DELEGATE RIVER DIVERSION TUNNEL
DELEGATE RIVER AND CHINAMANS CREEK BONANG, EAST GIPPSLAND SHIRE
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Statement of Significance
What is significant?
The Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is a diversion which was excavated in 1889 by the Delegate River Gold Sluicing Company. The tunnel was used to divert the waters of the Delegate River effectively cutting off a long section of the original river course. The dry river bed was extensively worked.
How is it significant?
The Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is of historical and scientific importance to the State of Victoria.
Why is it significant?
The Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic and well preserved example of an early form of gold mining. Gold mining sites are of crucial importance for the pivotal role they have played since 1851 in the development of Victoria. Water diversion and sluicing are important key ingredients in an understanding of gold mining technology as it was employed in mountainous country where water was plentiful and perennial.
[Source: Victorian Heritage Register]
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DELEGATE RIVER DIVERSION TUNNEL - History
Heritage Inventory History of Site: Popular legend has it that the Delegate River tunnel was constructed by Chinese miners in the 1860s to divert the river and allow working of the bed. It is true that by 1868, a party of Chinese on the Upper Delegate had constructed 'a flood-race of considerable length, calculated to carry all the Delegete River', but this sounds more like a channel than a tunnel. In 1889 the Delegate River Gold Sluicing Co. was formed to sluice the terrace wash above the alluvial flats just below the point where the Bendoc to Bonang road crossed the Delegate River. A water-race, 1 mile 55 chains long and 2 ft deep, was cut, and a tunnel of approximately 200 ft (60 m) in length was driven through hard rock as a tail-race.Heritage Inventory Description
DELEGATE RIVER DIVERSION TUNNEL - Heritage Inventory Description
Tunnel is cut through a narrow isthmus and diverts the river away from its original course. The sluiced river bed is completely overgrown with blackberries. A picnic area and walking track to the tunnel are currently being established.
Heritage Inventory Significance: National EstateScientific significanceùrarityVHR STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCEThe Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is a diversion which was excavated in1889 by the Delegate River Gold Sluicing Company. The tunnel was used to divert the waters of the Delegate River effectively cutting off a long sectionof the original river course. The dry river bed was extensively worked.The Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is of historical, and scientific importance to the State of Victoria.The Delegate River Gold Diversion Tunnel is historically and scientifically important as a characteristic and well preserved example of an early form of gold mining. Gold mining sites are of crucial importance for the pivotal role they have played since 1851 in the development of Victoria. Water diversion and sluicing are important key ingredients in an understanding of gold mining technology as it was employed in mountainous country where water was plentifuland perennial.
Heritage Inventory Site Features: The Delegate River tunnel is cut through a narrow isthmus and diverts the river away from its original course. The sluiced river bed is completely overgrown with blackberries. A picnic area and a walking track to the tunnel are currently being established.
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DELEGATE RIVER GOLD DIVERSION TUNNELVictorian Heritage Register H1261
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DELEGATE RIVER DIVERSION TUNNELVictorian Heritage Inventory
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