Benmore Dam

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  shane (guest)

  Benmore power station has New Zealand’s largest solid-earth dam and is located on New Zealand’s largest man-made lake – Lake Benmore. At 540 MW, it’s also the country’s second largest hydro station after Manapouri (710 MW). Benmore straddles two provinces, with the spillway, which allows excess water to pass safely over the dam, on the Canterbury side of the Waitaki River, and the powerhouse on the Otago side of the river. Originally designed to have two generating units to supply the South Island, Benmore was completed with six – four more units were added to supply the North Island over the Cook Strait cable. Work began in 1958, and the Waitaki River was diverted into a specially constructed culvert (or tunnel) in 1960 to allow construction over the top of the culvert. The lake was filled in December 1964, and the first power produced in January 1965. By 1966, all six generating units were fully operational. The dam’s construction was the biggest job of its kind undertaken in New Zealand – and at that time, the dam was the largest in the Southern Hemisphere. Twenty-eight million tonnes of material were removed, and at the project’s busiest time, 1,400 workers were employed. The 110-metre-high earth dam runs between two natural projections. One holds the spillway and the other the intake block and penstocks – large pipes that channel water into the station. The dam core is built of waterproof clay-like material, supported by two massive shoulders of river gravel and an outer layer of rock designed to withstand the effects of waves and weather.

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment
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  Anna (guest)

  awesome place, very beautiful, great spot to take jetskis' boats etc.

  17 years ago | reply | hide comment