MG Car Club of South Australia
BREAKFAST RUN REPORT
From..Steve Spong, Photos by David McNabb
Breakfast Run to the Whispering Wall
nr Williamstown
29 April 2018
here was an amazing turnout for
the Breakfast Run to Williamstown.
Undoubtedly helped by the perfect Au-
tumn day as some 40 cars turned out on
the day.
T
The Whispering Wall, if you have not
been there, is worth the drive as a part
of a day out in the Barossa Valley.
The 'Wall' is a concrete dam, reinforced
with steel sleepers and granite blocks,
that was constructed at a cost of
170,000, pounds by more than 400
workers who lived with their families in
camp tents and rough huts on the banks
of the South Para River for three years
between 1899-1902.
The Barossa Reservoir the dam con-
tains , holds some 4515 mega-litres and
is fed from the South Para River. The
reservoir has been supplying Gawler
with reliable drinking water since that
date.
The dam was the first arch dam com-
pleted in South Australia and at over
30metres high (containing water to a
depth of 28metres being 10m thick at
the base), was the highest in Australia at
the time and was quite an achievement
for a young colony. Its curvature against
the pressure of the water was a new
principle at the time arousing the interest
of overseas bodies including the Institu-
tion of Civil Engineers, London and mak-
ing the pages of the "Scientific Ameri-
can".
The dam is known as the 'Whispering
Wall' due to its incredible acoustic prop-
erties. The perfect circular arc of the
hard, curved surface, easily carries
sound from one side 144 metres to the
other, so that someone just whispering
on one side can be clearly heard by
those on the other. A feature which fas-
cinates the tourists and kids visiting the
wall.
The story goes that this feature was first
discovered during the construction when
a group of workers were overheard com-
plaining about their boss who was on
the other side of the dam and it cost
them their jobs! This may well be folk-
lore but it adds some colour to the dam's
history.
There is plenty of car parking and areas
of grass and shelter to picnic, and the
cars proved a great attraction to the bus
loads of tourists and local visitors, with
many posing for shots and selfies by the
cars.
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