Darwin Dam | |
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Location of the Darwin Dam in Tasmania | |
Country | Australia |
Location | West Coast Tasmania |
Coordinates | 42°12′36″S145°36′36″E / 42.21000°S 145.61000°E Coordinates: 42°12′36″S145°36′36″E / 42.21000°S 145.61000°E |
Purpose | Power |
Status | Operational |
Opening date | 1990 |
Owner(s) | Hydro Tasmania |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Embankment dam |
Impounds | off stream |
Height | 20 metres (66 ft) |
Length | 700 metres (2,300 ft) |
Dam volume | 430×10 3 m3 (15×10 6 cu ft) |
Spillways | 0 |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Lake Burbury |
Total capacity | 1,081,420 ML (38,190×10 6 cu ft) |
Active capacity | 1,065,000 ML (37,600×10 6 cu ft) |
Catchment area | 559 km2 (216 sq mi) |
Surface area | 53,250×10 3 m2 (573.2×10 6 sq ft) |
Website hydro |
The Darwin Dam is an offstream earthfill embankment saddle dam without a spillway, located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The impounded reservoir, also formed by Crotty Dam, is called Lake Burbury. [1]
The dam was constructed in 1990 by the Hydro Electric Corporation (TAS) for the purpose of generating hydro-electric power via the John Butters Power Station. [2] It had been known during construction as the Andrew Divide Dam. [3]
The Darwin Dam, together with the Crotty Dam, are two major dams that form the headwaters for the King River Hydroelectric Power Development. The dam is located at the southern end of Lake Burbury, and holds the water for the lake.
The Darwin Dam wall, constructed with 430 thousand cubic metres (15×10 6 cu ft) of earth core, is 20 metres (66 ft) high and 700 metres (2,300 ft) long. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 1,081,420 megalitres (38,190×10 6 cu ft) of water. The surface area of Lake Burbury is 53,250 hectares (131,600 acres) and the catchment area is 559 square kilometres (216 sq mi). The dam wall does not have a spillway. [4]
The dam draws its name from Mount Darwin, a peak located to the west of the dam wall. Both locations draw their names from the railway stopping place and the ghost town site of Darwin that was situated on the North Mount Lyell Railway between Gormanston and Kelly Basin. It inundates the former Kelly Basin Road which was the subsequent name for the railway line formation.
In the 1910s the Mount Lyell Mining and Railway Company had investigated and surveyed a site very close to this dam for a proposed scheme.
Queenstown is a town in the West Coast region of the island of Tasmania, Australia. It is in a valley on the western slopes of Mount Owen on the West Coast Range.
The King River is a major perennial river in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
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The West Coast Range is a mountain range located in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
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Crotty is a former gazetted townsite that was located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The township was located on the eastern lower slopes of Mount Jukes, below the West Coast Range, and on the southern bank of the King River. The locality had had a former name of King River
The North Mount Lyell Railway was built to operate between the North Mount Lyell mine in West Coast Tasmania and Pillinger in the Kelly Basin of Macquarie Harbour.
The Mount Jukes Mine sites were a series of short-lived, small mine workings high on the upper regions of Mount Jukes in the West Coast Range on the West Coast of Tasmania.
Lake Burbury is a man-made water reservoir created by the Crotty Dam inundating the upper King River valley that lies east of the West Coast Range. Discharge from the reservoir feeds the John Butters Hydroelectric Power Station, owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.
Mount Huxley is a mountain located on the West Coast Range in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. With an elevation of 926 metres (3,038 ft) above sea level, the mountain was named by Charles Gould in 1863 in honour of Professor Thomas Henry Huxley.
Mount Jukes is a mountain located on the Jukes Range, a spur off the West Coast Range, in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Crotty Dam, also known during construction as the King Dam, or the King River Dam on initial approval, is a rockfill embankment dam with a controlled and uncontrolled spillway across the King River, between Mount Jukes and Mount Huxley, located in Western Tasmania, Australia.
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The Serpentine Dam is a rockfill embankment dam with a concrete face and a controlled spillway across the Serpentine River, located in the South West region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Edgar Dam is an earthfill embankment saddle dam without a spillway, located offstream in the South West region of Tasmania, Australia.
The Anthony Power Development Scheme, part of the Pieman River power development scheme, was a proposed scheme for damming parts of the upper catchment of the Pieman River in Western Tasmania, Australia.
The John Butters Power Station is a conventional hydroelectric power station located in Western Tasmania, Australia. The power station forms part of the King – Yolande River Power Scheme and is owned and operated by Hydro Tasmania.