North Arm Powder Magazine


The North Arm Powder Magazine near Port Adelaide, South Australia was from 1858 to 1906 a secure storage facility for dynamite and gelignite to be used in the construction, mining and quarrying industries.

Location

It was in Gillman near Port Adelaide at the North Arm of the Port River only 9 m away from the North Arm Bridge and North Arm Road. The explosives were stored in the wooden and slated magazine building and in two dynamite hulks moored in Magazine Creek. One of them was a retired iron dredger, built around 1852, and the other was a former lighter. They were seen as a risk, if they should ever explode, because they were close to the new bridge and coastal settlements and inland towns.

Buildings

The North Arm Powder Magazine was built in 1858 by the government. The magazine was built as a lightweight structure on wooden poles due to its location at the tidal creek. Only later this became best practice to mitigate the secondary damage from an explosion by descending débris.
As it was close to urbanisation, it was suggested to abandon the site already a decade after it had been commissioned. It was taken out of service only in 1906, after its contents had been moved to the new Dry Creek explosives depot. The building was demolished in 1916 and no visible evidence remains.