Bowhill Engineering Visit
BOWHILL ENGINEERING VISIT-SUNDAY 05/06/2016
Fourteen cars /twenty nine people participated in the Run to Bowhill Engineering on Sunday June 5 2016.
We left from the Clubrooms at 9 am and travelled on the eastern side of the River Murray via Younghusband to Bowhill.
Here, we were met by Jeremy Hawkes, the owner/director of Bowhill Engineering and his young son, Cameron.
The business was established as Bowhill Motors approximately 50 years ago by Jeremy’s father, Bren Hawkes, as a machinery/mechanical repairs business.
Jeremy showing us around the workshop inside Bowhill Engineering.
Over the years, the business has grown to specialise in heavy engineering contracting jobs
Australia wide and currently employs 23 people.
A photo display showed some of the projects undertaken, such as river ferries, mining
infrastructure, bridges and marine and harbour pylons.
We toured the fabrication plant, the grit blasting and painting complex (where a 38 metre
long pipe was being blasted and painted) and the coating trough.
We were informed that there are only 2 steel works in Australia-Port Kembla which manufactures
flat steel and Whyalla, which manufactures H and angle section.
Steel availability in Australia is becoming increasingly more difficult-no steel pipe (round) is
made in Australia (all imported) and it will be worse when Whyalla steelworks closes.
Many difficulties are presented when transporting large engineering projects from Bowhill
to site installation. One of their latest projects is constructing the Freeway Signs for the Bald Hill
interchange near Mount Barker.
We gathered for tea and coffee in the lunchroom above the workshop, with views overlooking
Bowhill and the river from the balcony.
We then headed 5 minutes down the road, to our riverfront property for soup and a barbeque lunch before heading for home.
Report – Claude and Liz Minge
Photos – Ricky Kaak
Morning tea was enjoyed by all in the lunch room above the workshop