Posted on Friday, September 28, 2012 by Peter Knego
MaritimeMatters is delighted to share an exclusive report from Maurizio Eliseo, our maritime associate in Trieste, Italy…
Few people may know that the old port of Trieste, Italy, still has many treasures to be discovered. Recently, the restoration and the opening of the Hydrodynamic Central of 1891 has been successfully completed. This amazing plant pressurized sea water to power all the cranes, elevators and other devices of the old port through pipes running through four miles of underground tunnels. Since the eve of the Great War, it provided electrical power and remained in service until the early 1970s. Although the huge arched tunnels and the underground workers’ city are not open to the public yet (there are even saunas used by the workers), the heart of the system, which includes six cylindrical marine boilers and four triple-expansion steam engines dating from 1891, along with the beautiful building containing them, is at last accessible to the public. This is the first of many buildings that will be restored.
The crankshaft has made over 5 million revolutions! Photo © Maurizio Eliseo
Photo © Maurizio Eliseo
Photo © Maurizio Eliseo
Photo © Maurizio Eliseo
For more details please visit http://www.centraleidrodinamica.it/
Glenn Paull
September 29, 2012 at 6:25 am
I love the old triples and worked on many ships that were powered by them – most would run on at least 130 lbs of steam pressure. A full time oiler was required but if you took care of them they would last forever.
Boris Michaluk
September 30, 2012 at 12:12 pm
I wish more of his books would be published in english!
Sal Scannella
December 11, 2012 at 5:46 am
Ciao Maurizio,
Thanks for posting this from the beautiful city of Trieste.
Tanti cari saluti!
Sal