The Gordon Dam wall, constructed with 154 thousand cubic metres (5.4×10^6 cu ft) of concrete, is 198 metres (650 ft) long and 140 metres (460 ft) high, making it the tallest dam in Tasmania and the fifth-tallest in Australia.[3] At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 12,359,040 thousand cubic metres (436,455×10^6 cu ft) of water; making Lake Gordon the largest lake in Australia.[4] The surface area of the lake is 27,800 hectares (69,000 acres) and the catchment area is 2,014 square kilometres (778 sq mi). The single controlled spillway is capable of discharging 175 cubic metres per second (6,200 cu ft/s).[1]
Approximately 48 arch dams have been built in Australia and only nine have double curvature. Gordon Dam is almost twice the height of the next highest arch dam, Tumut Pondage.[4]: 5–6
Water from the dam descends 183 metres (600 ft) underground into its power station, where three turbines of 144 megawatts (193,000 hp) generate up to 432 megawatts (579,000 hp) of power, covering about 13% of the electricity demand of Tasmania.[5] The first two turbines were commissioned in 1978, before the third was commissioned a decade later in 1988.[6]
In 1963, the Australian Government provided an A$5 million grant to Tasmania's Hydro-Electric Commission to build the Gordon River Road from Maydena into the Gordon River area in the South West Wilderness region.[7] Construction was underway by 1964, and within three years, the Tasmanian State Parliament approved the Gordon River Power Development with little in house opposition in 1967. Power operation began in 1978, a third generator was added in 1988.
The completed Gordon Dam was the only dam built on the Gordon River, despite the support of Tasmanian politicians such as Eric Reece, Robin Gray, and others to build the Franklin Dam further downstream. The construction of Gordon Dam resulted in some flooding of the connected Lake Pedder as planned. Subsequent opposition to restore Lake Pedder failed after a Parliamentary inquiry in 1995.[8]
The dam was designed with Dr. Sergio Guidici as the chief engineer. He went on to be involved with the design of the Crotty Dam in the West Coast Range, one of the last significant dams created by Hydro Tasmania during its unabated dam-building era.
The dam is connected with the Gordon River Power Station, 183 metres (600 ft) under the surface of the switch yard.[9]
In 2015, the Perth-based YouTube channel How Ridiculous broke the world record for the world's highest basketball shot at Gordon dam, though this record has since been surpassed by How Ridiculous themselves twice over.[10]
2015–2016 Tasmanian energy crisis
Due to an extreme drought in 2015 and the untimely failure of the related Basslink power feed, electricity production needs had drained the lake to its minimum operating level in March 2016.[11][12] The water level fell 45 metres to a record low of six per cent capacity.[13] Pictures document the dramatic effect.[13][14] After repair of Basslink and record rainfalls, Lake Gordon levels had recovered to -28 metres by January 2017.[11][15]
^"Australia's Highest Dams"(PDF). The Australian National Committee on Large Dams Incorporated. Archived from the original(PDF) on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 7 April 2008. The five tallest dams listed in order of decreasing height are: Dartmouth Dam, 180 metres (590 ft), Victoria; Thomson River Dam, 166 metres (545 ft), Victoria; Talbingo Dam, 162 metres (531 ft), NSW; Warragamba Dam, 142 metres (466 ft), NSW; Gordon Dam, 140 metres (460 ft), Tasmania
