Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme 1898-1903
Recognition markers can be found at the:
C Y O'Connor memorial - Mundaring Weir; Cunderdin Shire Museum; and Mt. Charlotte Reservoir, Kalgoorlie.
The Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply Scheme was constructed between November 1895 and January 1903. A member of EHWA, Richard Hartley, produced a chronology for the scheme's construction and has also written a book titled River of Steel. For a comprehensive 'History of the Western Australian Goldfields and Agricultural Water Supply 1903 - 2003', this book is recommended reading.
In approximately 1990 the Water Authority of Western Australia produced a leaflet titled Kalgoorlie Water Supply. A copy of that leaflet is available here.
On 14 December 2001 EHWA and Engineers Australia celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the raising of Mundaring Weir. A copy of the booklet for that ceremony is available here.
In 2003 the National Trust celebrated the Centenary of the Goldfields Water Supply Scheme. A copy of the booklet produced for this celebration is available here. In addition, in February 2003 the The Institution of Engineers published a paper by Leigh Fletcher titled The Coolgardie Pipeline: 100 years of Service.
The Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply was one of the subjects in a TV series titled Constructing Australia. Teachers notes for the program 'Pipe Dreams' are available here. The video Constructing Australia (2007) - Pipe Dreams is available on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8C8zr9QPZQ.
In 2007 the National Trust in association with the Water Corporation published Richard Hartley's book titled River of Steel, A History of Western Australian Goldfields and Agricultural Water Supply 1895-2003. In 2009 Richard wrote a paper titled Lessons from Western Australia's goldfields water supply scheme.[3]
As part of Australian Engineering Week, on 4 August 2011 EHWA arranged a tour to Mundaring Weir and National Trust's Golden Pipeline Number One Pump Station. A copy of the leaflet for this tour is available here.
In January 2023 the Western Australian Heritage Council added the 'Goldfields Water Supply Scheme' to the State Register of Heritage Places. A news story on this addition is available here. The Goldfields Water Supply Scheme is inHerit Place No. 16610 and more detail is available here. The Cunderdin Number 3 Pumping Station is inHerit Place No. 00649. (If the direct web links don't work, you can search by place number.)
Engineering Heritage Recognition Program
| Marker Type | National Engineering Landmark (NEL); and |
| Award Date | NEL September 1987 IHCEL 20 October 2009 |
| Heritage Significance | The proposal to pump 5 million gallons per day a distance of 352 miles from a reservoir on the Helena River at Mundaring, against a static head of 1,290 feet, was courageous for the period 1896 to 1902. The use of thin-walled steel pipes using the locking bar method of construction was unparalleled for the length of pipeline involved. |
| Nomination Document | Available here (5 MB) |
| Ceremony Booklet | ASCE Booklet Available here |
| Interpretation Panel |
- ↑ Palmer paper and some plans are available from SLWA Call No 002077, paper is slwa_b1235189_176.pdf.
- ↑ Original document used for scanning located at the RWAHS Library, Nedlands WA
- ↑ In 2011 this paper was awarded the Telford Premium Award by the Institution of Civil Engineers UK. If required, a higher quality version of this paper is available on request from EHWA.
