Record series
Annual Sounding and Dredging Plan Folios
VPRS 18780
1942 - 1995
Open
North Melbourne
Agencies
This record series was created by:
Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners ( VA2799 ): 1942 - 1978
Port of Melbourne Authority ( VA1426 ): 1979 - 1995
Agencies responsible for this record series: Ports Victoria ( VA 5257 ): 2021 - present
Date Range
Series date range: 1942 - 1995
Series in custody:
1942 - 1995
Contents in custody:
1942 - 1995
Function / Content
This series comprises large bound paper folios containing sounding and dredging plans created by the Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners (VA 2799) and then the Port of Melbourne Authority (VA 1426) between the 1940s and the 1990s.The plans primarily depict 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.
These plans show the depths recorded along sections of the Port of Melbourne, such as the Yarra and Maribyrnong rivers. The depths are recorded in feet and inches. 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 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.
The plans in this series were the Drawing Office copy. Information on the plans indicates that copies of the plans were also sent to the Harbor Master’s Department and the Dredging Department with the Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners. They were collected into annual volumes in sequential order by plan number. For many years the quantity of plans necessitated the collection being split into two folios.
From the late 1980s the number ranges of the plans started to vary and plans with numbers in the 100s or 1000s appeared, perhaps reflecting a change in the plan number allocation system after Melbourne Harbour Trust Commissioners was abolished and replaced by the Port of Melbourne Authority.
A number of the folios contain plans specifically related to dredging activity in Port Phillip Bay. These are easily identified by title in the record items list.
Before being transferred to PROV, this series was held by the Queenscliffe Maritime Museum.
How to use the records
Browse the record item listing for year/s of interest.Recordkeeping system
The plans are collected in folios of around 30-50 plans, separated by year. Often one year will be split over multiple folios, indicated by Part 1 or Part 2 being included on the spines and front covers of the folios. This has been reflected in the record item listing.The plans were arranged using an annual single number system, with the first number indicating the plan number and the second indicating the year of creation, e.g. 32/44 – plan number 32 from 1944. They are also titled with the location the soundings were taken.
Folios are not otherwise numbered so it is unclear if this series began earlier and/or finished later than the records in custody suggest.
A more extensive set of plans with the same annual single number recordkeeping system from the Melbourne Harbor Trust Commissioners can be found in VPRS 18789.
