COIT20275 - Eucumbene Dam System Design Process: Term 2 2018

This report provides a detailed analysis of the system design process for the Eucumbene Dam, a major component of the Snowy Mountains Scheme in Australia. It begins with an introduction to the dam's purpose for hydroelectric power generation and irrigation. The report then delves into the preliminary design phase, covering key considerations like embankment construction, safety requirements, and spillway design. The detailed design section elaborates on the dam's specifications, including reservoir capacity, dam wall height, spillway type, and foundation details. It also discusses critical design aspects such as intake towers, control gates, and tunnel construction. Finally, the report touches on system testing, evaluation, validation, and optimization processes conducted after the dam's construction to ensure it met the intended objectives and safety standards. This analysis highlights the importance of a comprehensive and well-executed design process in large-scale engineering projects.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 1
SYSTEM DESIGN PROCESS OF EUCEMBENE DAM
By Name
Course
Instructor
Institution
Location
Date

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 2
Table of Contents
Introduction...........................................................................................................................................3
Preliminary design.................................................................................................................................4
Detailed design.......................................................................................................................................6
System test, evaluation and validation and optimization processes.................................................12
Evaluation............................................................................................................................................13
Conclusion............................................................................................................................................15
Bibliography.........................................................................................................................................16

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 3
Introduction
The Eucembene dam is an earth-filled embankment that has got a bucket spillway as well as an
overflow ski-jump that is built perpendicular to the to the lift gates. The dam is built along the
River Eucembene that is located in the snowy mountains of the New South Wales. It is among
the largest dams that make up the snowy mountains scheme in Australia. Its construction began
in the year 1949 together with the other dams and came to a completion in the year 1974. The
dam was built purposefully to be a major hydroelectric power generator (Byrne, 2010). Besides
generation of hydroelectric power, it also provides water that is used for irrigation purposes
domestically and also in the complex that is built in the South East Australia.
This research paper is intended to perform a critical analysis of the process of system design for
the Eucembene dam construction project. It focuses on first making a presentation of the
preliminary design of the dam and then an elaborative and detailed design for the same. Given
that till this point, the conceptual design stages of the project had already been carried out, the
factors that were put to consideration during that stage is fully incorporated during the
preliminary and detailed design preparation. Some of these factors include the identification of
needs, system planning, concept of maintenance, functional analysis, system operation
requirements, performance measurement and the concept of support (Coffey, 2012). The above
named factors will be vital considerations when coming up with the detailed design
specifications of the Eucembene Dam. Once an elaborative and perfect detailed design of the
dam was accomplished, the constructions works were the carried out on the basis of the design
prepared. Before fully commissioning the dam, a system test was performed on the final product
of construction. This was aimed at determining whether the constructed Eucembene Dam does
meet the intended objectives as per design. During the system test, all the parties that were

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 4
involved in the project will be able to determine whether the project meets the safety standards as
per the regulations set up by the concerned state departments. Finally the Eucembene Dam will
be evaluated to find out to determine the benefits that comes along with the project and that if it
achieves a perfect optimization for its value. It is therefore an important practice to come up with
undoubtedly the best and elaborative design of a project as will be discussed for the Eucembene
Dam construction project.
Figure 1: A view of Eucembene Dam
Preliminary design
This is a crucial stage of design that incorporates the generation of bigger design concepts level.
This stage will focus on the definitions and how the major concepts for selected system are
developed (Cole, Coltheart & Moulds, 2010). It also discusses the allocations for the basic
requirements of the subsystems. The main idea of is to show that the project that is to be set up
will follow the performance requirements as well as the specifications for design. It also factors
in whether the project can be carried with the methods that are available.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 5
The Eucembene dam was designed to be an embankment dam which is a big artificial dam. Its
development is based on the placement and compaction of a complex semi-plastic mound that is
made up of different configurations of soil, clay, rock or sand. It was designed to have a semi-
pervious natural covering that is waterproof to make up for its surface as well a core that is dense
and impervious in nature. The above named features enable the dam to be impervious to the
erosion that occurs from seepage. An embankment dam should also comprise of fragmented
material particles that are independent (Crichton et al, 2014). There exists a friction that performs
the function of binding the particles together into a mass that is stable. It does not imply the idea
of cementing the substance.
The Eucembene dam is designed as an earth-filled dam that is literally built from the compacted
earth. Its cross section displays a shape that is in the form of a hill or a bank. It also has a cross
section that performs the duty of preventing water from seeping through the dam. The core is
mainly made up of an impermeable material that can either be concrete, clay or even asphalt
concrete in nature. The dam was generally constructed on a hard rock (Endersbee, 2013).
During the construction, there are a number of safety requirements that have to be incorporated
in the design to achieve the safety requirements. The safety requirements also have to be well
laid out in the design at this stage. The spillway should be designed in such a way that it can
contain a flood stage that is maximum. An overtopping protection system should therefore be
designed for the dam. For the Eucembene dam, there were a number of techniques that were put
in place in order to achieve the safety standards. The techniques include reinforced earth, a
protection system of concrete overtopping, gabions, minimum energy loss weirs, riprap and a
protection system of precast concrete block (Walker, 2013).

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 6
Figure 2: Original plans of the Dam
Detailed design
The detailed design stage is basically a continuation of the preliminary stage of a project set up.
This phase involves a number of vital activities that have to be followed in order to achieve a
proper design. A design requirement for all the components and parts of the project must be
developed (Erskine, Terrazzolo & Warner, 2011). An implementation of the vital technical
activities that will enable fulfillment of the objectives of the design is then carried out. Once that

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 7
is also achieved, a review of the design, necessary evaluation as well as a feedback capability is
then implemented. The final part of the detailed design is to incorporate any change that could
have occurred during the reviews in the most appropriate way.
Figure 3: Section through Eucembene Dam
The basic detailed features of the Eucembene dam are as follows;
 Reservoir capacity
The dam has a capacity of 4798400 ML (1055×109 imp gal; 1267.6×109 US gal). This
makes it the largest reservoir in the snowy mountains scheme.
 Dam wall height
The dam has a wall height of 116 m (381 ft.)
 Length of the crest
579 m (1900 ft.)
 Spillway type- it has just one spillway of the type overflow ski-jump and bucket that has
2 vertical gates (Gale, 2010).
 Capacity of the spillway- the spillway has a capacity of 475 m3 (16800 cu ft/s)
 Active reservoir capacity- the active reservoir capacity is 4366.5 GL (9.605×1011 imp gal)
(4.3665 km3; 3540000 acre. ft.)
 Catchment area- the reservoir has a catchment area of 683 km2 (264 sq. mi)

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 8
 Surface area- the dam is located on a surface area of 14542 ha (35930 acres)
 Type of dam- the dam is an earth filled embankment.
 It has the lake Eucembene as the impounding body of water.
 Maximum depth of water- the maximum water depth that can be achieved is 107 m (351
ft.)
 Dam volume- the dam has a volume of 6735000 m3 (237800000 cu ft.)
Figure 4: Basic specifications of the dam
To begin with, there are several vital aspects of design that have to be put to consideration when
constructing the Eucembene dam. Such aspects will ensure the design of the dam achieves the
required specifications that will help meet its objectives. The aspects include;
 An intake tower (s)
 A control gate
 Dam crest
 Penstocks

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 9
 Control gate
 Gate outlet
 Spillway tunnel
 Powerhouse
Outer walls
The Eucembene dam had its outer walls built of rock with the inner core being compacted with
impervious clay. The left abutment of the wall of the dam is made of a subsidiary embankment
that comprises of up to 121900 cubic meters (4300000 cu ft.) of fill that is across a low saddle in
a ridge (Langford-Smith, 2012). The design specifications of the dam wall enables to hold back
up to 4798 liters of water when it is at 100% capacity. The water of water that it can be able to
hold at such a capacity can be compared to 9 times the Sydney harbor water volume.
Dam foundation
The foundation of the dam was made up of closely jointed quartzite and siltstone with an
overburden of slope wash and decomposed rock. The overburden gets to a depth of 6.1 meters
(20 ft.).
Reservoir
The dam has Lake Eucembene reservoir that is the largest of all reservoirs within the snowy
mountains scheme. The lake acts as a central connection for both the southern and northern
haves of the snowy mountain scheme. There is a tunnel of a circular diameter of 21 ft (6.3
meters) and of 14.6 mi (23.5 kilometers) of length that connects the snowy river located at bend
Pondage Island and river Eucembene at Lake Eucembene. The tunnel is also the longest built

