Edison Street Tubes - 3 Core Conduit
Production date
Circa 1883
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Object detail
Description
Sample of underground electrical system - triple copper strand core. Conduit has a severely rusted cast iron casing, with the pitch, made of asphaltum, oxidised linseed oil, paraffin and beeswax, slowly seeping from either end of conduit.
Classification
ELECTRICAL TECHNOLOGY Components cable, flex, wire
Production date
Circa 1883
Measurements
L600 x Dia.80 mm
Media/Materials description
Cast iron, cooper, asphaltum
History and use
This is a section of the three-core electrical mains system, designed by Thomas Edison and laid along William Street, Brisbane, in 1884 to supply the first electricity to Queensland’s Parliament House and Government Printing Offices. This was laid in 1892 under the direction of Government Electrician Mr Edward Barton, to provide more efficient service to the expanded precinct on Alice Street.
The conduit, in excavated condition, reveals the inner copper strands and viscous pitch substance, used to insulate the wires. The later three-core conduits made use of a much less fluid pitch, which was ultimately more stable, and because of the thinner copper wires they were cheaper to produce. These conduits conducted electricity from a nearby power station which ran generators called ‘dynamos’. Edison was also responsible for the design of the wiring, fixtures and light bulbs at the other end of the conduits.
Manufacture and installation of the two-core street tubes commenced in the United States in 1882, with only two other cities preceding Brisbane in the use of such electric lighting – London and New York. By the time the replacement tubes were installed, and despite improvements to Edison's design, newer systems were being installed in other cities.
The Edison Street Tubes, as they are known, were recovered in 1992 from William Street by a team from the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB), now Energex, and the Queensland Museum. These objects provide a valuable insight into the earliest developments in street electricity, both in Brisbane and internationally. Edison’s inventions were soon surpassed in affordability, speed and access by overhead wires and other underground cables in the mid 1880s. However, these objects are a significant early technological development, and reveal the modern, forward-thinking approach of Queensland Government to electricity and innovation.
Uploaded to the Web 27 May 2011.
The conduit, in excavated condition, reveals the inner copper strands and viscous pitch substance, used to insulate the wires. The later three-core conduits made use of a much less fluid pitch, which was ultimately more stable, and because of the thinner copper wires they were cheaper to produce. These conduits conducted electricity from a nearby power station which ran generators called ‘dynamos’. Edison was also responsible for the design of the wiring, fixtures and light bulbs at the other end of the conduits.
Manufacture and installation of the two-core street tubes commenced in the United States in 1882, with only two other cities preceding Brisbane in the use of such electric lighting – London and New York. By the time the replacement tubes were installed, and despite improvements to Edison's design, newer systems were being installed in other cities.
The Edison Street Tubes, as they are known, were recovered in 1992 from William Street by a team from the South East Queensland Electricity Board (SEQEB), now Energex, and the Queensland Museum. These objects provide a valuable insight into the earliest developments in street electricity, both in Brisbane and internationally. Edison’s inventions were soon surpassed in affordability, speed and access by overhead wires and other underground cables in the mid 1880s. However, these objects are a significant early technological development, and reveal the modern, forward-thinking approach of Queensland Government to electricity and innovation.
Uploaded to the Web 27 May 2011.
Associated person
Registration number
H44141.4
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