Everything about The London Hydraulic Power Company totally explained
The
London Hydraulic Power Company was set up by an
Act of Parliament in
1883 to install a
hydraulic power network of high-
pressure cast iron water mains under
London. It was the successor to the
Steam Wharf and Warehouse Company, founded in
1871 by
Edward B Ellington. The network covered an area mostly north of the
Thames from
Hyde Park in the west to
Docklands in the east.
Use
The system was used as a cleaner and more compact alternative to
steam engines, to power workshop machinery,
lifts,
cranes,
theatre machinery, and the backup mechanism of
Tower Bridge. It was also used to supply
fire hydrants, mostly those inside buildings. The water, pumped straight from the Thames, was heated in winter to prevent freezing.
Pumping stations
The pressure was maintained at a nominal 800 psi (about 5.5 MPa, or 54
bar) by five hydraulic power stations, originally driven by
coal-fired
steam engines. These were at:
Short-term storage was provided by
hydraulic accumulators, which were large vertical pistons loaded with heavy weights.
Decline
From about
1904, business began to decline as
electric power became more popular. The company began to replace its
steam engines with
electric motors from
1923. At its peak, the network consisted of 180 miles (about 290 km) of pipes, and the total power output was about 7000
horsepower (5 MW).
Modern times
The system closed in
1977, and the entire company was bought by
Mercury Communications (a subsidiary of
Cable & Wireless), who used the pipes as
telecommunications ducts.
Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, the last of the five to close, is now an arts centre and restaurant.
Further Information
Get more info on 'London Hydraulic Power Company'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://london_hydraulic_power_company.totallyexplained.com">London Hydraulic Power Company Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
