Boothtown Aqueduct Sydney
Built between 1886 and 1888, the Boothtown Aqueduct was part of the Upper Nepean Scheme to convey water from the new Prospect reservoir to the new Potts Hill reservoir. In 1907 the aqueduct was by-passed with a 3 metre wide, reinforced concrete syphon, built on the southern side that allowed the water supply to cross the valley using gravity to push the water up into the canal on the other side. Nearly a century later, the Lower Canal and syphon was superseded after a pipeline was established in the 1990s, and the bush reserve surrounding the canal opened to the public in 2003 as a cycleway.
Now heritage listed, the aqueduct is an interesting part of Sydney’s past. For anyone with an interest in civil engineering this is an excellent example of how technology has changed over 150 years. The original aqueduct was similar to those used by Romans 2,000 years ago. Even the support arches look Roman.
We parked on Macquarie Road and walked over the public reserve to the syphon. We then walked over the top, which is now a cycleway where an information board details the areas history. Walking back, we went into the Boothtown Gully because we wanted to see the support arches. This was a great opportunity for a close-up look and photo opportunity.
An interesting place to visit if you are this part of Sydney. It’s a short walk, but be careful of snakes if you visit in summer.
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To see what else there is to do in New South Wales, please see some of our other stories.