2005 – TARONG ASH DAM UPGRADE — THE RISKS, ANSWERS AND WAY FORWARD
The Tarong coal-fired power station near Kingaroy in southern Queensland discharges ash to a storage facility of 42,000 ML capacity, impounded by a 48 m high-zoned earth and rockfill dam embankment. The embankment was constructed in 1980–81. In recent years, Tarong Energy Corporation (TEC) has investigated a number of options for a new storage facility as the remaining capacity of the existing ash dam storage diminishes. TEC determined that the existing facility should be upgraded to provide additional storage capacity for the short term. At the same time, there emerged a requirement to improve the long-term seismic resistance of the embankment. Enlarging the existing spillway cut provided the material for a 400,000 m3 weighting zone and, by reducing the design flood freeboard, extended the ash disposal capacity by several years without a need to raise the embankment. Challenges included significant foundation seepage and deteriorated riprap. The paper describes the issues, risks, adopted criteria, investigation undertaken, and implementation of the upgrading works. Innovative approaches to the provision of future storage capacity are outlined.
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2005 Papers
2005 – Risk Assessment and Upgrade of the Valves at The Warragamba Dam Outlet Works
Learn moreBrian Simmons, Glen Hobbs, S Muralitharan, Udaya Peeligama
Warragamba Dam supplies up to 80% of Sydney’s water needs and is currently undergoing a range of major infrastructure upgrades. The outlet works upgrade is one of these projects. The outlet works of the dam were constructed in the 1950s and consisted of four 2100mm pipes with isolating gate valves and needle control valves feeding two large aboveground pipelines running 27 kilometres east to Prospect Reservoir in Sydney’s western suburbs.
In the 1990s the then dam owner (Sydney Water) undertook a detailed and extensive risk analysis of the outlet works. The study resulted in a recommendation to remove the existing valves and replace them with a combination of emergency closure (guard) valves and isolating valves. Under the Sydney Catchment Authority (the present dam owner) work subsequently proceeded in 2004 as a design and construct contract with all aspects of construction and water supply risks identified. Stringent controls were developed and placed on work programs and pipeline shutdowns to ensure the safety of all involved and the integrity of the supply to Sydney.
The four outlets required eight large valves, which were manufactured in Germany and were required to meet stringent operational requirements.At the time of writing three of the four outlets have been successfully upgraded and commissioned.Work has commenced on upgrading the fourth outlet, which is due for completion by the time of the conference, approximately 20 months ahead of schedule.
This paper discusses the project from the initiation of the risk analysis study, through the consideration of options, development of the contract, and the supply, installation and commissioning of the large valves and pipe work. It highlights the role of risk assessment in selection of the preferred option and addresses some of the engineering challenges faced during the project.
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2005 Papers
2005- Characterisation of the Ross River Dam Foundations
Learn moreDeryk Forster and Manoj Laxman
The Stage I construction of the Ross River Dam was completed in December 1973. The reservoir
reached full supply level (FSL) and then spilled in January 1974. In 1976, the left embankment was
raised to Stage II level. Spillway gates were installed in February 1978 with full supply level for
Stage 1A (FSL).In the years following the first filling of the reservoir after the raising of FSL, salt scalding
downstream of the northern portion of the left embankment occurred. This was attributed to
foundation seepage. Investigations started in 1978 to define what remedial measures were required to ensure the safety of the left embankment. Fissured clays were first discovered in the foundations of the Ross River Dam during these investigations.Fissures could substantially reduce the overall strength of the soil foundations. Therefore the effect of these fissures needs to be considered when evaluating the acceptable levels of reliability against
embankment failure. More extensive fissuring was discovered during the current investigations and a
cataloguing system was employed to characterise the foundation conditions.A simplified layer model was adopted early on in the design but did not fully demonstrate the
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complexity of the subsurface conditions. Extensive use was made of historical geological data,
current investigation data and the application of GIS systems. The resulting model more clearly
represents the foundation conditions and high degree of variability and was used in subsequent risk
assessments for the upgrade design. -
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2005 Papers
2005 – The Significance of Factors Affecting Secure Yield
Learn moreMalcolm Nix
“Off-river” storage, Bootawa Dam, receives water pumped from the Manning River to supply a
regional water scheme on the mid-north coast of NSW.As part of drought planning, short term predictive modelling of future streamflow has been developed
from an analysis of the last 30 years of recorded flow data and “on-line” upstream river gauges.
In the longer view, a comparison was made of th e last 30 years of recorded flow with an analysis of
the previous 80 years of synthetic flow data. There is a downward trend in streamflow in the last 25
years. Is this likely to continue, or is it part of a cycle or some other factor?Long term fluctuations in the Southern Oscillation Index are compared to rainfall for this region.
Estimates of sustainable yield of the scheme are dependant on many factors, including environmental flows, dam size, turbidity constraints, river pump transfer capacity, river loss, catchment rural demand, accuracy of streamflow data and future climate change.The affect of each of these factors has been quantified and ranked according to their importance on
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sustainable yield. -
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2005 Papers
2005 – THE SMART GUIDE TO OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE MANUALS
Learn moreChanges to the Regulatory and legal environment have resulted in an increased focus on the
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importance of proficient management of dams. Operation and maintenance manuals are now a
Regulatory requirement in Tasmania for all but very low hazard dams and are also required to ensure that dams are managed efficiently and safely. To meet these requirements Hydro Tasmania has developed the ‘Smart’ operations and maintenance manual.
Hydro Tasmania has a large portfolio of dams and as a result requires a large number of operations and maintenance manuals. This would result in an overwhelming array of information that is subject to evolving change if the traditional approach to the manual was adopted. To overcome this burden, a controlled electronic manual was developed to enable:
• Critical operation and maintenance information to be collated with minimal effort;
• Electronic hyperlinks to key existing operation and maintenance documents, reference
materials, and portals into operational data bases; and
• A means of updating and controlling information that is subject to change.
This paper will discuss how Hydro Tasmania developed its user-friendly operation and maintenance manuals in an innovative, unique and controlled manner to ensure prudent management of dams and to comply with Regulatory change. -
2005 Papers
2004 – Wai-Iti Valley Community Water Supply Augmentation Project
Learn moreJohn Grimston Sally Marx Robin Dawson and Peter Thomson
The Wai-iti Valley is located in the northern region of New Zealand’s South Island. Water demand during summer in the Wai-iti Valley is greater than the available supply, resulting in water allocation restrictions and pressure on in-stream habitat and uses. Further, the summer water resource in the Wai-iti Catchment is currently over-allocated. Thus, since the mid 1980s, Tasman District Council (TDC) has been unable to grant new water permits to take water from either rivers or groundwater in the Wai-iti Catchment. Existing water permit quotas have been reduced where they were not being used, but despite this agricultural, horticultural and domestic use is frequently restricted during dry years.
Recently, the need for a community solution was identified for the Wai-iti Valley area. The Wai-iti Water Augmentation Committee (comprising representatives from the local community and TDC) was set up in 1995 to find the best option for the northernmost extent of the Wai-iti valley. A feasibility study for a community dam was completed in 2001 identifying small off-river storage dams as options. The proposed scheme is located in a tributary of the Wai-iti River and is essentially a water harvesting project where winter flows in the stream would be impounded and stored, and gradually released on a regular basis back into the stream and Wai-iti River system during dry summer periods.
The paper will cover the project’s economic objectives as well as community and environmental impacts and the consenting process under the Resource Management Act. Dam construction is planned to start in October 2004.
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