The honour has been given to CY O’Connor’s remarkable water pipeline that runs through the Wheatbelt from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie.

The award comes 107 years after the brilliant engineer shot himself amid criticism about the project.

American Society of Civil Engineering international director Potenciano Leoncio flew to Western Australia from the Philippines to present the award at ceremonies in Mundaring and Kalgoorlie last week.

The 566km pipeline is only the third engineering project in Australia to receive the prestigious accolade, with the others being the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Snowy Mountains Hydro-Electric Scheme.

Other notable engineering landmarks to receive the accolade include the Eiffel Tower, the Golden Gate Bridge, and the Panama Canal.

“The American Society of Civil Engineers and engineers around the world are pleased to acknowledge the Goldfields Water Supply as an engineering project of international significance,” Mr Leoncio said.

“When built, it was an innovative, ambitious and daring water engineering project.

“Incredibly, more than 100 years later, it is still operating and carrying much-needed water to the Goldfields and agricultural regions.”

The Goldfields Water Supply – including Mundaring Weir and the project’s original eight pumping stations – was built by the Public Works Department of WA from 1895 to 1903.

It was built to supply water for the thousands of hopefuls flocking to the goldfields during the gold rush in the 1890s, and still supplies an integral water supply to many Wheatbelt towns today.

When built, it was the longest fresh water pipeline in the world and the first major pipeline in the world constructed of steel.

However, engineer-in-chief Mr O’Connor suffered intense scorn at the hands of critics who didn’t believe water could be pumped the 566km uphill from Mundarin Weir.

He rode his horse into the sea at Fremantle and shot himself shortly after the pipeline was first successfully tested.