mile 18 inch diameter ring main north from Dandenong through the northern and eastern suburbs to its West Melbourne works. The Corporation laid the first sections using day labour, but the next three sections were built using contractors including APC (Australian Pipeline Construction) and Newham’s (Eric Newham (Wallerawang)).”

The third era of pipeline development took place as a direct result of the development of Victoria’s large gas and oil fields discovered during the second half of the 1960s in the Gippsland Basin.

The initial Barracouta gas field discovery in Bass Strait in 1965 by Esso Australia and its 50-50 joint venture partner, BHP Petroleum, was followed two years later with discovery of two giant oilfields – Kingfish and Halibut. The discovery of oil caused much excitement but it was the gas that provided the catalyst for a huge amount of pipeline work in Victoria.

Operations in Bass Strait saw the construction of 18 offshore platforms and three sub-sea installations; a network of 600 km of underwater pipelines; onshore pipelines to a processing plant at Longford; and a marine terminal at Barry Beach.

The first major onshore pipelines from Bass Strait were oil and liquids pipelines to Westernport refineries and Crib Point, and a gas pipeline to Dandenong.

Carter Johnson’s APC won the contract to build Esso’s oil and liquids pipelines from its Longford plant to Westernport, while Saipem won the contract to build a 30 inch gas pipeline from Longford to Dandenong. The gas pipeline was built under the auspices of the Victorian Pipelines Commission, which was formed to build, own and operate Victoria’s natural gas pipelines. The commission operated as an intermediate stage between the producers and the gas utilities, but was disbanded soon after construction of the Longford-Dandenong line and the gas pipeline from Melbourne to Geelong (Brooklyn to Corio). Gas & Fuel assumed responsibility for the construction of all natural gas pipelines throughout Victoria and went on to take control of other gas companies in Victoria, including Colonial Gas Company and all regional gas companies.

During these early days of natural gas, Eric Newham (Wallerawang) - led by Allan Newham, son of the founder Eric Newham - entered the pipeline construction scene. Eric Newham won major contracts in Victoria, including the early ring main work on the 30 inch West Melbourne to Dandenong pipeline and the contracts for feeder lines into the towns off the Bendigo - Ballarat gas pipeline.

At this time, Stuart McDonald came across from New Zealand to establish McConnell Dowell in Australia, Saipem was already operating in Australia, and Ron Nicholas, who established Red Ru Pipelines in Queensland, was another major player. These contractors were all founding members of the Australian Pipeline Contractors Association (APCA), which included other early players in the pipeline scene like Bechtel Pacific Corporation, Fluor Australia, General Constructions, Holland Press, J Ray McDermott and Wood Hall.

Two other projects of note in the early days were the WAG pipeline and Esso’s ethane pipeline. In 1972 the WAG oil pipeline was built from Westernport to Altona and Geelong (WAG). APC built Esso’s controversial ethane pipeline from Westernport to Mordialloc and across the bay to refineries at Altona.

The 85 mile 24 inch WAG oil pipeline was, for the purposes of construction, divided up into sections. Saipem, Eric Newham and APC won contracts for the major sections and McConnell Dowell won the river crossing. A bitter fight took place with the building of the ethane pipeline across Port Phillip Bay with Esso and APC up against extreme union and environmental opposition. The building of this pipeline is a story in itself which will be covered in a future issue.

The next major gas pipeline project was the construction of the Melbourne to Ballarat and Bendigo natural gas pipeline system. Saipem built this pipeline, which got underway in late 1971.

The building of the Melbourne - Albury/Wodonga natural gas pipeline followed in 1975; the November 1975 issue of Pipeline Construction shows the Gas & Fuel construction team, which comprised Graham Witty, John Uren, John Barker, Len Parsonage, Graham Downie, Ian Hardie and John Barr. The construction contract for the main line was awarded to a joint venture of APC/Joyce Leonard. Newhams constructed the Keon Park to Wollert section and McConnell Dowell built the laterals to Shepparton and Mooroopna.

In the late 1970s, Gas & Fuel turned their attention to the first two stages of the looping of the 30 inch Longford - Dandenong Pipeline with the first 30 km section between Tyers and Rosedale and the second between Rosedale and Longford. McConnell Dowell won the construction contracts for this looping and it was the first project that Jeff Shepherd ran for the company. At this time, McConnell Dowell also constructed a products line from Altona to Somerton with a spur line to Tullamarine built by D G Harding.

During the 1980s, work concentrated around central Victoria, with pipelines built to Kyneton, Maryborough and the looping of the Bendigo section of the gas pipeline to Ballarat and Bendigo. Smaller pipeline work was also completed in Albury. A further section of looping of the 30 inch Longford - Dandenong in the Bunyip area was also completed, as was the building of the outer ring main from Pakenham to Yarra Glen in three sections. McConnell Dowell also constructed an 87 km, 700 mm products pipeline for Esso early in the 1980s.

Extension of gas transmission into the Peninsula, to Dromana, was followed by an extension to Albury, which ended up with the Wandong to Kyneton natural gas pipeline, which was started by Red Ru and finished by McConnell Dowell. These projects saw most of the major Victorian pipeline infrastructure program, driven by the discovery of gas in Bass Strait, in place. Further additions to this network were completed in the 1990s in the Murray Valley area.

A fourth era can now be added to the gas pipeline industry in Victoria. That came with the discovery of natural gas in the offshore Otway basin with gas brought ashore in the Port Campbell area. This led to the construction of a number of pipelines in southwest Victoria and to the construction of a pipeline to Adelaide. The bringing of gas from the offshore Yolla field and the building of pipelines to Tasmania and Sydney greatly expanded Victoria’s pipeline industry. This fourth era will be the subject of a later article.

With over 200 licensed onshore pipelines and over 40 licensed offshore pipelines in Victoria this article has only attempted to give a general overview of major pipeline construction over the last few decades. To give a detailed history of all would take up many, many editions of The Australian Pipeliner given the many characters and events they entail.