The Ross River Dam is a rock and earthfill-filled embankment

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

across the Ross River, located between Kelso and

Mount Stuart Mount Stuart is a mountain in the Cascade Range, in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is the second highest non-volcanic peak in the state, after Bonanza Peak (Washington), Bonanza Peak and seventh-highest overall. Mount Stua ...

in the

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas. To the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock a ...

in northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, Australia. Built initially for

flood control Flood management or flood control are methods used to reduce or prevent the detrimental effects of flood waters. Flooding can be caused by a mix of both natural processes, such as extreme weather upstream, and human changes to waterbodies and ru ...

, Lake Ross, the impoundment created by the dam, serves as one of the major

potable Drinking water or potable water is water that is safe for ingestion, either when drunk directly in liquid form or consumed indirectly through food preparation. It is often (but not always) supplied through taps, in which case it is also calle ...

water supplies for the region. The dam reached 250% capacity in February 2019 as a result of mass rainfall and flooding in the area.

Location and features

The dam was constructed by

Leighton Contractors CIMIC Group Limited (formerly Leighton Holdings) is an engineering-led construction, mining, services and public private partnerships leader working across the lifecycle of assets, infrastructure and resources projects. History Founded in 194 ...

in 1971 for the purposes of flood mitigation and water storage. The dam was an attempt to address Townsville's dual water concerns--abundance and scarcity--and added to the city's long history of attempting to tame the natural environment. In the 1980s, the second stage of the dam necessitated a deviation of the Flinders Highway and Mount Isa railway line (which previously ran straight north-south) to be further east. This was completed by 1986 and resulted in the closure of Toonpan and Barringha railway stations on the removed route; they were not re-established on new route. Following a 2007 upgrade of facilities, the dam has a capacity of and an earth rock embankment in length and high. The

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

has a

catchment area A catchment area in human geography, is the area from which a location, such as a city, service or institution, attracts a population that uses its services and economic opportunities. Catchment areas may be defined based on from where people are ...

of with a controlled gated spillway. The reservoir has a current capacity of of water; and can hold up to of water in flood mitigation. When the dam gates open, water spills over into the Ross River. Visitors may view the dam from a viewing platform at Ross Park. The Ross Dam Pump Station supplies up to of water to the Douglas Water Treatment Plant, where the water undergoes aeration, sedimentation, rapid sand filtration and chlorination treatment before being pumped to the reservoir where the water is distributed to Townsville. At the base of the dam and on the banks of the Ross River is Ross Park, part of Riverway, with facilities for picnics or

barbecue Barbecue or barbeque (often shortened to BBQ worldwide; barbie or barby in Australia and New Zealand) is a term used with significant regional and national variations to describe various cooking methods that employ live fire and smoke to coo ...

s, as well as public toilets at this location.

Upgrade of the dam wall

* 2001 - a panel of experts in dam safety and construction undertook an investigation of the dam. Over two years, the panel conducted studies of the dam's compliance with world standards. * 2003 - The report confirmed that upgrades were required and by late 2003 because the dam moved a year. At that rate, the dam would have burst in a 10-year period, causing the whole suburb of Kelso to be inundated. The first stage of lowering the spillway by was underway, the lowering of the existing spillway has been done so the installing of dam gates to control the flow downstream and water storage levels can begin. * 2004 - A combined GHD-MWH team was appointed to design the remaining work and manage the project. The contracting strategy was the first application of the 'Early Tenderer Involvement' (ETI) procurement model, developed by consultants ITN. * 2005 -

John Holland Group The John Holland Group is an infrastructure, building, rail and transport business operating in Australia and New Zealand. Headquartered in Melbourne, it is a subsidiary of China Communications Construction. History The company was founded in ...

and Macmahon are awarded the construction contract. * 2006 - Construction commenced with Constructing sand filters and supporting earthfill, extra rockwork to the dam embankment and the contraction of the gates. * 2007 - Project completed late 2007. The spillway gates have increased the dam's capacity by around nine percent, which is about or four months extra supply of water. Three spillway gates span the wide spillway. The upgrade was going to take until mid-2008 to complete unless rainfall delays construction, however it was completed ahead of time in late 2007. The cost was around 115 million. The dam's storage was temporarily reduced with the lowering of the spillway to make way for the new floodgates that have now been fitted. Water is supplied to surrounding areas by releasing water from the

Burdekin Dam The Burdekin Falls Dam, also known as the Burdekin Dam, is a concrete gravity dam with an uncontrolled spillway across the Burdekin River in the Whitsunday Region, Queensland, Australia. Built for the purpose of irrigation, the reservoir is cal ...

spillway into the Burdekin and Haughton Rivers. Weirs control the volume of water entering each river. The Haughton pumping station supplies water via a low pressure pipeline to Ross River Dam. The pipeline was built in 1988 by the Townsville Council. During the first decade the PVC sections of the pipeline repeatedly ruptured.

References

External links

NQ Water
*
Ross River Emergency Action Plan (EAP)

BOM Latest River Heights for Ross R at Ross River Dam
{{WaterQueensland , state=autocollapse Reservoirs in Queensland Buildings and structures in Townsville Dams completed in 1971 Dams in Queensland 1971 establishments in Australia Townsville

Location and features

Upgrade of the dam wall

See also

References

External links