Average
annual rainfall: 940 mm
Capacity – water supply: 1 165 000 ML
Capacity – flood storage: 1 450 000
ML
Submerged area at full supply level: 109.4
km²
Stream Bed Level at Structure (AHD): 23 m
Embankment or Crest Level (AHD): 79 m
Type of Structure: Embankment (4 000 000 m³)
and Concrete (140 000 m³)
Year of Completion: 1985
Length of Wall: 2 300 m
Spillway Gates: 5 x 12.0 m x 16.6 m
Regulator Valves: 2 x 1.5 m diameter
Average Evaporation (mm/year): 1 872
Hydro Electric Station/dam structure: 4.5
megawatts
Design: Queensland Water Resources Commission
Wivenhoe
Dam is a dam built across the Brisbane River
that creates the artificial Lake Wivenhoe.
The dam is located about 80 kilometres by
road from the centre of Brisbane, Queensland,
Australia.
The
dam holds a volume of water two and a half
times the water in Sydney Harbour. The primary
purpose of the dam is to provide a water storage
for south-eastern Queensland as well as extra
storage for mitigation of periodic flooding
of the Brisbane River. The lake also forms
part of the water storages for the Wivenhoe
Power Station.
Purpose
The dam was designed as a multifunctional
facility and built in the late 1970s - early
1980s by a consortium of construction companies.
It's
primary function is to provide a safe water
supply to the people of Brisbane and adjacent
regions. Additionally, Wivenhoe Dam serves
as; the lower storage in a pumped-storage,
hydro-electric generating facility, the Wivenhoe
Power Station.
Under normal conditions the dam supplies water
via pipeline to both Tarong Power Station
and Tarong North Power Station, but due to
drought conditions only supplies water to
Tarong North.
during a flood the dam is designed to hold
back 1.45 million megalitres of additional
water for flood mitigation.
Lake Wivenhoe is also a camping and outdoor
recreation destination. The managed camping
facilities at Captain Logan Camp include hot
showers, barbecues and toilets, and are adjacent
to playgrounds, kiosk, boat hire and boat
ramps at Logan Inlet.
Key
facts
Wivenhoe Dam consists of an earth and rock
embankment 2.3 kilometres long and 50 metres
high. It has a concrete spillway section on
which five steel crest gates are installed.
The gates, at 12 metres wide and 16.6 metres
high, are amongst the largest of their type
in the world.
The
dam has a total storage capacity of 2.61 km³,
of which 1.16 km³ is used for urban water
storage. 200 properties were acquired to provide
the 337.50 square kilometres of land required
for the dam. The catchment area is 5,554 square
kilometres.
The
dam holds twice as much water as Sydney Harbour
and is about seven times bigger than Hinze
Dam at the Gold Coast. Wivenhoe Dam does contribute
to the Gold Coast's water supply.
