Wivenhoe Dam
| Wivenhoe Dam | |
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The Wivenhoe Dam wall and spillway
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 Location of the Wivenhoe Dam in Queensland
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| Country | Australia |
| Location | South East Queensland |
| Coordinates | 27°23′38″S 152°36′28″E / 27.39389°S 152.60778°ECoordinates: 27°23′38″S 152°36′28″E / 27.39389°S 152.60778°E |
| Purpose |
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| Status | Operational |
| Construction began | March 1973 |
| Opening date | 1984 |
| Operator(s) | SEQ Water |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Embankment dam |
| Impounds | Brisbane River |
| Height | 59 m (194 ft) |
| Height (thalweg) | 23 m (75 ft) AHD |
| Length | 2,300 m (7,500 ft) |
| Elevation at crest | 79 m (259 ft) AHD |
| Dam volume | 4,140×103 m3 (146×106 cu ft) |
| Spillways | 2 |
| Spillway type |
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| Spillway capacity | 12,000 m3/s (420,000 cu ft/s) |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Wivenhoe Reservoir |
| Total capacity | 1,165,238 ML (256,317×106 imp gal; 307,823×106 US gal) |
| Catchment area | 7,020 km2 (2,710 sq mi) |
| Surface area | 109.4 km2 (42.2 sq mi) |
| Power station | |
| Name | Wivenhoe Power Station |
| Operator(s) | Tarong Energy |
| Commission date | May 1984 |
| Type | Pumped-storage |
| Turbines | 2 |
| Installed capacity | 500 MW (670,000 hp) |
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Website www |
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The Wivenhoe Dam is a rock and earth-fill embankment dam with a concrete spillway across the Brisbane River in South East Queensland, Australia. The dam wall is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from the centre of Brisbane. The primary purpose of the dam is the supply of potable water for the Brisbane and Ipswich regions. In addition, the dam also provides for flood mitigation control, hydroelectricity and for recreation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Wivenhoe and the dam, the lake and a narrow strip of surrounding land forms a locality also called Lake Wivenhoe.
Wivenhoe Dam was planned in the early 1970s as a flood mitigation and water storage dam. The 1974 Brisbane flood highlighted the need for flood protection for South East Queensland. The lake also forms part of the water storages for the Wivenhoe Power Station.
The earth and rock dam structure is 59 metres (194 ft) high and 2,300 metres (7,500 ft) long. The 4,140-thousand-cubic-metre (146×106 cu ft) dam wall holds back the 1,165,000-megalitre (256×109 imp gal; 308×109 US gal) reservoir when at full capacity. From a catchment area of 7,020 square kilometres (2,710 sq mi) that includes much of the south–western slopes of the D'Aguilar National Park, the dam creates Lake Wivenhoe, with a surface area of 1,094 hectares (2,700 acres), a maximum shoreline of 462 kilometres (287 mi), and an average annual evaporation level of 1,872 mm (73.7 in). The gated spillway, with five steel crest gates that are 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 16.6 metres (54 ft) high, has a discharge capacity of 12,000 cubic metres per second (420,000 cu ft/s). The dam also has an auxiliary spillway to stop over-topping. The dam is managed by SEQ Water since July 2008 when most dam assets were transferred to the statutory authority, as part of a water security project in the South East Queensland region, known as the South East Queensland Water Grid.
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Wikipedia