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57-594: Dartmouth Dam is a large rock-fill embankment dam with an uncontrolled chute spillway across the Mitta Mitta , Gibbo and Dart rivers, the Morass Creek and a number of small tributaries. The dam is located near Mount Bogong in the north-east of the Australian state of Victoria . The dam's purpose includes irrigation , the generation of hydro-electric power , water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir

114-418: A dam and the filling of the reservoir behind it places a new weight on the floor and sides of a valley. The stress of the water increases linearly with its depth. Water also pushes against the upstream face of the dam, a nonrigid structure that under stress behaves semiplastically, and causes greater need for adjustment (flexibility) near the base of the dam than at shallower water levels. Thus the stress level of

171-422: A drain layer to collect seep water. A zoned-earth dam has distinct parts or zones of dissimilar material, typically a shell of locally plentiful material with a watertight clay core. Modern zoned-earth embankments employ filter and drain zones to collect and remove seep water and preserve the integrity of the downstream shell zone. An outdated method of zoned earth dam construction used a hydraulic fill to produce

228-476: A high voltage transformer at the power station caught fire, requiring more than fifty fire fighters who worked into the long hours of the night to put the blaze out. The power station was completed in 1957, running two 25 megawatts (34,000 hp) turbines. In 2000, these turbines were each upgraded to 29 megawatts (39,000 hp). Originally named the Mitta Mitta Dam site, following representations from

285-448: A rock-fill dam, rock-fill is blasted using explosives to break the rock. Additionally, the rock pieces may need to be crushed into smaller grades to get the right range of size for use in an embankment dam. Earth-fill dams, also called earthen dams, rolled-earth dams or earth dams, are constructed as a simple embankment of well-compacted earth. A homogeneous rolled-earth dam is entirely constructed of one type of material but may contain

342-404: A small sustained overtopping flow can remove thousands of tons of overburden soil from the mass of the dam within hours. The removal of this mass unbalances the forces that stabilize the dam against its reservoir as the mass of water still impounded behind the dam presses against the lightened mass of the embankment, made lighter by surface erosion. As the mass of the dam erodes, the force exerted by

399-686: A thick suspension of earth, rocks and water. Therefore, safety requirements for the spillway are high, and require it to be capable of containing a maximum flood stage. It is common for its specifications to be written such that it can contain at least a one-hundred-year flood. A number of embankment dam overtopping protection systems were developed in the early 21st century. These techniques include concrete overtopping protection systems, timber cribs , sheet-piles , riprap and gabions , Reinforced Earth , minimum energy loss weirs , embankment overflow stepped spillways , and precast concrete block protection systems. All dams are prone to seepage underneath

456-579: A watertight core. Rolled-earth dams may also employ a watertight facing or core in the manner of a rock-fill dam. The frozen-core dam is a temporary earth dam occasionally used in high latitudes by circulating a coolant through pipes inside the dam to maintain a watertight region of permafrost within it. Tarbela Dam is a large dam on the Indus River in Pakistan , about 50 km (31 mi) northwest of Islamabad . Its height of 485 ft (148 m) above

513-422: Is 20,190 hectares (49,900 acres). The catchment area is 15,300 square kilometres (5,900 sq mi). The dam wall is constructed of rock covered with clay and other earth and is designed to carry vehicular traffic. A controlled concrete spillway has a gated concrete overflow, with twenty-nine vertical undershot gates, is capable of discharging 7,929 cubic metres per second (280,000 cu ft/s). Water

570-459: Is also popular for water skiing , and several holiday resorts catering for fishing and skiers are dotted around the upper reaches of the lake. An annual Canoe marathon race the 'Frank Harrison Classic' is run on the river beginning below the dam each February and attracts competitors from across Australia. In 1958, a group of enthusiastic sailors established a Sailing Club and started to run regular regattas. The sailing club has since grown and

627-541: Is called Dartmouth Reservoir , sometimes called Lake Dartmouth . The Dartmouth Power Station , a hydro-electric power station that generates power to the national grid, is located near the dam wall. A smaller pond, called the Dartmouth Dam Regulating Pond or Banimboola Pondage , approximately 9 kilometres (6 mi) downstream of the main dam, also across the Mitta Mitta River, is located adjacent

