A HERITAGE-PROTECTED void should be backfilled, experts say as the clean up continues at one of Bendigo's most significant slices of history.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Heritage Victoria is considering the application and has put the matter out for public feedback.
Heritage and engineering experts want to use cement stabilised sand to fill the void of a huge, mostly underground tank that once held gas at the Bendigo Gas Works.
The site on Weeroona Avenue houses the only surviving coal gas production plant in Victoria and "one of very few in the world", according to heritage experts involved in the application.
More news:
The state government's department of treasury and finance department has been financing a major clean up at the site including of contaminated soils and the byproducts of gas production.
Its engineers are now turning their attention to "Gasholder No 2", a large tank first built in 1926 which remains in place.
They want to head off any risk of storm or groundwater overflowing and washing into the nearby Bendigo Creek.
"Gasholder No. 2 has not been operated since the gasworks ceased production and closed in 1973," heritage experts contracted by the department have told Heritage Victoria.
"In the intervening years extensive rusting has caused holes in the sides of the tank and allowed it to fill with groundwater."
Clean up crews have already removed much of the water that was in the tank and now want a permanent fix.
Engineering contractors want to temporarily open two hatches at the top of the gasholder and pump in a grey slurry of sand and up to three per cent concrete.
"Cement stabilised sand is durable," they wrote in paperwork filed with Heritage Victoria.
"[It] has a sealing quality so it would seal leakages within the brickwork of the gasholder for instance."
Crews could stop filling the tank when the sand was 800 millimetres from the top and add a thin "bitumenous" black cap, according to heritage expert advice submitted to Heritage Victoria.
The idea would be to leave a gap between that cap and the top of the tank so that it looked as unaltered as possible.
Any water that pooled on top of all that would likely be drained away into an upgraded stormwater pit.
Heritage Victoria is inviting people to view paperwork and submit their views. Documents can be viewed at www.heritage.vic.gov.au/protecting-our-heritage/currently-advertised-permits
Submissions close on Tuesday, April 25.
Tom O'Callaghan
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
I grew up in Bendigo and I want to tell your stories.
