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Australian water barrier first

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Lake Keepit, between Gunnedah and Tamworth in northern NSW, is the first public dam in Australia to be equipped with a TuffboomTM water safety barrier, to aid a $116.4m upgrade, which will bring the dam up to contemporary safety standards for extreme floods and earthquakes.

  
Australian water barrier first


The State Water Corporation of NSW awarded Australian company EarthTEC the contract to supply and install the barriers. They protect the public during water releases and prevent access to the spillway during upgrade works.
“The Tuffboom system is well-proven in Europe and the US where it is used as a debris barrier, as well as preventing boating access for public safety and anti-terrorism reasons,” said EarthTEC MD Bill Hakin. They are connected by concrete anchorages on the shoreline and the dam floor.
One of the booms has a mechanical gate to allow construction craft access to the water side of the dam wall. They are also equipped at 20m intervals with solar-powered lights. As a further safety measure, warning signs are moulded into, rather than painted on, their surfaces.
Tuffbooms are made from closed-cell foam, and covered in a UV-stabilised polyurethane skin, a construction that EarthTEC is confident will withstand the rigours of Australian conditions including high-speed impacts with water craft.”
Keepit Dam is a rock-fill gravity dam located on the Namoi River built in 1960. With a height of 55m and a crest 533m long, the dam is one of biggest in Australia: its storage capacity of 425,000ML is about three quarters the size of Sydney Harbour.
 


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