London Hydraulic Power Company
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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 Vauxhall in the east. The system was used as a cleaner and more compact alternative to steam engines, to power workshop machinery, lifts (US: elevators), cranes, theatre machinery, and the backup mechanism of Tower Bridge. The water, pumped straight from the Thames, was heated in winter to prevent freezing. 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. The first was Falcon Wharf Pumping Station near Blackfriars Bridge. Another was Renforth Pump House in Wapping (built 1890). Another was opened at Rotherhithe in 1904, using the defunct Tower Subway to route pipes under the Thames. The others were at City Road Basin on the Regent's Canal in Islington, and at Grosvenor Road. Short-term storage was provided by accumulators, which were large vertical pistons loaded with heavy weights. The system was also used to supply fire hydrants, mostly those inside buildings.
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).
The system closed in 1977, and the entire company was bought by Mercury Communications (now part of Cable & Wireless), who used the pipes as telecommunications ducts. The Wapping Hydraulic Power Station, the last of the five to close, is now an arts centre and restaurant.
[edit] External links
- Hydraulic power in London from Subterranea Britannica including photographs.
- London's hydraulic network
