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Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme: Engineering, Mount Beauty, and Natural Coexistence

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Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme: Engineering, Mount Beauty, and Natural Coexistence

Clip title: Below the High Plain (1959) | Mount Beauty and the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme Author / channel: NFSA Film Australia URL: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ytcs8Q28b0

Summary

The film “Below the High Plain” offers a captivating look at the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme in the Victorian Alps of Australia, masterfully weaving together themes of natural beauty, human ingenuity, and the harnessing of a powerful natural resource. It opens with scenes of pristine Australian bushland, where a young boy explores the native wildlife, hinting at the undisturbed natural environment that coexists with significant engineering feats.

The narrative then transitions to Mount Beauty, a town originally established by the Victorian Electricity Commission to house staff working on the Kiewa scheme. Today, it thrives as a scenic holiday destination, offering a range of recreational activities like golf, tennis, fishing in mountain streams, and hiking across the rugged terrain. This section highlights the transformation of a functional industrial settlement into a vibrant community that cherishes its natural surroundings.

The core of the film delves into the impressive scale and engineering of the Kiewa Hydro-Electric Scheme. Viewers are taken through the operations of Power Station No. 4, observing the quiet efficiency of turbines transforming water pressure into electricity. High on the Bogong High Plains, the construction of the Rocky Valley Dam is depicted, including large-scale blasting operations to extract 140,000 tons of rock and the arduous work of laying massive steel pipelines through tunnels and down steep mountainsides. This intricate system is designed to channel thousands of gallons of water per second, underscoring the immense effort required to control and utilize this powerful natural element.

Ultimately, “Below the High Plain” concludes by illustrating the vital connection between the abundant mountain waters and the electricity that powers Victoria. The Kiewa scheme is presented not just as an engineering marvel but as a testament to humanity’s ability to integrate industrial progress with environmental stewardship. The journey from the serene high plains, through the bustling construction sites, to the quiet hum of the power stations, and finally back to the Kiewa River and the omnipresent power lines, leaves a lasting impression of a vast and complex system working in harmony with nature to serve a broader community.

Video Description & Links

Description

In this 1959 documentary, a young boy accompanies his engineer father on a journey from Mount Beauty into Victoria’s Bogong High Plains, where work is underway on the Rocky Valley Dam as part of the Kiewa Hydroelectric Scheme.

Travelling through the alpine landscape, they encounter mountain streams, native wildlife and the growing township of Mount Beauty before reaching the vast construction site. The film captures the blasting and transport of rock for the dam wall, explains how water from the high plains would generate electricity for Victoria, and offers a rare look inside one of the scheme’s subterranean power stations.

Produced for the State Electricity Commission of Victoria, Below the High Plain documents both the scale of post-war hydroelectric development and the natural environment of Victoria’s high country.

CHAPTERS 00:00 Mount Beauty and the Kiewa Valley 02:28 An electricity town in Victoria’s high country 04:15 Water and hydroelectric power 05:15 Journey into the Bogong High Plains 07:03 The Rocky Valley Dam blast 07:52 Building the dam wall 08:42 How the Kiewa Scheme generates electricity

From the Film Australia Collection, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia Title: Below The High Plain Year: 1959 NFSA ID: GSMPGNJR Catalogue ID: 27641 Credits: Production Company: Australia. Department of Information Director: Ian Dunlop; Joe Scully Producer: Shan Benson Cinematographer/Director of Photography: Leo Ella; Reginald Pearse

NFSAFilms FilmAustralia RegionalAustralia MountBeauty AustralianHistory

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