Pioneer Dam

Values

Unusual design for a railway dam

Demonstrates the importance of water supply in the goldfields area

Evidence of processes associated with steam-powered rail transport, no longer practised.

Physical Description

Concrete subterranean dam, almost conical in shape, with earth bund. A large spillway directs run-off from the granite outcrop to the west. Eastern end of the granite catchment area has a rock wall to direct water flow. Some archaeological remnants relating to houses and pump. Overall, the place is in good condition and significantly intact.

History

The Norseman area was thinly populated by pastoralists from the 1870s. With the discovery of gold in the 1890s, population increased, and towns were established. Water supply was a constant problem. Although the initial mineral boom had subsided by about 1906, a rail link to the area was not constructed until the Coolgardie-Norseman railway was put through in 1909. Pioneer Dam was constructed to provide water for steam drains on this line. Jeff Austin, author of ‘Rails Through the Bush’, believes that it was the most expensive railway dam constructed in WA at the time. At some point, there were also some small houses, a pump house and a water tower at the site. It is not known when these were abandoned and removed. When it was no longer used for railways, it became a general local water source and recreation site.

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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