Harvey Diversion Drain

Statement of Significance

• The place has historic value for its association with the development of the district largely as a result of the irrigation scheme.
• The place has social value for the many individuals who came to the district and worked on the scheme or settled in the area because of the opportunities it provided in agriculture.

Physical Description

Marked by a plaque on a rock, commemorating the thousands of men who constructed the Harvey River Diversion and Drainage System during the years 1930-1935, set in an area of green open space.
Excavated earth channel partially lined with clay, approximately five metres wide at bottom with 45 degree sloping earth banks. Flood gates set in concrete abutments are provided for flow control at the junction with the river and at other strategic points. The connection with the river was designed to turn the excess winter flow into the diversion channel but allow the summer flow to use the natural channel through the use of the flood gates. Further flood gates and syphons were used to prevent the diverted water from overflowing into the lower drainage channels.

History

In 1931, work began on the Harvey River Diversion which was aimed to alleviate the flooding caused by the Harvey River. The State Government sponsored project also sought to relieve unemployment brought on by the Depression. Sir James Mitchell, the Lieutenant Governor, opened The Diversion on 12 August 1935, the same day he opened the Harvey Town Hall and Road Board Offices.

A mechanical drag operated at the Harvey end where the earth was heavy clay but further west shovels and wheelbarrows were used to move the sand. Each man worked two days a week for a ‘sustenance wage’. They paid out one shilling per week for tent hire and about one pound and fifteen shillings for food. Some 2,500 unemployed men working on the project were camped west of Harvey and, at times up to 3,500 lived in camps at Myalup and the nearby Stonehouse.

Identical memorials to the men who worked on the Harvey River Diversion and Drainage Scheme stand in Stirling Park and at the south-east corner of the intersection of Forrest Highway and Myalup Road, Myalup.

Integrity/Authenticity

High/ High

Condition

Good

Uses

Historic Themes

Creation Date

Publish place record online (inHerit):

Last Update

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This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.