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684-588: Is now known as the Albury Wodonga Yacht Club (AWYC). The club offers sail training for children and adults, and regular weekend racing. Once a year, on the first weekend in November, AWYC runs SailCountry, a large regatta which attracts entrants from all over Australia. The construction of Hume Dam has caused significant changes to the flow patterns and ecology of the Murray River. Before the construction of

741-519: Is retained nearly 40 kilometres (25 mi) upstream of the reservoir in the valleys of both the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers. The dam wall was extended during the 1950s, and completed in 1961, necessitating the wholesale removal of Tallangatta township and its re-establishment at a new site 8 kilometres (5.0 mi) west of the original, as well as the raising of the Bethanga Bridge . Monitoring of

798-605: The Banimboola Hydroelectric Power Station and forms part of the Dartmouth Dam complex of facilities. Designed by the State Rivers & Water Supply Commission of Victoria, construction commenced in 1973 and was completed in 1979 by Thiess Brothers , at a cost of A$ 179 million. The embankment dam wall is constructed with an earth core and rock fill, rising to a height of 180 metres (591 ft) from

855-592: The Hume Reservoir . It is a gated concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments and twenty-nine vertical undershot gated concrete overflow spillways . The dam is part of the Engineering Works of the River Murray that are listed as a National Engineering Landmark by Engineers Australia , as part of its Engineering Heritage Recognition Program . Constructed over a 17-year period between 1919 and 1936,

912-602: The State Electricity Commission of Victoria , and constructed by Lewis Constructions, and commissioned in January 1981, Dartmouth Power Station has one Francis turbine - generator , with a generating capacity of 180 megawatts (240,000 hp), the largest single installed hydroelectric turbine in Australia. It is owned and operated by AGL Energy . On 2 May 1990, the 180 MW Francis turbine-generator running at full speed

969-490: The earth-filled dam (also called an earthen dam or terrain dam ) made of compacted earth, and the rock-filled dam . A cross-section of an embankment dam shows a shape like a bank, or hill. Most have a central section or core composed of an impermeable material to stop water from seeping through the dam. The core can be of clay, concrete, or asphalt concrete . This type of dam is a good choice for sites with wide valleys. They can be built on hard rock or softer soils. For

1026-414: The freshwater catfish from the upper reaches of the Murray River. Climate data for the region are sourced at the bottom of the dam wall, in a relatively sheltered spot at 365 metres (1,198 ft) above sea level. Rainfall records began in 1918. Temperature records began in 1975. Winter is twice as wet as summer, and occasionally it may snow. Embankment dam Embankment dams come in two types:

1083-852: The "Weir Ground". Hume Weir won the Albury & Border FA premiership in 1922 and 1923. In 1924, Hume Weir joined the Ovens and Murray Football League (O&MFL) and played there until 1929. Percy Jones kicked 104 goals for Hume Weir in 1928 before being lured to Geelong in 1929. As part of being admitted into the O&;MFL in 1924, Hume Weir agreed to play their home games at the Wodonga Racecourse Oval. Hume Weir were runners up to Wangaratta in 1925 and were coached by Tim Archer . In 1927, Hume Weir played their home games at Wodonga Park. In 1930, Hume Weir merged with Ebden Rovers Football Club to become

1140-590: The Hume Dam is located approximately 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) east of the city of Albury . The dam was built, involving a workforce of thousands, by a consortium of NSW and Victorian government agencies that included the Water Resources Commission of New South Wales, the Public Works Department of New South Wales, and the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission of Victoria. Supplies to

1197-568: The Hume Weir, flows in normal, non-drought years were low in summer and autumn, though still significant overall, rising in winter due to seasonal rainfall and reaching a flood-peak in late spring due to snow-melt in the Murray and its tributaries' alpine headwaters. The flow is now effectively reversed, with low flows in winter and sustained, relatively high flows in late spring, summer and early autumn to meet irrigation demands. The spring flood peak has been virtually eliminated. The water released from

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1254-578: The Millennium Drought, Lake Hume fell to 1% capacity, barely more than the water in the Murray and Mitta Mitta rivers flowing through on their original paths. Between 2010 and April 2013, the lowest storage level was in the range of 500,000 megalitres (18,000 × 10 ^  cu ft). The lake is stocked with fish . Most of these are introduced species – carp , redfin and trout though native species such as Golden Perch and Murray Cod can also be found. The fishing varies from year to year. It

