Scrivener Dam | |
---|---|
Country | Australia |
Location | Canberra, ACT |
Coordinates | 35°17′59″S149°04′20″E / 35.29972°S 149.07222°E Coordinates: 35°17′59″S149°04′20″E / 35.29972°S 149.07222°E |
Purpose | Recreational and ornamental |
Status | Operational |
Construction began | September 1960 |
Opening date | 20 September 1964 |
Construction cost | A$5,039,050 |
Owner(s) | National Capital Authority |
Dam and spillways | |
Type of dam | Gravity dam |
Impounds | Molonglo River |
Height | 33 metres (108 ft) |
Length | 319 metres (1,047 ft) |
Width (crest) | 19.7 metres (65 ft) |
Width (base) | 30.5 metres (100 ft) |
Dam volume | 55,000 m3 (1,900,000 cu ft) |
Spillways | 5 |
Spillway type | Hydraulic; fish-belly flap gates |
Spillway capacity | 8,500 m3/s (300,000 cu ft/s) |
Reservoir | |
Creates | Lake Burley Griffin |
Total capacity | 33,000,000 m3 (1.2×109 cu ft) |
Catchment area | 183.5 square kilometres (70.8 sq mi) |
Surface area | 664 hectares (1,640 acres) |
Maximum length | 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) |
Maximum width | 1.2 kilometres (0.75 mi) |
Maximum water depth | 18 metres (59 ft) |
Normal elevation | 556 metres (1,824 ft) |
Scrivener Dam is a concrete gravity dam that impounds the Molonglo River in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The dam creates Lake Burley Griffin, which was established for recreational and ornamental purposes. Named in honour of surveyor Charles Scrivener, the dam was officially inaugurated on 20 September 1964 and the official filling of the lake commemorated on 17 October 1964 by the Prime Minister, Robert Menzies.
The dam wall is located on Lady Denman Drive and is adjacent to the National Zoo & Aquarium and a viewing area for the official residence of the Governor-General of Australia.
Scrivener Dam, designed in Germany, [1] holds back the waters of the Molonglo River within Lake Burley Griffin. About 55,000 cubic metres (1,900,000 cu ft) of concrete was used in the construction of the dam wall. The dam is 33 metres (108 ft) high and 319 metres (1,047 ft) long with a maximum wall thickness of 19.7 metres (65 ft). The dam is designed to handle a once in 5,000 year flood event. [2]
It utilised state-of-the-art post-tensioning techniques to cope with any problems or movements in the riverbed. [3]
The dam has five bay spillways controlled by 30.5 metres (100 ft) wide, [2] hydraulically operated fish-belly flap gates. [3] Hinge anchors support the flap gates; with six hinges per gate, and four anchors per hinge. [4] The fish-belly gates allow for a precise control of water level, reducing the dead area on the banks between high and low water levels. As at November 2010, the five gates have only been opened simultaneously once in the dam's history, during heavy flooding in 1976. [2]
The dam wall provides a crossing for the lake and consists of a roadway, called Lady Denman Drive, and a bicycle path. [5] The roadway was possible because the dam gates are closed by pushing up from below, unlike most previous designs that wherein the gates were lifted from above. [6]
The National Capital Authority, a statutory authority of the Australian Government, is responsible for the administration and oversight of Scrivener Dam, as the dam lies within the Designated Area, under the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act, 1988 (Cth). The Authority manages external contractors to deliver services that are competitively tendered. [7] [8]
A routine annual audit of the dam wall undertaken during 2011 revealed that the anchor bolts, which are part of the flap gate hinge mechanism, showed signs of corrosion. These bolts, of which there are 120 in total, are each 50 millimetres (2.0 in) in diameter and 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) long. [4] It was anticipated that work would be completed by the end of 2013, and cost A$20m. [9] [10]
Scrivener Dam is operated in an environment that minimises flooding of the environs of Lake Burley Griffin. [8] Flows of 2,000 m3/s (71,000 cu ft/s) and above at the dam spillway are achieved with all five flap gates open and are able to maintain the normal level of the Lake at 555.93 metres (1,823.9 ft), measured at the East Basin. With three sluice valves open, outflows of 55 m3/s (1,900 cu ft/s) can be achieved through either automatic or manual operation of the dam. A minimum base flow of 0.03 m3/s (1.1 cu ft/s) is required in the Molonglo River, downstream of Scrivener Dam at the gauging station below Coppins Crossing. [8]
A prolonged drought coincided with and eased work on the lake's construction. The valves on the Scrivener Dam were closed on 20 September 1963 by Interior Minister Gordon Freeth; Prime Minister Menzies was absent due to ill health. [6] Several months on, with no rain in sight, mosquito-infested pools of water were the only visible sign of the lake filling. [6] With the eventual breaking of the drought and several days of heavy rain, the lake filled, [2] and reached the planned level on 29 April 1964. [11]
On 17 October 1964, Menzies commemorated the filling of the lake and the completion of stage one with an opening ceremony amid the backdrop of sailing craft. [11] [12] This was accompanied by fireworks display, and Griffin's lake had finally come to fruition after five decades, at the cost of A$5,039,050. [11]
The dam, together with Lake Burley Griffin and adjacent lands, is listed on the Register of the National Estate, a listing of places of significant natural and cultural heritage. Since 2012, the register has frozen. [13] [14]
Canberra is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The city is located at the northern end of the Australian Capital Territory at the northern tip of the Australian Alps, the country's highest mountain range. As of June 2021, Canberra's estimated population was 453,558.
