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100 YEARS
pictorial history of ICC's Corrimal site

Illawarra Coke Company's (ICC's) site at Corrimal in the Illawarra region of New South Wales, Australia has been in continuous operation since the cokeworks was constructed in 1911.

Corrimal Cokeworks 1911 to 1949
The C1 battery of 40 coke ovens was built in 1911 near Corrimal Railway station by Southern Coal Company following the demise of its Unanderra Cokeworks further to the south. It was commissioned in May 1912.Coal was transported from Corrimal-Balgownie Colliery to the cokeworks on a private rail line.

Waste gases were used to produce electrical power which operated the machinery at the cokeworks and also supplied electricity to the Colliery. In 1925 the Corrimal Cokeworks power house was supplying electricity to the North Illawarra council area and over 400 street lamps used Cokeworks power.

In the 1930's C1 battery was extended to the north with construction of ten more ovens. The original C1 ovens are still in operation today.

In 1932 a new 1,000 KW turbo-alternator unit was installed in the Corrimal Cokeworks power house. Images of Corrimal Cokeworks from 1911 to 1949 can be viewed at:
1912-1949 Corrimal Cokeworks

Corrimal Colliery Railway 1912 to 1965
Corrimal Cokeworks was supplied with coal from the Corrimal-Balgownie Colliery on a private railway line from the time the coke ovens were commissioned in 1912.

Until the closure of the railway line in 1965 - when it was purchased by Australian Iron and Steel - the Corrimal Colliery owned a total of five standard gauge locomotives and four 2 foot gauge engines, for use on the surface tracks. The laborious system of hauling Corrimal coal along the l mile, 2ft gauge steam railways, followed by the 2 foot gauge self acting incline, then along the Company's standard gauge tracks to Corrimal station continued until 1955. A new incline was built to a gauge of 3 foot 6 inches and replaced the 2 foot gauge steam railway and incline. Images of Corrimal Colliery Railway from 1912 to 1965 can be viewed at:
1912-1965 Corrimal Colliery Railway

Corrimal Cokeworks 1950's
During the 1950s coal was transported from Corrimal Colliery down a railway incline to a Coal Preparation Plant and from there by rail to the Cokeworks. Images of Corrimal Cokeworks during the 1950s can be viewed at:
1950s Corrimal Cokeworks

Corrimal Cokeworks 1960's
In 1960 a Bellis & Morcom 2,000 Kw. turbo-alternator was installed in an enlarged Cokeworks power house together with new and more modern switchgear.

To provide steam for the generating plant, two Thompson Supereconomic firetube boiler units with a self-supporting steel stack were installed in the Corrimal Cokeworks power house .The two firetube boilers were designed to operate as coal-fired, waste gas-fired or mixed coal/waste gas-fired boilers.

In 1962 C2 battery was commissioned with an additional 32 ovens.

In May 1964 coal was delivered to the cokeworks by road and not via the company's own rail trucks.

In 1967 the power house equipment was put up for sale and it was closed in January 1968 and the boilers and stack removed. Images of Corrimal Cokeworks during the 1960s can be viewed at:
1960s Corrimal Cokeworks

Corrimal Cokeworks 1970's
Throughout the 1970s Corrimal Cokeworks was owned by The Bellambi Coal Company Limited. Little is known about this period and no images have been sourced for archiving.

Corrimal Cokeworks 1980's
In 1985 the C1 North brick stack was replaced with a metal stack. Images of Corrimal Cokeworks during the 1980s can be viewed at:
1980s Corrimal Cokeworks

Corrimal Cokeworks 1990's
In March 1996 the present owners, ICC Holdings Pty Limited - a private company - purchased Illawarra Coke Company Pty Limited (ICC) which operated both Coalcliff and Corrimal Cokeworks. It became the only independently owned producer of coke in Australia.

Technological and environmental improvements have been ongoing since, including the addition of a bag house for clean air charging and a new flue and stack design. Images of Corrimal Cokeworks during the 1990s can be viewed at:
1990s Corrimal Cokeworks

Corrimal Cokeworks 2000 to 2010
During the first ten years of the new Century there was a continuation of the environmental and operational improvements at Corrimal Cokeworks, which had begun with the change of ownership in 1996.

A major environmental improvement was a significant reduction in quench plume odour. This was achieved following extensive studies into the formation of the odour, which resulted in a change to the method of quenching the hot coke.

Many other improvements to the local amenity included installing covers on the hot cars to maximise the collection of pushing emissions; realigning chargeholes to reduce dust and spillage; increasing the height of automatic stockpile sprays; sealing of internal roads on site; and enforcing compulsory truck washing and draining before driving on public roads.

Operational improvements were achieved by re-crowning some of the ovens and rebuilding sections of the below and above-ground flue system.

A significant landmark in June 2010 was the delivery of the one millionth tonne of coke to a customer in Japan. This was celebrated with the presentation of two original oil paintings to the customer; limited edition prints to companies who assisted in the deliveries and the minting of a commemorative medallion for employees in Australia and Japan.

However, the decade ended on a sad note with the death of ICC's Chairman, John Horseman, in a car accident in November 2010.

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Corrimal Cokeworks in the 1950's (above)
when the coke was quenched by hand on the hearth in front of the ovens compared with the cokeworks
in 2011