1311-551: The Mitta Mitta, and the downstream Lake Hume , and into the greater Murray River for irrigation. The reservoir's inflow and outflow capacity is quite small considering its size, meaning that its levels vary little compared with some other dams on the Murray and their tributaries. The reservoir is a popular recreational trout fishery, being regularly restocked by the Victorian Department of Primary Industries. Designed by

1368-701: The Municipal Council of Albury, on 17 February 1920 the River Murray Commission decided to honour Hamilton Hume , who, in company with William Hovell , was one of the first Europeans to see and cross the Murray River in 1824. In 1920, the reservoir was named the Hume Reservoir and the dam adopted the name of the Hume Weir, the name given by the Victorian Place Names Committee. Following a proposal from Hume Shire Council , in 1996 both

1425-508: The NSW and Victorian governments agreed that the dam should be named the Hume Dam, and the reservoir be named Lake Hume. Lake Hume is estimated to hold approximately six times the volume of water in Sydney Harbour . The small towns of Tallangatta , Bonegilla and Bellbridge are located on the shores of Lake Hume. The reservoir is often referred to as the Hume Weir, and was named Lake Hume in

1482-618: The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Hume Dam Hume Dam , formerly the Hume Weir , is a major dam across the Murray River downstream of its junction with the Mitta River in the Riverina region of New South Wales , Australia . The dam's purpose includes flood mitigation , hydro-power , irrigation , water supply and conservation. The impounded reservoir is called Lake Hume , formerly

1539-583: The Weir United Football Club. Weir United won the 1930 and 1931 O&MFL premierships. In 1933, East Albury Football Club and Weir United Football Club merged to become the Border United Football Club (Albury based). They wore green and white jumpers. They played in and lost the 1933 O&MFL grand final to Wangaratta. In 1935, they lost the O&MFL grand final to Rutherglen. In 1936, Border United FC (Albury based) merged with

1596-416: The ability of the dam to manage extreme floods. The Hume Power Station is a 58 megawatts (78,000 hp) hydro-electric power station installed in the dam wall, and is primarily used for peak-load generation. The station has an average annual output of 220 gigawatt-hours (790 TJ). The power station has two 29 megawatts (39,000 hp) turbines and is operated by Meridian Energy . In October 2012,

1653-616: The asphalt make such dams especially suited to earthquake regions. For the Moglicë Hydro Power Plant in Albania the Norwegian power company Statkraft built an asphalt-core rock-fill dam. Upon completion in 2018 the 320 m long, 150 m high and 460 m wide dam is anticipated to be the world's highest of its kind. A concrete-face rock-fill dam (CFRD) is a rock-fill dam with concrete slabs on its upstream face. This design provides

1710-425: The base of the Hume Weir is unnaturally cold, at least 10 °C (18 °F) colder than it naturally should be. This flow reversal, temperature depression, and removal of the spring flood peak, has led to the drying out and loss of many billabongs and has harmed the populations of native fish of the Murray River such as the iconic Murray Cod and the freshwater catfish , which can no longer be found downstream of

1767-417: The capacity of the regulating pondage was increased to further optimise the power station's generation flexibility. The station is connected to the electricity grid via a 220 kV transmission line to Mount Beauty , 40 kilometres (25 mi) away. The construction and operation of Dartmouth Dam has caused significant changes to the flow patterns and ecology of the Mitta Mitta and Murray rivers. In particular,

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1824-536: The concrete slab as an impervious wall to prevent leakage and also a structure without concern for uplift pressure. In addition, the CFRD design is flexible for topography, faster to construct and less costly than earth-fill dams. The CFRD concept originated during the California Gold Rush in the 1860s when miners constructed rock-fill timber-face dams for sluice operations . The timber was later replaced by concrete as

1881-680: The construction site were delivered via rail, through the construction of a branch siding from the Wodonga – Cudgewa railway . Hume Dam is jointly managed by Victorian and New South Wales authorities on behalf of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority . Goulburn-Murray Water manages water and land located in Victoria, and the New South Wales State Water Corporation is responsible for day-to-day operation and maintenance and

