The Golden Pipeline

The 1890’s were a tumultuous years in Western Australia. They saw the beginning of responsible government with John Forrest as the State’s first Premier who, with the assistance of Engineer-in-Chief, Charles Yelverton O’Connor drove a decade of infra-structure development the like of which will probably not been seen again. The finance for this was made possible by the gold discovered and mined at Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie. O’Connor directed the construction of three nation-building engineering achievements: the Fremantle Harbour, the railways and the Coolgardie Goldfields Water Supply. This last accomplishment runs from Perth to Kalgoorlie and is still the longest fresh water supply pipeline in the world. The heritage of this unsung, but still operational, engineering masterpiece is now the subject of a major heritage management and tourism project by National Trust in Western Australia called The Golden Pipeline.