Outlet Canal

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 26mm · f/8.0 · 1/30 · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

The vast concrete outlet canal at Wangi Power Station funnels water towards Lake Macquarie. This derelict structure once released cooling water from the thermal power plant, operational from 1957 to 1986.

Edition

Open edition

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A fixed number of prints exist. Once sold, the edition closes permanently. Each print is individually numbered and signed.

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Signed, numbered, with COA. Made to order in 10 to 20 business days (framed). Shipped in protective packaging with edition certificate, paper-stock reference and a printed care guide.

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In situ

01 PROVENANCE

Print datasheet

Title: Outlet Canal
Series: Wangi Power Station
Catalogue: WPS-036
Process: Giclée
Captured: 27 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 24.0-70.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 1/30 s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 26 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Wangi Wangi, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: National Trust of Australia (NSW), 2016 Heritage Award, Multimedia

02 LOCATION

Wangi Wangi, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

The outlet canal at Wangi Power Station is the concrete-lined channel that carried cooling water back to Lake Macquarie after it had passed through the plant's condensers. The canal runs from the back of the turbine hall to the lake shore, set into the ground like a small canalised stream. Its walls are cast concrete, capped with a low parapet. The water in the canal is shallow now, fed only by the local creeks and rainwater. Vegetation has come up along the banks. Where the canal meets the lake, the original bar-screen is still in place but rusted out.

Wangi was built on Lake Macquarie because the lake provided unlimited cooling water. Lake water was pumped from the foreshore through the condensers at a rate of millions of litres per hour, taking heat out of the steam cycle and returning to the lake several degrees warmer. The discharge from the outlet canal raised local lake temperatures noticeably during operation, which affected the local fish ecology and recreational use. After the plant closed in 1986, the cooling water demand stopped. The canal sat dry. The lake's temperatures returned to baseline. The canal in this photograph is what is left of the system that connected the plant to the lake.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

The outlet canal runs the full length of the turbine hall, its dark water perfectly still against the concrete channel wall. Brown brick and steel-framed windows rise two storeys above, nearly every pane shattered or missing. Rusted metal railings line the canal edge. Beyond the fencing, green grass stretches flat toward eucalyptus trees under an overcast sky. Pipe fittings jut from the brickwork at water level.

Brett Patman

The series

Wangi Power Station

2016–2018 · 51 photographs

Wangi Power Station ran on the western shore of Lake Macquarie from 1958 until B Station closed in 1986. Two stations under one roof, brought online to break the rolling blackouts that hit NSW through the late 1950s. The complex was listed on the NSW State Heritage Register in 1999.

View all in this series →

05 SIZE GUIDE

Print sizes

The anatomy view shows what this finish is as a physical object: paper margin, mat band, frame depth, acrylic profile. The comparison strip shows how each size sits relative to the others at true scale. Click a size or a finish to update both.