1938-406: The core is separated using a filter. Filters are specifically graded soil designed to prevent the migration of fine grain soil particles. When suitable building material is at hand, transport is minimized, leading to cost savings during construction. Rock-fill dams are resistant to damage from earthquakes . However, inadequate quality control during construction can lead to poor compaction and sand in

1995-441: The core. The reservoir has a capacity of 3,856 GL (1 trillion US gal), or approximately 6.7 times the capacity of Sydney Harbour ; and can release a maximum outflow of approximately 12 GL (3.2 billion US gal) per day in normal operation. The crest of the uncontrolled spillway is 486 metres (1,594 ft) AHD and is approximately 92 metres (302 ft) long. When full, flood flows spill over

2052-401: The crest and down an 80-metre-long (260 ft) concrete chute. The water then returns to the river via an open rock cascade which gradually widens to 300 metres (984 ft) at river level. Once Dartmouth Reservoir reaches 99% capacity, it is considered to be 'operationally full'. Releases are then set to pass inflows downstream to prevent the level rising further. Releases are passed through

2109-412: The dam as far as Yarrawonga , where it had previously been recorded up until the 1960s. The Hume Weir FC was established in 1921, mainly from footballers working on the construction of the new weir. The club initially played in the Albury & Border Football Association from 1921 to 1923, wearing black and white striped jumpers. Andrew Mafferzoni was the club's initial coach in 1921 and they played at

2166-422: The dam in the early 1990s revealed that the water pressure and leakage had caused the dam to move on its foundations slightly, leading to concerns that the dam was heading for collapse, threatening Albury-Wodonga and the entire Murray basin. Authorities denied any short-term threat. Traffic was banned from the spillway, and remedial work began involving, in part, the construction of a secondary earth wall behind

2223-406: The dam must be calculated in advance of building to ensure that its break level threshold is not exceeded. Overtopping or overflow of an embankment dam beyond its spillway capacity will cause its eventual failure . The erosion of the dam's material by overtopping runoff will remove masses of material whose weight holds the dam in place and against the hydraulic forces acting to move the dam. Even

2280-486: The dam, but embankment dams are prone to seepage through the dam as well; for example, the Usoi landslide dam leaks 35-80 cubic meters per second. Sufficiently fast seepage can dislodge a dam's component particles, which results in faster seepage, which turns into a runaway feedback loop that can destroy the dam in a piping-type failure. Seepage monitoring is therefore an essential safety consideration. gn and Construction in

2337-452: The design was applied to irrigation and power schemes. As CFRD designs grew in height during the 1960s, the fill was compacted and the slab's horizontal and vertical joints were replaced with improved vertical joints. In the last few decades, design has become popular. The tallest CFRD in the world is the 233 m-tall (764 ft) Shuibuya Dam in China , completed in 2008. The building of

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2394-566: The embankment which can lead to liquefaction of the rock-fill during an earthquake. Liquefaction potential can be reduced by keeping susceptible material from being saturated, and by providing adequate compaction during construction. An example of a rock-fill dam is New Melones Dam in California or the Fierza Dam in Albania . A core that is growing in popularity is asphalt concrete . The majority of such dams are built with rock and/or gravel as

2451-427: The lowest part of the foundation to the roadway across the top of the dam, making the dam wall the highest in Australia. The core component materials of the wall include 10.5 million m (370 million cu ft) of rock, 0.8 million m (28 million cu ft) of filter material made from crushed quarried rock, and 2.8 million m (99 million cu ft) of earth for

2508-556: The management of major remedial works at the dam. The dam is a mix of a concrete gravity dam with four earth embankments. The dam wall height is 51 metres (167 ft). The crest is 1,615 metres (5,299 ft) long, with the auxiliary embankments extending a further 1,010 metres (3,310 ft). The maximum water elevation above sea level is 194 metres (636 ft). At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 3,005,157 megalitres (106,126.1 × 10 ^  cu ft) of water at 194 metres (636 ft) AHD . The surface area of Lake Hume

2565-746: The mid-1980s. Lake Hume was the furthest upstream of the major reservoirs on the Murray River system, before the Dartmouth Dam was built further up the Mitta Mitta River to provide improved buffering during prolonged dry spells. The Hume Dam has the capacity to release water at the fastest rate. Irrigation authorities use the reservoir as the storage of first resort. Typically, the reservoir had fallen to less than one-third of its capacity by March each year. In normal years, it refills to at least two-thirds of its capacity before November. Australia's highly unpredictable climatic conditions cause those norms to vary quite significantly from year to year. In 2007, during

