VPRS 18789 Port of Melbourne Soundings Plans

Full description

This series comprises maps and plans depicting soundings taken in the Port of Melbourne.

The plans primarily show depth measurements collected as a result of sounding activities in the Port of Melbourne. Sounding, or depth sounding, refers to measuring the depth of the floor of a body of water. The depth measurements are depicted as numbers on each map, often in uniform rows although not exclusively. Many of the pre-1980s plans are hand-drawn. Later plans are computer generated.

These plans primarily show the depths recorded along sections of the Port of Melbourne, such as the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers. Areas commonly represented in the collection include Port Melbourne, Yarraville, Williamstown, Appleton Dock, and South Wharf. Many of the maps show soundings taken in the vicinity of piers or berths. They also show some basic features of the coastline, notable features in the water, and shipping infrastructure such as piers where relevant to the area being surveyed. They also usually record the date the soundings were taken. Some plans contain reference to plans of previous soundings recorded in the same area, or other hand-drawn annotations.

A number of the plans are specifically related to dredging activity in Port Phillip Bay, including dredging instructions highlighting specific locations, and soundings taken of spoil dumps. There are a small number of plan indexes, which list the plans for a particular year, as well as maps of the Port with the locations of that year’s dredging works highlighted.

The plans were created between the 1910s and the 1990s. The same survey locations reappear throughout the series, so it can be used to track depth measurements in the Port of Melbourne over time.

There is a limited index to this series located in VRPS 19075. That index can be searched chronologically, and then by plan number, but does not cover every plan in this series.

Before being transferred to PROV, this collection was in the custody of the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum.