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Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam

Key Facts

Name:
Wivenhoe Dam / Lake Wivenhoe
Water Course:
Brisbane River
Location:
Upstream from Fernvale
Catchment Area:
7,020km2
Lake Surface Area:
10,750 ha
Full Supply Capacity:
1,165,238 ML
Current Capacity:
1,144,978 ML (98.3% full) at 18/06/2013 07:00AM
Flood Mitigation:
1,450,000 ML
Year Complete:
1984
Full Supply Waterline:
67m AHD (above sea level)
Spillway Level:
Outlet System:
Dam
Type of Construction:
Zoned earth and rockfill embankment
Length of Dam Wall:
2,300m

Spillway Lookout recreation area  – temporarily closed (Friday, 5 April 2013)

The Spillway Lookout recreation area is temporarily closed due to infrastructure damage. Repair works are currently underway, and are expected to be completed by June 2013.
 
The Spillway Lookout recreation area and canoe access to the Brisbane River below Wivenhoe Dam will be re-opened once the works are completed.
 

Recreation

The following recreational activities are permitted at Lake Wivenhoe:
 
Please note that shoreline fishing and boating are permitted at the appropriate sections of the designated recreation areas. Other areas of the shoreline may be private land or may be subject to re-vegetation projects, and access to that land is not permitted for shoreline fishing nor for launching, retrieving or beaching vessels.
 
Download the Wivenhoe Dam recreation brochure for a location map, activity guide and safety information.
 
Seqwater operates camping grounds at Lumley Hill and Camp Logan. Please view the brochure and Logan Complex rules and emergency contact info. Contact us to make a booking for a campsite.

About Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam (Lake Wivenhoe) is built on the Brisbane River, approximately 80 kilometres from Brisbane.  It was designed by the Water Resources Commission and built in 1984. Its primary function is to provide a safe and reliable water supply to the south-east Queensland region. 

  •  Wivenhoe Dam consists of an earth and rock embankment 2.3 kilometres long and 50 metres high, measured from the lowest foundation to the crest, with a concrete spillway section on which five steel crest gates have been installed. 
  • The gates measure 12 metres wide and 16.6 metres high and are among the largest of their type in the world.
  • The dam has a total storage capacity of 2.6 million megalitres.  At full supply level it will hold 1.15 million megalitres, or about 2000 times the daily water consumption of Brisbane.
  •  More than 200 separate properties were acquired to provide the 33,750 hectares of land required for the construction of the dam.
  •  The Brisbane Valley Highway was relocated to pass over the dam wall, while 65 kilometres of the road and a number of new bridges were required following construction of the dam.
  • The construction of the dam involved the placement of around 4 million cubic metres of earth and rock fill, and around 140,000 cubic metres of concrete in the spillway section. Excavation of 2 million cubic metres of earth and rock was necessary to construct the spillway.

Hydro-Electric Powers

Wivenhoe Dam houses a pumped-storage, hydro-electric generating facility. This power station is situated between Splityard Creek Dam and Lake Wivenhoe.

During the pumping phase in the operating cycle the generator will operate as an electric motor driving the pump to lift water from Lake Wivenhoe to the upper storage of Splityard Creek Dam. When peak electricity demand occurs the flow of water is reversed, flowing from the upper to the lower storage and driving the turbine generator to generate electricity.

The pumped storage power station consists of two circular concrete silos, each of about 32 metres internal diameter. Each of the silos house a 250MW turbine generator and pump set.

The power station is unmanned and is controlled remotely from the central operating centre for the Queensland power grid system. All aspects of the operation are monitored by computers within the centre. Twin 275KV transmission lines connect the power station to the State’s grid system.

Flood Mitigation

During a flood situation, Wivenhoe Dam is designed to hold back a further 1.45 million megalitres as well as its normal storage capacity of 1.15 million megalitres. Floods may still occur in the Ipswich and Brisbane areas but they will be rarer in occurrence. Wivenhoe’s flood control facility, together with the existing flood mitigation effect of Somerset Dam, will substantially reduce the heights of relatively small floods.
 
It is anticipated that during a large flood similar in magnitude to that experienced in 1974, by using mitigation facility within Wivenhoe Dam, flood levels will be reduced downstream by an estimated 2 metres.
 
Full supply level or 100 percent capacity (in the water level analysis) is indicative of the optimum level intended for town water supply, and does not take flood mitigation levels into account. 
 
The graph below shows the total water level of Wivenhoe Dam, where 100 per cent is equal to the full supply level (or drinking water supply). Levels above 100 per cent indicate that water is being stored in the dam's flood mitigation compartment.
 

Historic water levels in Lake Wivenhoe

 
Automated testing equipment at Logan's Mouth
Automated monitoring tool at Logans Mouth