A project to upgrade one of Western Australia’s most iconic dams has reached a major milestone this month when a 42 tonne steel pipe was lifted into the Mundaring Weir’s intake tower.
The $14 million project will help modernise the weir through the refurbishment of the intake tower, its associated pipework, and a new visitor’s viewing platform.
Perth-based company Clough is carrying out the construction work, with about 180 workers involved in the project. The project is expected to be completed next month.
When complete, the Water Corporation will be able to draw water from the dam at a lower depth – reducing the need to transfer groundwater or desalinated water into the dam to boost its level in low streamflow years.
To ensure the community’s safety during the upgrade, the walkway across the top of the dam wall will remain closed and the Bibbulmun Track has a small diversion in place until December.
First built between 1898 and 1901 and considered to be one of Australia’s greatest engineering achievements, Mundaring Weir through the Goldfields Pipeline today supplies drinking water to more than 100,000 people from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie.
To view time-lapse photography of the steel pipe being placed into the intake tower, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqT1xcCa5H4