The history of Canberra details the development of the city of Canberra from the time before European settlement to the city's planning by the Chicago architect Walter Burley Griffin in collaboration with Marion Mahony Griffin, and its subsequent development to the present day.
Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River, which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle, was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra.
The Molonglo River, a perennial river that is part of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia.
Yarralumla is a large inner south suburb of Canberra, the capital city of Australia. Located approximately 3.5 kilometres (2.2 mi) south-west of the city, Yarralumla extends along the south-west bank of Lake Burley Griffin from Scrivener Dam to Commonwealth Avenue.
The National Carillon is a large carillon situated on Queen Elizabeth II Island in Lake Burley Griffin, central Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia. The carillon is managed and maintained by the National Capital Authority on behalf of the Commonwealth of Australia. It has 57 bells, ranging nearly 5 octaves from the 6,108 kg (13,466 lb) bass bell in F# to the 8 kg (18 lb) treble bell in D.
The Canberra Golf Club, later known as the Royal Canberra Golf Club, was formed in 1926. Its original grounds were behind the Hotel Canberra on the river flats on both sides of the Molonglo River.
Charles Robert Scrivener was an Australian surveyor, and the person who surveyed numerous sites in New South Wales for the selection of a site for the Australian Capital Territory and Australia's capital city, Canberra.
The Queanbeyan River, a perennial stream that is part of the Molonglo catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Monaro and Capital Country regions of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, in Australia. The river is 104 kilometres (65 mi) in length with a catchment area of 96,000 hectares. The Queanbeyan River and the Cotter River meet the potable water supply needs of the Canberra and Queanbeyan region and whose water quality is specifically protected under Federal legislation.
The history of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) as a separate administrative division began in 1911, when it was transferred from New South Wales to the Australian federal government. The territory contains Australia's capital city Canberra and various smaller settlements. Until 1989, it also administered the Jervis Bay Territory, a small coastal region.
Googong Dam is a minor ungated earth and rock fill with clay core embankment dam with concrete chute spillway plus a nearby 13 metres (43 ft) high earthfill saddle embankment across the Queanbeyan River upstream of Queanbeyan in the Capital Country region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's purpose includes water supply for Canberra and Queanbeyan. The impounded reservoir is called Googong Reservoir.
Tallowa Dam, completed in 1976, is a concrete gravity dam with central overflow spillway, located on the Shoalhaven River, downstream from the river's confluence with the Kangaroo River. The dam wall of 325 cubic metres (11,500 cu ft) is 43 metres (141 ft) high and 528 metres (1,732 ft) in length. At 100% capacity, the dam wall holds back approximately 85,500 megalitres and creates the impounded reservoir of Lake Yarrunga that has a surface area of 831 hectares, drawn from a catchment area of 5,750 square kilometres (2,220 sq mi). The spillway has a discharge capacity of 27,600 cubic metres per second (970,000 cu ft/s).
The Molonglo Plain generally refers to the flood plain of the Molonglo River and specifically the one located in the Australian Capital Territory that was inundated during the mid-1960s in order to create Lake Burley Griffin. This plain was one of fours plains - the Ginninderra Plain, the Limestone Plain, and the Tuggeranong Plain are the others - upon which the city of Canberra is situated.
Springbank Island is an island located on Lake Burley Griffin in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. Springbank Island is named after a former agricultural property that was partially submerged to create Lake Burley Griffin. An elevated part of the former property now comprises the island.
The history of Lake Burley Griffin, an artificial body of water in Canberra, the capital of Australia, is a long one. Following its initial design in the 1910s, extensive political disputes occurred until it was finally built in the 1960s.
Sullivans Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Jerrabomberra Creek, a partly perennial stream of the Murrumbidgee catchment within the Murray–Darling basin, is located in the Capital Country region spanning both New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Scott's Crossing Road was a former roadway connecting north and south Canberra, across the Molonglo River floodplain. It was named after John Scott, who was an early settler in the region, and whose homestead was located at its southern end. It was submerged by the filling of Lake Burley Griffin.
The Commonwealth Avenue Bridge are two parallel pre-stressed concrete box girder road bridges that carry Commonwealth Avenue across Lake Burley Griffin, and connect Parkes and City in Canberra, in the Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
Lake Daylesford is an artificial lake in the town of Daylesford, Victoria, Australia. It was completed in either 1927 or 1929 after many years of campaigning since 1893. It was designed by Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra. Lake Daylesford was formed when the dam wall was built across Wombat Creek aboe the Central Springs in 1929. The town wanted an ornamental body of water to beautify the scarred creek landscape.
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