City of Armadale - History House > Records

PLANIMETRE MEASURING UNIT

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Overview

The Measuring Unit, made up of metal, machined metal parts and plastic numbered dials. At one end, there is a sharp pointed leg, while at the other end, there is a surface operated wheel, connected by small gears to a read off dial face. There is also at this end a steel wheel, at 90 degrees to the wheeled dial.
Moulded text on cream section [42159].

Historical information

These drawing tools were used by Jurgen Gossman in the 1980s and 1990s when he was a town planner and later a member of the planning department in the City of Armadale. These tools were used to create hand drawn technical plans for subdivisions, drainage systems, roads and other engineering tasks. In the mid to late 1990s the need to use these tools was slowly replaced by computer programs. Staff would have been trained in how to use these tools as they were gaining their engineering degrees.
Planimeters are elaborate measuring devices mainly to measure areas using mechanised integral calculus before the advent of digital technology. Its invention is attributed to a number of people in Europe during the 19th century, all who appear to have conceived the idea independently. A number of planimeters were showcased in the Great Exhibition of London in 1851. There are many models of planimetres. They include the polar planimeter, Wetli-Starke planimeters, and the rolling planimeters.
Since the establishment of local governments across Western Australian in 1871, they have been responsible for the designing and construction of local roads and drains. They also quickly became responsible for town planning, meaning staff with the skills to create accurate drawings have always been needed. The tool represents a manual skill that was essential for council staff who worked in the planning department that has now been replaced by computer programs.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-33-COA2015.21C

Themes

People
Social History

Material

Metal

Width

480 mm

Height or length

340 mm

Keywords

GOSSMAN Jurgen

City of Armadale

Statement of significance

This object is part of a collection of technical drawing tools that were used to create highly accurate and detailed hand drawn technical plans. These tools have now been replaced with computer programs and the skills required to use this collection is slowly being lost.

Comparative significance criteria

Interpretive capacity

Well provenanced

City of Armadale - History House

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