Chichester Dam

BW

The Lake Chichester is a reservoir in the east of the Australian state of New South Wales. It is located about 21 km north of the town of Dungog in the southeastern foothills of the Barrington Tops National Park on the Chichester River.

The dam was from 1917 to 1926 to supply the Hunter Valley built with drinking water. Today, the reservoir supplies about 35 % of drinking water for the lower Hunter Valley. Its catchment area is located in the Barrington Tops National Park and is 197 km ². The water comes primarily from the Chichester River and its tributary, the River Wangat. The reservoir has a volume of 21.5 million m³ and is connected to the drinking water reservoirs in Maitland, Cessnock and Newcastle through an 80 km gravity line.

The dam is 254 m long and 43 m high. The gravity wall consists of large boulders and built concrete blocks. 93 tie rods connect the wall with the bedrock.

History

Construction began in 1917 and was finished in 1926. 1965 lowered to give a discharge of 2.75 m to increase the flood capacity. In 1985, the dam was braced with steel cables and the outlet was transferred back to the middle of the dam to its original height. In 1995, the slope at the water side at the northern abutment was reduced and in 2003 installed to a better drainage system for the Fundamente.und the left parapet was raised by a spill over at very high water levels to prevent ..