2622-435: The near-capacity dam by conventional means. An improvised system, placing large pipes over the spillway to siphon water over it, was soon installed. The inflow from an unusually wet spring meant that the dam would have overflowed anyway, leading to a spectacular cascade over the huge rock steps, formed when the rock used for the dam was quarried from the valley walls. The station was re-built and recommissioned in 1993. In 2003,

2679-399: The original to take the strain. Further upgrades to the dam at an estimated cost of A$ 60 million began in 2007 and were completed in 2013. These works include the installation of an improved filter and drainage system on the junction between the concrete spillway and southern embankment, construction of a concrete buttress on the southern training wall, and possible modifications to improve

2736-489: The outlet works and power station whenever possible. Water will only flow over the spillway if significant flood inflows enter from upstream when the storage is close to full. This approach reduces the chance of downstream flooding, maximises operating flexibility for hydro-power generation, and protects the spillway. The Dartmouth Dam stores water from the Victorian High Country's snow fields for summer release into

2793-424: The primary fill. Almost 100 dams of this design have now been built worldwide since the first such dam was completed in 1962. All asphalt-concrete core dams built so far have an excellent performance record. The type of asphalt used is a viscoelastic - plastic material that can adjust to the movements and deformations imposed on the embankment as a whole, and to settlement of the foundation. The flexible properties of

2850-422: The regional cities of Albury and Wodonga , and a much more intensively settled irrigation area, and consequences would have been disastrous. In May 1990, the turbine casing and concrete machine block surrounding the power station were destroyed, when two steel beams entered the turbine. The resulting force ruined the power station and the dam's control systems, making it impossible to gradually release water from

2907-501: The reservoir begins to move the entire structure. The embankment, having almost no elastic strength, would begin to break into separate pieces, allowing the impounded reservoir water to flow between them, eroding and removing even more material as it passes through. In the final stages of failure, the remaining pieces of the embankment would offer almost no resistance to the flow of the water and continue to fracture into smaller and smaller sections of earth or rock until they disintegrate into

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2964-399: The river bed and 95 sq mi (250 km ) reservoir make it the largest earth-filled dam in the world. The principal element of the project is an embankment 9,000 feet (2,700 m) long with a maximum height of 465 feet (142 m). The dam used approximately 200 million cubic yards (152.8 million cu. meters) of fill, which makes it one of the largest man-made structures in

3021-463: The unnaturally cold water released from the dam, up to 10 degrees C (18 degrees F) colder than it naturally should be, contributed directly to the disappearance of the Murray cod , trout cod and Macquarie perch from the Mitta Mitta River within the first few years of the start of the dam's existence. Cold water pollution caused by Dartmouth Dam is also considered to have contributed to the disappearance of

3078-404: The upstream face and made of masonry , concrete , plastic membrane, steel sheet piles, timber or other material. The impervious zone may also be inside the embankment, in which case it is referred to as a "core". In the instances where clay is used as the impervious material, the dam is referred to as a "composite" dam. To prevent internal erosion of clay into the rock fill due to seepage forces,

3135-406: The wall would have obliterated a couple of small towns and a sparsely settled agricultural area in the relatively narrow 120 km Mitta Mitta valley below the dam. More significantly, it would have resulted in the over-topping and probable failure of the earthen walls of the 40-metre-high (130 ft), 3,038 GL Lake Hume , 200 km downstream on the Murray River. This is immediately upstream of

3192-414: The world. Because earthen dams can be constructed from local materials, they can be cost-effective in regions where the cost of producing or bringing in concrete would be prohibitive. Rock -fill dams are embankments of compacted free-draining granular earth with an impervious zone. The earth used often contains a high percentage of large particles, hence the term "rock-fill". The impervious zone may be on

3249-443: Was instantaneously stopped by a foreign body left in the penstock following maintenance. The installation shifted about 2 m within the base of the 180-metre-high (590 ft) earth and rock fill gravity dam wall of the 3,906 GL reservoir. After initial consternation regarding the integrity of the wall, declared safe after lengthy assessment), the hydro installation was repaired/replaced, but was off-line for several years. A breach of

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