The river levels, from drought to flood, were a constant problem for early irrigators. In 1903, an agreement was reached to build a series of weirs along the Murray to regulate the flow of water. Lock 11 and Mildura Weir were completed in 1927. The weir is made up of 24 steel trestles which are winched into the water and joined together to form a framework across the river. ‘Logs’ are then dropped into slots in the trestles to hold back the water. The level upstream is about 3 metres higher than that downstream. A man made lock canal has been constructed to turn the ‘U’ bend into an island. There were to be 27 locks and weirs on the Murray but only 13 were ever completed, Mildura is no. 11.
1927
