Reference is made in this Study to the O’Shannassy Aqueduct, which was built in the
period 1911 to 1915, carrying water from the O’Shannassy Weir to the Surrey Hills reservoir.
The Aqueduct consists of open channel and underground steel pipes.
It was
decommissioned in 1997 and the management track is now an excellent 31 km walking/cycling trail.
The Trail follows the former Aqueduct
Maintenance Track, starting at Parrot Rd (Launching Place) and ending at the O'Shannassy Weir (East Warburton),
As
the Trail is a step-on, step-off route, these are the sectors:
Parrot Rd to Ewart's Rd 4 km (pipe)
Ewart's Rd to Dee
Rd 5.3 km
Dee
Rd to Sussex St 4 km
Sussex St to Yuonga Rd 3 km
Yuonga Rd to Cement Creek 6.8 km
Cement Creek to O'Shannassy Weir 7.6 km
Many of the logging tramways and inclines intersect the Aqueduct, and concrete bridges were built over it to carry
the rails, to allow access from farming properties, and to facilitate original construction activities.
These
bridges survive to the present day, and can be inspected along the Aqueduct Trail. Signs on some of these bridges denote the
names of the original land-owners or mills.
Serious landslides damaged the Aqueduct in 1925, 1936, 1947 and 1991,
and some sections of the open channel were replaced with mild-steel pipe.
