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Johnny's tranquil cruise near the Liverpool Weir - 09/11/2013

1,418 views · Published 9 November 2013 · 2:08 · Indexed 6 October 2026

Channel: Johnny Komatsu · 2013 · Travel & Events

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Liverpool Weir is New South Wales state significant for its historical association and rarity values. It is the only weir in NSW known to have been designed by master mason David Lennox. Before arriving in Australia in 1832, Lennox had occupied responsible positions in Britain for more than twenty years, working on many bridges including Telford's great suspension bridge over the Menai Straits and the stone-arch bridge over the Severn River at Gloucester. Lennox was Australia's first major bridge builder and is a significant figure in NSW's history. He was responsible for many bridges and other civil engineering works in NSW between 1832 and 1844, when he was appointed superintendent of bridges for the Port Phillip District in Victoria. For nine years he had charge of all roads, bridges, wharves and ferries and acted as advisor to various government departments. In this period he built fifty-three bridges. Liverpool Weir was one of the first 'engineered' weirs built in the colony. Built in 1836, it is one of the earliest surviving stone weirs constructed in Australia and one of the few surviving weirs constructed in the early colonial era for the supply of water to a township. Liverpool Weir is an example of the construction of the colony's infrastructure by convict labour, in particular by convicts undergoing secondary punishment. It demonstrates the harsher punishment regime in NSW decreed by the British Government from the mid 1820s to the 1840s in order to revive the fear and dread of transportation. Under this system, re-offending convicts were put to work in gangs on constructing roads, bridges, other public works, timber-getting and lime-burning. Some convicts, including some of those in the Liverpool district, were sentenced to work in irons. 
Construction of the weir within the flowing and flood-prone Georges River was an achievement. It has survived despite damage from the first floods and others since, which necessitated repairs, stabilisation and extensions. Investigations in 1979 and repair work in 2007-08 have revealed much about the weir's original construction, the techniques adopted during repairs and extensions in the 1850s and the nature of subsequent extensions and repair works. Short of major intervention work, it is unlikely that further structural research and inspection will reveal more about the weir's construction. Apart from extensions, a concrete road was partly built across the weir in the 1970s which was halted and later removed because of its impact on the weir's stability, and a fishway was built in 1997 through the right abutment. The repair works, extensions and additions had an impact on the integrity of the original structure and have altered its appearance, Liverpool Weir is a rare 19th century water supply structure, and its original and repair fabric have historic and heritage significance. While the weir has long ceased to function as a source for town water and as a George's River crossing, it has gradually developed other functions. It now provides water-based recreational opportunities. It has facilitated re-establishment of the natural migration of fish upstream with construction of the by-pass fishway in 1997. It maintains the (modified) stable condition of the upper Georges River (except for re-admitting fish migration) and it is now a control structure that restricts river bed lowering and bank erosion. Liverpool Weir has local significance for its potential for research into changes in ecology from below to above the weir, during the 170 years of its existence.The weir was constructed in 1836 by convict labour to supply fresh water to the early European settlement of Liverpool. It divides river ecology in an artificial manner, and is a barrier to fish passage. A fishway was constructed in 1997. Above is the major road crossing of Newbridge Road and a pedestrian walkway. On the western bank is Lighthorse Park, Liverpool railway station and the CBD of Liverpool. On the eastern bank industrial uses hug the riverbank with little set-back. The relatively steep banks are not attractive, with erosion evident and elsewhere exotic weeds and little native vegetation. On the freshwater side of the weir the water in the weir pool is often relatively stagnant and choked with aquatic vegetation. There has appeared here the declared noxious aquatic plants Salvinia molesta (Salvinia) and Alternanthjera philoxerides (Alligator weed) and another introduced weed, Egeria densa, which thrives in a high nutrient environment. Despite the obvious intense level of human impact and degradation at this site, ducks and other water birds were present. Downstream of the weir the river is tidal and increasingly salty as it approaches the sea approximately 40 km away. (source: Wikipedia)

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