Sluice Valve Control

Provenance

Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Settings: 21mm · f/8.0 · 2.5s · ISO 100
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm

A sluice valve control stands within White Bay Power Station, which operated from 1917 until 1983. This robust machinery once managed water for its turbines. Now, rust textures the metal, its operational purpose long past.

Edition

Open edition

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Printed to order, no fixed quantity. Each print is hand-signed by the photographer.

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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: Sluice Valve Control
Series: White Bay Power Station
Catalogue: WBP-064
Process: Giclée
Captured: 13 November 2015
Camera: NIKON D7000
Lens: 14.0-24.0 mm f/2.8
Aperture: f/8.0
Shutter: 2.5s s
ISO: 100
Focal length: 21 mm
Paper: Ilford Galerie Smooth Cotton Rag 310 gsm
Paper size: 290 × 200 mm
Location: Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia
Authenticity: C2PA verified provenance →
Recognised by: Highly Commended in Multimedia at the 2016 National Trust of Australia (NSW) Heritage Awards

02 LOCATION

Rozelle, New South Wales, Australia

Map · Mapbox · OpenStreetMap

03 THE STORY

About this print

A sluice valve control assembly at White Bay Power Station consists of a large-diameter rising-stem gate valve fitted with a cast-iron handwheel on a threaded spindle, the valve body mounted in a concrete pit with steel grating over the top. The valve body is flanged at both ends and connected to the main pipeline by bolted flanges with fibre gaskets. The handwheel has a position indicator showing open and shut. The valve stem is coated in grease for corrosion protection. The concrete pit walls show water staining and the steel reinforcing has started to rust through at several points on the pit lip.

Sluice valves at White Bay Power Station controlled water flow through the cooling-water and feedwater systems. The plant required large volumes of water to run the steam cycle: feedwater to the Babcock and Wilcox boilers, harbour water circulating through the condenser shells, and cooling water for the turbine bearings. Sluice valves provided isolating points throughout the water circuit, allowing sections to be taken out of service for maintenance without shutting down the whole plant. White Bay ran continuously from 1917 to Christmas Day 1983. After closure the water systems were depressurised and drained during the 1990s decontamination. The valves were left in place as part of the plant infrastructure.

04 FROM THE FIELD NOTES

A rusted control panel labelled "No. 1 S.S. Fdr (SW. 31)" hangs on a concrete block wall. Stencilled text identifies sluice valves, turbine supervisory board alternate supply, base exchange pumps, and an IBM time clock. Toggle switches sit in rows beneath the lettering. To the left, four grey junction boxes with red push buttons are mounted between runs of steel conduit. Red-painted pipework branches away at the lower right. The wall is thick with grime. Behind, steel structure and brickwork recede into shadow.

Brett Patman

The series

White Bay Power Station

2015–2018 · 124 photographs

Bricklayers laid 3.7 million bricks at White Bay across three and a quarter years of Phase 1 construction, on Wanngal Country at the western edge of Rozelle. The New South Wales Government Railways ran the build through its own Construction Department. By 3 July 1913, boilers and alternators were running before the buildings that housed them were complete.

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.