The expert judging panel at Engineers Australia has praised ACTEW Water and their Bulk Water Alliance partners with honours in the Engineering Excellence Awards.
Speaking of the Enlarged Cotter Dam construction the judges said:
‘A project of this magnitude involved bringing together a wide range of engineering disciplines. The natural challenges of the task were exacerbated by a major flood event part-way through construction. Despite the complexity of the project and inherent risks of hundreds of personnel working on site, the project achieved excellent safety records and demonstrated many best-practice techniques for nurturing a safety-conscious workplace culture.’
And in presenting a Highly Commended award to the Murrumbidgee to Googong Water Transfer Pipeline initiative they added:
‘The project enjoyed a trouble-fee and safe record, coming in on schedule and under budget. Features of the project noted by the judges included the low-impact extraction point at Angle Crossing with filtration to prevent transfer of fish eggs and the small hydro-electricity generation plant which recovers approximately 20% of the electricity required to operate the pumps.
‘Although building diversion pipelines is not new, the judges recognised that this project faced challenges in traversing the land of parties that stood little to gain directly from the resulting asset. A strong project of public engagement limited disruption to the communities affected during the works, and restoration of the environment means that this significant asset is now largely invisible to the casual observer.’
The Cotter Dam project will now go forward to the national finals to be held at Parliament House, Canberra on Wednesday 20th November.
