Centenary of the O'Shannassy Water Supply System - 1913 to 2013 - a Pictorial Heritage

Home
Introduction
1803 - Beginnings
1892 - Surrey Hills Reservoirs
1911 - Design and Construction
1911 - The O'Shannassy Weir
1914 - Maintenance and Operations
1923 - Bushfires, Landslips, and Floods
1924 - Modifications and Enlargements
1927 - Silvan Dam
1927 - Mt Evelyn Aqueduct
1928 - The O'Shannassy Reservoir
1929 - Upper Yarra Conduits
1931 - Silvan Inlet Aqueduct
1996 - Decommissioning
2006 - Pigging Project
2007 - O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Overview
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Parrot Rd to Don Rd
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Don Road to Dee Rd
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Dee Rd to Sussex St
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Sussex St to Yuonga Rd
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Yuonga Rd to Donna Buang Rd
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Donna Buang Rd to Cement Creek Rd
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail - Cement Creek Rd to the Weir
The Present
Epilogue
Timeline
Bibliography
The Author's Websites

Note: This site has been republished on January 25, 2021, Incorporating minor amendments to the original edition.

kizoacollage.jpg

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

The video (below), compiled by the author, May 2012, shows the Dee Slip Bridge on  on the O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail,

sorry2.jpg

Synopsis

Note: The image was taken in 1913 showing the construction of the Aqueduct.
 
This Research Study describes, in words and pictures, the history of the O'Shannassy Aqueduct Water Supply System, comissioned in 1914, which was Melbourne's major water supply system.
 
It is published to commemorate the occasion of the Centenary of the System.
 
It examines the planning, design, construction, development, and operations of the Aqueduct, the Weir, the Reservoir, and the Silvan Dam, which represented a massive engineering construction project of the time.

The Aqueduct itself was decommissioned in 1997, and the Study includes information about the transition and evolution of alternative underground forms of water delivery into Melbourne from the O'Shannassy Catchment.

Chapters describing  the
O'Shannassy Aqueduct Trail and the Mt. Evelyn Aqueduct are included.
 
This Study is dedicated to the memoly of  the men and women who were involved in the building and operations of the System.

1925shannassytramcrossing.jpg
1925 - Timber Tramway crossing the Aqueduct

General Information
This work is compiled by Bob Padula, OAM, of Melbourne, a free on-line dissertation, containing 30 chapters, which brings together many heritage images, maps and drawings.
 
The work includes descriptive text, location maps, sound and video,

Bob is a member of the Australian Light Railway Research Society, Bushwalking Victoria, and the Great Dividing Trail Association.

Navigation
Each major theme in this Study has its own Chapter, accessed from the Navigation Bar on each Page. The Chapters are arranged in chronological order, where appropriate.

Images
All images are thumbnailed. Cl
icking any image will produce a full-sized display in a new browser window.

Search Engine
There is a Search Engine at the top of this page! This will take the reader to a new window displaying the locations in this site for the search query.

System Requirements
This website requires the following applications to be installed for full functionality: Adobe Flash Player (or similar), Javascript, and Windows Media Player (or similar). The site is optimised for Internet Explorer 9 - the use of other browsers may not yield satisfactory results. Cookies must be enabled. Font sizes may be changed by the user to suit individual viewing preferences.

Sources
Many images are out-of-copyright and sourced to publicly available sites on the Internet - accreditation is not required or given. A listing of principal research sources used may be found in the
Bibliography. Photographs created by the author are indicated accordingly. The Study is listed under a Creative Commons License.

Images
Unless otherwise indicated, all images tagged "2012" or "2013" are those by the author, from his many visits to the region.

Advertising
Targeted adverts are displayed on the site via AdSense.

Publication
This Project Study is published in January 2013 - it is a once-only Study and will be updated as necessary.

Bob Padula

Create Your Badge

Add your content here
About the Author

This Heritage Study is a work by Bob Padula, OAM, of Mont Albert, Victoria, Australia.

Bob is a Chartered Professional Commiunications Engineer, holding the rank of Life Member, Institution of Engineers (Austraiia), providing specialized technical consultancy services and authorship in the field of international high frequency broadcasting

He also has a keen interest in hiking, bushwalking, coastal walking, and light railway history, and exploring the mountains around Melbourne, activities which support his involvement in amateur photography.

*** His on-line autobiography may be viewed at "Looking Back - 1939 to 2011"

The author also maintains several free Photo Websites dedicated to his travels. He has published a number of free Pictorial Victorian Heritage Research Projects. Links and descriptions are at The Author's Personal Websites

His latest on-line Engineering Research Study is "The History of Short wave Broadcasting in Australia"

Visitors to this site are invited to make a small donation via PayPal to assist with hosting charges. Thank you!

site stats

mapvic.gif

THE AUTHOR'S OTHER PICTORIAL HERITAGE PROJECTS

Readers are invited to visit any of the folllowing VICTORIAN PICTORIAL HERITAGE WEBSITES, published free on-line, and compiled by the author.

Each describes, in words and pictures, the evolution, history, heritage and development of the designated places.

Silvan Reservoir 1880-2011
Warrandyte 1839-2011
Maroondah Reservoir and Healesville 1862-2011
Bright 1850-2011
Mt Donna Buang and Warburton 1890-2011
Shoreham Beach 1860-2011
The Forests of Warburton 1853-2012

 
 

guestbook1.jpg

  

Add your content here

toz4a1.gif

HAVE SOME FUN!
 
Here are some well-known songs, some of which were popular during the years when the Aqueduct System was in operation. Click the title to play once!

The Road to Gundagai

I Still Call Australia Home

The Man from Snowy River

Teddy Bears' Picnic

Contact the Author