Henry Mais, from 1867, South Australia's first engineer in chief, wins over governments with Hope Valley reservoir
South Australia's first government engineer in chief Henry Mais in his public service uniform. Mais won over parliamentarians with the Hope Valley reservoir project. Still used in the 21st Century, the 2,840 megalites reservoir covered 52 hectares and was retained behind a 950-metres clay-cored earth wall. Water was transferred from the River Torrens via a tunnel and aqueduct.
Images, including photograph of reservoir\ by H. Davis for the Philadelphia Exhibition 1876, courtesy Sate Library of South Australia
Hope Valley Reservoir, completed in 1873 as Adelaide’s second and in use through to the 21st Century, also signalled to transforming entry of South Australia’s first engineer in chief Henry Mais from 1867 to 1888.
The Hope Valley project won over South Australian parliamentarians, scarred by previous incompetent government waterworks engineers. Mais’s ability was also questioned at first. Born in England in 1827, the son of an engineer, Henry Coathupe Mais was educated and tutored at Bishop's College, Bristol, and was articled to W.M. Penistone one of the great I.K. Brunel's chief engineers during work on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, and surveys and building the Wilts, Somerset and Weymouth railways.
Maislater spend 18 months in the engineering department of the Broad Street Foundry, Birmingham. In 1850, at 23, he and the foundry owner went to Sydney with a failed hope to start a business there. Mais became an engineer with Sydney Railway Company, formed to build the line to Parramatta and later worked for the city commissioners as assistant engineer on water and sewerage works until 1856 when he and other city engineers were accused of negligence, ignorance and corruption (something later used against him by sceptical South Australian members of parliament). In 1858, Mais went to Victoria and to be engineer and manager for Cornish and Bruce, contractors on the Melbourne and Bendigo railway, and, in 1862, engineer and manager of the Melbourne and Suburban and Brighton railway companies.
Selected as South Australia's first engineer in chief Mais also was engineer of water works and railways general manager and engineer of harbours (1880-88), responsible for constructing 1,470 miles of railway bridges, main roads, harbours jetties and the south eastern drainage works during his 21 years.
Ironically, Mais had little specific interest in waterworks when he took on getting Adelaide its second reservoir after Thorndon Park at Hope Valley. Mais was quick to suggest to the government that the second reservoir question be solved by offering premiums of £400 and £200 for the best water supply schemes. Public works commissioner Thomas English agreed and Mais drew up the details required (including possible filtration) to be forwarded by applicants before November 30, 1867.
Mais quickly pensioned off some older public servants to improve the public works department, as politicians continued to treat him warily, especially in regard to spending. Despite his big role, he was refused a pay increase and even permission to hire a horse to travel the long distance to the Hope Valley reservoir construction site (that Mais had picked) as his own horse allowance covered up to seven miles only.
As governments, even in their rapid changeover, saw the need for public works in the province’s rapid growth, they began to support Mais. In 1868, the successive ministries of Henry Ayers and Henry Strangways backed the waterworks bill to construct Hope Valley reservoir. In 1872, when Ayers wanted to raise an extra £25,000 to complete the reservoir, former public works commissioner John Carr was quick to point out the mistake made was in the original estimate.
The parliamentarians’ confidence in engineering expertise saw them agree with Mais to get engineer W.T. Doyne from Melbourne in 1873 to advise on the most economical way to deal with water escaping from the reservoir. Doyne suggest clay puddling as the best solution but assured public works commissioner Wentworth Cavenagh that "in design and excellence of workmanship, the [reservoir] works are most satisfactory”. He was particularly impressed with Mais’s novel use of concrete, instead of the usual rubble pitching, for the channels conducting water into the reservoir.
