Collectivization-Era Aqueduct Heritage in Henan Province, China: Spatial Patterns, Architectural Typologies, and Conservation

Aqueducts constructed during China’s People’s Commune period remain an underexamined form of twentieth-century rural built heritage. Many no longer perform their original productive functions, but their surviving fabric still reflects their connections to historical irrigation systems and rural landscapes. Drawing on field surveys, archival sources, and GIS analysis, we documented 598 surviving aqueducts in Henan Province. Documentary evidence supports three historical phases: initial exploration, peak construction, and adjustment and consolidation. Spatial analysis identifies a clustered “dual-core, multi-node” pattern in western and northern Henan’s mountainous and hilly areas. In the mutually exclusive primary-status summary, 61.7% of the recorded sites were classified as abandoned or idle, while 6.9% were assigned to the protected category. Their material and structural development progressed from locally sourced masonry and short spans toward diverse reinforced-concrete systems. The Environment–Institution–Technology interpretive framework connects these findings with irrigation demand, collective organization, engineering practice, and later institutional and technological changes. On this basis, the study outlines conservation at three scales: individual structures, canal-system corridors, and irrigation-district cultural landscapes. This regional approach brings together material characteristics, historical evidence, and network relationships to support the identification and conservation of dispersed infrastructure heritage.