The rain finally stopped, and we had a couple of sunny days! A bit of a shock to the system. But the rain filled most of the water supply dams, leading to Warragamba overflowing for the first time this millennium! So, time to take a ride and some photos. Who knows when this will happen again!
Although it's not reabable (overexposed, being the brighest object),
the sign on the other side marks the full water level. So, yes,
Warragamba Dam is finally at 100% capacity - 14 years after the last time.
The water level sign (above) is
just
visible about half way between the far side of the dam wall and the left edge
of the photo. It's the little white dot! The water is even pressing on
the auxiliary spillway, although that is in no danger of coming in to action.
Although if we had another week like the last one ...
A closer view of the rear of the wall. There is very little evidence of
water spilling over the dam, as the larger, central "drum" is only slightly
lower than the water height, and the two adjecnt gates open from the
bottom to allow the water out.
Alas, in the olden days, one could
drive
to the base of the dam wall, which provides this excellent view.
These days, bureaucrats are scared of allowing the public into places
where they might injure themselves, or heaven forbid, actually
have an evil intent. So, to placate us taxpayers, the Visitor Centre
has this computer monitory with very frequent updates from a camera
in that location. And to add insult injury, the veiwing platform
provided to view the front of the dam has a very limited view.
Burragorang Lookout is located near the settlement of Nattai. In
days of yore, there used to be a coalmine below the cliffs here,
but it has now closed. The road ends at Nattai at a gate; the
road continues down to the former mine site, which appears to
have been completely removed (the buildings, that is). However,
this lookout provides quite good views of the Burragorang Valley,
and
Lake Burragorang,
the water body behind Warragamba Dam. And it's obviously full, as
the water is all the way up to the tree line. This view is looking
towards the south west, and away from the dam wall.
This is the view just across the valley here. The sandstone cliffs
are common in this area; the slopes in front are usually formed from
the cliff face "falling off", as happens infrequently. The cause
is weathering of the sandstone, which is not a hard rock.
Looking northwest, roughly towards Katoomba. The dam wall
is quite some distance downstream (right) of here.
The wall of the Nepean Dam. It was completed in 1935, and as with
all the Upper Nepean dams, has a spillway which is physically separated
from the main wall. Warragamba now has this system too, though
in that case it's more of an emergency spillway in the event of
a very rare, but overwhelming flood. In this photo, the spillway is
on the far side, below the sandstone cliff face above the dam wall.
This is the view of the dam wall from just above the spillway (located
behind the location of this photo).
From the same location as above, but looking down onto the spillway entrance.
From here, the water flows down a deep concrete channel to bypass, and
thus protect, the dam wall.
The end of the spillway, with the excess water tumbling down the rock
face and into the river.
A detailed view of the end of the spillway, specifically showing the
water cascading down the rock face.
Looking south along the wall of Cordeaux Dam. Just beyond the arch at
the far end is the spillway, and it is in operation. The two cement
block buildings on the left house the control gear for water releases
to feed Sydney's water supplies. I suspect the white pillars (there are
several not visible in the photo) are for measuring movement in the
dam wall.
The far end of the dam wall, and the location of the spillway.
The stairway provides access to the side of the spillway area,
but it was locked, and does not appear to have been used for
some time.
The spillway in action. And the lack of recent action is shown by
the vegetation below the spillway. It's been a while since that
has seen flowing water.
The water release points for this dam. There is also a cement building
in the trees on the far right, and that was releasing water which can
be seen streaming down and under the road bridge, centre left.
This forest in front of the dam wall is quite mature, which is not
surprising given the dam was completed in 1926! In addition to
supplying Sydney with water, it feeds water to the south coast
area of Wollongong and it's spreading suburbs.
All of these dams have life preservers/floats on the wall, I presume
in case somebody is silly enough to ignore the "do not climb on wall"
signs regularly posted. The buildings in the background are the
top of a coal mine. This part of Australia is rich in coal, which
is exported from Port Kembla (part of greater Wollongong) or
used in the steel mills there.
Cataract was the first of the four Upper Nepean dams, completed
in 1907. It was the first large city water storage dam in Australia
and the fourth largest of its type in the world. This is reported on
Institution of Engineers plaque
on the dam wall.
This marks the 4th dam of the day with the spillway in action.
Note the vegetation on the right hand side of the spillway. It's
obviously been a while since a major flow of water here.
And also the sandstone decoration. This is the most decorated
of the dams seen today.
This magnificent structure controls the release of water to feed
Sydney. It's not possible to see what is inside, but there appeared
to be some threaded rods mounted vertically, so I presume they extend
to control valves down below.
These "water jets" are releasing water to feed into Sydney's
water supply. It's not obvious why this design was used to
release the water - perhaps it spreads the area where the water
lands, thus reducing the wear on the landing spot. But
they are
impressive!
A close up view of one of the "jets" above. They are certainly
an impressive way to release the water.
Definitely an older style area, matching the style of the dam
in general. The sandstone "turret" might now be called quaint,
but certainly is indicative of its time.
2012