Sweetwater Fishing Forums
General Category => News Views & Press Releases => Topic started by: Editor on March 21, 2013, 08:39:59 AM
-
SunWater Undertakes Repairs at Paradise Dam
15 Mar 2013
SunWater advises that it will be lowering the level of water in Paradise Dam to undertake repairs to the downstream dissipator at the dam.
SunWater Chief Executive Officer, Peter Boettcher, said that the Australia Day weekend floods in the Burnett River caused damage to the Paradise Dam spillway dissipator which is the concrete slab downstream of the dam.
“Following the record floods in January and subsequent rainfall over recent weeks we identified that damage had occurred to the Paradise Dam spillway dissipator and as a precautionary action we extended surveillance of the spillway dissipator,” Mr Boettcher said.
“As the river flows have subsided SunWater staff have been able to undertake closer inspection of the dam and have identified that the damage is scouring of the dissipators,” he said.
“The safety of our staff, our customers and the community is SunWater's first priority,” Mr Boettcher said.
“Our first action will be to stop the dam from overflowing to enable safe access for the repairs to be carried out.”
This will be done by making a release from the dams environmental flow gate of up to 23,000ML per day planned to commence sometime over this week end and is expected to continue for 4 to 5 days until the water level in the dam is reduce to 1 metre below the spillway crest,” Mr Boettcher said.
Repair works to the dissipator slab will involve the construction of a temporary access road across the river bed and the placement of rock anchors and concrete at the base of the dam to repair the damage. Repair works are expected to be completed over a 2 to 3 week period commencing from mid to late next week.
Some minor flooding is expected to occur downstream of the dam as a result of the release.
SunWater is currently liaising with downstream residents and other relevant stakeholders such as council, police, emergency services, the local disaster management group and the dam safety regulator about the release and are updating them regularly regarding SunWater's dam operating activities.