41 



Notes upon a Boring at Port Wakefield^ 



By Walter Eutt, Hon. Sec. 



[Read December 7, 1880.] 



The railway system of which Port Wakefield is the centre 

 requires a large supply of good water for locomotive purposes. 

 The supply from surface wells throughout the district, which 

 extends from Wallaroo to Blyth, is not pure enough, and the 

 dams which have been constructed to catch the surface drainage 

 are unreliable, owing to the uncertain rainfall. From the 

 direction of the dip of the strata of the ranges to the east of 

 8t. Vincent's Gulf, and from the position of the plain which 

 forms its northern continuation, it was thought that fresh 

 water would probably be obtained at a depth of 400 or 500 

 feet ; and an 8-inch bore was accordingly commenced on 23rd 

 September, 1879, at the eastern end of the Port Wakefield 

 Station-yard, at a level of about 18 feet above low water of 

 the Grulf . The machinery employed was similar to that fre- 

 quently used for boring for oil in Pennsylvania, the tools 

 being slung from a cable operated upon by a small engine 

 working a drum. Where the material is hard, it is first pul- 

 verized, and then removed by a sand pump — a small quantity 

 of water being kept constantly at the bottom of the hole to 

 facilitate the working of the pump. 



After traversing 12 feet of sand and shell, a succession of 

 clay-beds was reached, alternating with layers of limestone 

 and pebbles. At a depth of 34 feet, in one of these limestone 

 beds, the first vein of water was encountered. As might have 

 been expected, it was salt, and rose almost to the surface. At 

 56 feet, in a 10-foot bed of sand, gravel, and shell, a similar 

 vein of salt water was found. This was followed by 6 feet of 

 red sandy clay, below which was a quicksand, which extended 

 almost without intermission to 211 feet, being a total thickness 

 of 139 feet. As soon as the tool struck the quicksand the 

 salt water rose in five minutes to within 40 feet of the surface. 

 The hole was lined with iron pipes, jointed with screw collars, 

 which were driven down as the bore was deepened ; but the 

 force of the water was such as frequently to overcome the 

 pump. AVork was stopped one Saturday in the white sand, 

 which extends from 85 feet to 124 feetj and on the following 



