ANCOLD Bulletin No.115 (August 2000)
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Papers 2000
2000 – Environmental Challenges in Constructing the Warragamba Dam Auxiliary Spillway
Learn morePieter van Breda, Peter Walton, Kate Lenertz and Tim Sheridan
The Warragamba Dam Auxiliary Spillway Project, designed to manage floodwaters up to a Probable Maximum Flood event, was approved by the NSW Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning on February 12, 1998. An Environmental Impact Statement prepared for this project predicted that noise, dust (suspended and deposited), blasting, vibration, water quality and revegetation would be the significant environmental issues requiring management throughout the construction phase.
The closest residents are approximately 200m from the construction activity. The works must not interfere with the operation of the Dam, which stores 80% of Sydney’s drinking water and the integrity of the existing infrastructure must be maintained at all times. The approved proposal was to emplace the 2.2Mm3 of spoil excavated to create the spillway in an area 25 ha by 20m high on top of a ridge on the left bank adjoining the Blue Mountains National Park. This created visual impact and rehabilitation challenges.
Although the contract for this project was primarily performance based, strict environmental clauses were incorporated to manage these priority issues. Noise and dust modelling were required from each pre-qualified Tenderer, to demonstrate capability of compliance with NSW Environment Protection Authority requirements. This formed part of the tender assessment. Criteria were also developed for revegetation, specifying numbers of endemic trees, shrubs and grasses per 400m2 of spoil emplacement in order to create a floral community similar to the existing adjacent National Park.
The implementation of these requirements and the development of a site Environmental Management Plan by the Sydney Catchment Authority, Australian Water Technologies and Abigroup Contractors, whilst maintaining productivity, has proven to be a working example of the benefits of Partnering.
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Papers 2000
2000 – It’s More Fun When You Do It Yourself – Constructing the Lake Eppalock Main Embankment Remedial Works Project
Learn moreSteven Fox, Garry Fyfe
This paper describes some key details of the construction of the Lake Eppalock Main Embankment Remedial Works Project. This $8.25 million earthworks project was completed on a “live” storage to an accelerated program. As the dam owner Goulburn-Murray Water took the decision to directly manage the construction of these works with resultant benefits in timing, risk management and project management costs.
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Papers 2000
2000 – Advances in the Practice and Use of Portfolio Risk Assessment
Learn moreD. S. Bowles
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Portfolio risk assessment (PRA) can now be considered to be a standard of practice in Australia. In this paper various advances in the state-of-the-practice for performing PRA’s are reviewed, including some pitfalls and limitations. The uses of PRA outcomes by owners are discussed, along with some ways to improve the value derived from PRAs. The challenges that are common in seeking to achieve an integration of the PRA process into the owner’s dam safety management program and with broader business processes, and the importance of targeting PRA outcomes to an owner’s specific business needs, are emphasised.
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Papers 2000
2000 – Ross River Dam Risk Assessment – A Summary
Learn moreR. E. Saunders, J. Roberts, B. W. Omundson
Ross River Dam is located immediately upstream of the twin cities of Townsville and Thuringowa. The population at risk from failure of the dam is approximately 110,000. A recently completed risk assessment has confirmed earlier studies that the dam does not satisfy current safety criteria and presents high risk levels in a number of areas. Importantly, the risk assessment has enabled the extent of these risks to be clearly identified. This paper summarises the risk assessment highlighting notable methodologies employed and the key findings of the study.
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Papers 2000
2000 – Lyell Dam Rubber Dam Incidents
Learn moreI. R. Forster
Lyell Dam is a concrete-faced rockfill dam, located on the Coxs River, near Lithgow, NSW. The dam forms part of the Coxs River Water Supply Scheme, which supplies water to Delta Electricity’s Wallerawang and Mount Piper Power Stations. In 1994, the spillway capacity of the dam was upgraded, and the storage augmented with the addition of two 40 m long by 3.5 m high inflatable rubber dams to the spillway crest. An automatic deflation system, controlled by a programmable logic controller, was installed to provide a staged bag deflation sequence during flooding, and hence minimise the downstream impact of rubber dam operation.
Although the rubber dams and control system initially operated as designed, more recently, two uncontrolled bag deflations have occurred, which have caused flooding downstream and loss of significant storage volumes. In the first incident, a spontaneous uncontrolled deflation of the rubber dams released about 1600 ML, before the bags re-inflated automatically. An investigation revealed that the incident was most likely the result of design deficiencies in the control system. Recommendations were made for improvements to the system.
During the most recent deflation, one of the rubber dams failed by spontaneous rupture, and approximately 6000 ML of water was released from the dam. The Dam Safety Emergency Plan was activated to ensure persons at risk downstream were notified of the impending flood wave. A post- failure inspection of the ruptured bag suggested that the likely cause of failure was a manufacturing defect, which allowed air to penetrate the layers of rubber forming the bag. The rupture most likely occurred when the resulting air pocket expanded on exposure to the sun.
The paper examines the two deflation incidents in detail, and analyses the emergency response to the second incident.
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