The Pound Bend Tunnel, or the Evelyn Tunnel, is a diversion tunnel on the

Yarra River The Yarra River or historically, the Yarra Yarra River, (Kulin languages: ''Berrern'', ''Birr-arrung'', ''Bay-ray-rung'', ''Birarang'', ''Birrarung'', and ''Wongete'') is a perennial river in south-central Victoria, Australia. The lower stre ...

Warrandyte Warrandyte is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 24 km north-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Manningham local government area. Warrandyte recorded a population of 5,541 at the . Warrandy ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, approximately 24 km north-east of

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

. The tunnel is 145 metres long, six metres wide and four metres deep. The tunnel is in the Pound Bend section of the

Warrandyte State Park Warrandyte State Park is a state park, located in Warrandyte, east of Melbourne, Victoria on the banks of the Yarra River and surroundings. The park comprises 586 hectares of remnant bushland in various locations throughout Warrandyte and Wonga P ...

History

The Evelyn Tunnel Mining Company, a public company, was formed on 8 February 1870 . The object was to create a tunnel through the narrow section where the Yarra River turns back on itself and divert the river through it. This left five kilometres of river bed which could be mined for alluvial gold. The returns approximated the costs involved, the company never paid a dividend and was wound up in September 1872. In 1884 the idea of using the tunnel to generate electricity was proposed, and in 1888 a company was formed for that purpose. The Melbourne Water Power Co. aimed to supply power to all of Melbourne from the scheme, but the venture did not proceed. The idea arose again in the 1920s, this time to supply the Warrandyte community, which was not able to fund the provision of power through the

State Electricity Commission of Victoria The State Electricity Commission of Victoria (SECV, ECV or SEC) is a government-owned electricity supplier in Victoria, Australia. It was set up in 1918, and by 1972 it was the sole agency in the state for electricity generation, transmission, ...

. The nearby diversion channel at The Island was cut for a similar purpose in 1859. There are similar tunnels on the upper Yarra River at Big Peninsula and Little Peninsula between Warburton and

McMahons Creek McMahons Creek is a bounded rural locality in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, on the Warburton–Woods Point Road bordering the Yarra Ranges National Park, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges Local government areas of Victoria, l ...

, and on other Victorian rivers. The site persists in local memory and legend as the site of various deadly accidents. Due to the rivers strong currents and the tunnel often trapping fallen branches creating a hazard to be caught on, as well as frequent flooding causing the tunnel to fill with water, it has become a dangerous and often fatal place to swim or fall into, with a death occurring at the site in November 2004. The site is listed on the

Victorian Heritage Register The Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) lists places deemed to be of cultural heritage significance to the State of Victoria, Australia. It has statutory weight under the Heritage Act 2017. The Minister for Planning is the responsible Minister. H ...

and is included in a

Heritage Overlay A Heritage Overlay or HO is one of a number of planning scheme overlays contained in the Victorian Planning Provisions, for use in planning schemes in Victoria, Australia. The heritage overlay schedule of each local government planning scheme ...

References

Yarra River Victoria (state) gold rush river diversions Buildings and structures in the City of Manningham Heritage sites in Melbourne Tunnels in Victoria (state) Tunnels completed in 1870 1870 establishments in Australia {{Australia-protected-area-stub