Windamere Dam

Windamere Dam
Windamere Dam is located in New South Wales
Windamere Dam
Location of the Windamere Dam
in New South Wales
CountryAustralia
LocationCentral Tablelands, New South Wales
Coordinates32°43′40″S 149°46′25″E / 32.727861°S 149.773510°E / -32.727861; 149.773510
PurposeHydro-power, irrigation, water supply, and conservation
StatusOperational
Construction began1974
Opening date1984
Owner(s)State Water Corporation
Dam and spillways
Type of damEmbankment dam
ImpoundsCudgegong River
Height67 m (220 ft)
Length825 m (2,707 ft)
Dam volume1,740 m3 (61,000 cu ft)
Spillways1
Spillway typeUncontrolled unlined rock cutting
Spillway capacity6,270 m3/s (221,000 cu ft/s)
Reservoir
CreatesLake Windamere
Total capacity368,120 ML (13,000×10^6 cu ft)
Catchment area1,070 km2 (410 sq mi)
Surface area2,030 ha (5,000 acres)
Maximum water depth58 m (190 ft)
Normal elevation552 m (1,811 ft) AHD
Power Station
TypeConventional
Installed capacity2 MW (2,700 hp)
Website
Windamere Dam at www.statewater.com.au

Windamere Dam is a minor ungated rock fill with clay core embankment dam with an uncontrolled unlined rock cutting spillway across the Cudgegong River at Cudgegong, upstream of Mudgee in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes hydro-power, irrigation, water supply, and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Windamere.

Location and features

Commenced in 1974 and completed in 1984, the Windamere Dam is a minor ungated dam, located approximately 19 kilometres (12 mi) south-west of Rylstone. The dam was built by Abignano Pty Ltd on behalf of the New South Wales Department of Land and Water Conservation to supply water for irrigation and potable water for the towns of Mudgee and Gulgong.[1][2][3] Windamere Dam operates in conjunction with Burrendong Dam to supply water to the Cudgegong and Macquarie valleys.[1]

The dam wall constructed with 1,740 cubic metres (61,000 cu ft) of rock fill with clay core is 67 metres (220 ft) high and 825 metres (2,707 ft) long. The maximum water depth is 58 metres (190 ft) and at 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 368,120 megalitres (13,000×10^6 cu ft) of water at 552 metres (1,811 ft) AHD. The surface area of Lake Windamere is 2,030 hectares (5,000 acres) and the catchment area is 1,070 square kilometres (410 sq mi). The uncontrolled unlined rock cut spillway is capable of discharging 6,270 cubic metres per second (221,000 cu ft/s).[1][2][3]

Geotechnical problems included excessive grout takes in highly fractured rock in the dam foundation. The dam foundations are weathered Devonian conglomerates, sandstones and shales. The spillway is located about 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) away from the dam wall in mostly unweathered Ordovician andesite. The spillway is an unlined rock cutting that provided all the rock fill required for the construction of the dam embankment. If a spillway had been built in the weathered sedimentary rocks at the dam site full concrete lining would have been required.[4]

To allow the dam's construction, a 15 kilometre deviation of the Castlereagh Highway opened in December 1982.[5]

Power generation

A hydro-electric power station generates up to 2 megawatts (2,700 hp) of electricity from the flow of the water leaving Windamere Dam.[1]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d "WIndamere Dam" (PDF brochure). State Water Corporation. 2009. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b "Register of Large Dams in Australia". The Australian National Committee on Large Dams Incorporated. 2010. Archived from the original (Excel (requires download)) on 12 December 2013. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  3. ^ a b "Windamere Dam". Water delivery: dams. State Water Corporation. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  4. ^ Woodward, Richard (2005). "Windamere Dam". Some of My Dam Projects. Retrieved 22 April 2013.
  5. ^ A Major Deviation of Trunk Route 55 Around Windamere Dam Main Roads March 1983 pages 15-17