Engineers Australia group tours Burrendong works

20 September 2010

The Dubbo branch of Engineers Australia took the opportunity to tour construction works of the Burrendong Dam flood security upgrade in September.

The dam is one of eight across regional NSW currently being upgraded by State Water Corporation to meet contemporary standards on extreme flooding.

Chair of the Dubbo group of Engineers Australia Stewart Mcleod said the upgrade was a rare opportunity for local engineers.

“We don’t get many unique engineering projects in Dubbo so it was a chance to see a multi-million dollar construction project in action,” Mr Mcleod said.

“We had around 18 attendees from Orange and Bathurst as well as Dubbo and the group included civil, electrical, mechanical and structural engineers so they all had different interests in the project.

“It was interesting to visit work of this scale in the local area and see different techniques in action.”

The project involves raising the height of the main and saddle dam walls by 1.8 metres to enable the dam to withstand an extreme flood.

Macmahon Contractors are carrying out the construction works which are progressing to schedule and are expected to be completed by early next year.

The project is estimated to be currently employing around 30 people, with local businesses benefitting from the purchase of supplies and hire of subcontractors.

 
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