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 10
within the snowy mountains scheme. The tunnel is referred to as the Eucembene snowy
mountains scheme Haupt tunnel (Lee, & Speedie, 2012).
There also exists another tunnel, referred to as the Eucembene Tumut Haupt tunnel, of length of
22.2 meters. The tunnel diverts river snowy flow to the Tumut River and then empting its water
into a pond known as Tumut pond reservoir and then into the basin of Murray Darling.
Figure 5: Water intake tower
Tunnel construction
The construction for the Eucembene Tumut Haupt tunnel began in November 1954 and came to
a completion in July 1959. Close to 28% of the tunnel has a lining of 21 ft. (6.4 meters) worth of
circular diameter. It has a residual that is unlined and has got a circular diameter of 22.7 ft. (6.93
meters). The construction of the tunnel was done by metamorphosed sedimentary rock and
granite. The activity of setting up the tunnel involved excavation before using concrete to do the
installation of the pipeline. Close to 978600 cubic meters were excavated and in its place, 71100
cubic meters of concrete was installed (Magee, 2016).

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 11
Figure 6: Tunnel features
Water diversion
In order to begin the construction of the dam, it was necessary to first divert the Eucembene
waters around the dam wall site. A diversion tunnel was constructed on the valley side to
facilitate this. A water intake tower was built at the start of the diversion tunnel. The tunnel is
still useful since it allows the release of water to the river Eucembene.
Figure 7: Diversion of water
Grouting
This was performed in order to reduce the seepage and increase the strength of the dam. This was
performed through reinforcing the ground at the edge and base of the dam.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 12
System test, evaluation and validation and optimization processes
System test
After the completion of the project, a number of activities are carried out in order to determine
the worthiness of the project. The activities include carrying out a system test, validation,
evaluation and optimization. The Eucembene dam project was test to determine whether it met
the set objectives (Mandzhavidze & Mamradze, 2015). After carrying out a system test on the
dam, the developers realized that there was need to carry out upgrades hydroelectricity
generating capacity of the dam. In order to solve the issue, they came to a conclusion that they
replace the generator unit that was at the facility at the moment. The new design was that the
project was to have 40 MW new design rating. This would mean that the new design would
match the two turbine units that were previously used. The new generator to be installed at the
project was to be assembled from several individual pieces that would be trucked into the facility
by the use of very specialized equipment. Such an improvement will help improve the capacity
of the damn with up to 50%.
Validation
Given that the dam was mainly built to provide hydroelectric power, most of the system test was
meant to determine the efficiency of the dam in relation to provision of electricity. It forms one
of the 7 power stations of the snowy mountains scheme. It holds huge generators and turbines
that are used to generate electricity from the water that is stored in the reservoirs. Power
generated from the scheme is transmitted at voltage of 330kV to the systems of electricity that
are located in Victoria, NSW, Queensland and ACT. The power generated from the scheme
represents close to 17% of the total power generated by south eastern Australia.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 13
Optimization
The development of Eucembene dam led to the emergence of several towns close to the scheme.
Several towns like Sue city, Happyjacks, Eaglehawk are examples of towns built for the purpose
of servicing the project. The cities continued developing and later became home to thousands of
people as years moved by. This also implies that there were a lot of job opportunities that were
created from the projects. Besides the ability to generate hydroelectric power, the dam also acts a
major irrigation scheme for both domestic and industrial use (Soughan, 2014). This is due to the
large storage capacity of the reservoir that can supply water for longer durations. A major boast
from the Eucembeme dam construction is the ability to control flooding that had for long been a
menace in the region. The dam was designed with the idea of eradicating or reducing the
flooding in mind.
Evaluation
The Eucembene Dam was built to serve a lot of purposes. It is evident that the construction of
the dam has lived up to fulfil its intended objectives. Most of the benefits that the dam has
accomplished may be related to the environment, socio-political and the economic factors as
discussed below;
 Hydro electrical power generation.
Being part of the snowy mountains scheme, the Eucembene Dam has become a major
hydroelectric power generation plant for the southern Australia.
 Recreation
The dam offers a major recreational facility for the locals and tourists recreational
activities such as skiing, boating, and camping within Australia. It also supports picnic

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 14
areas and boat launch facilities within the site. Such activities have always attracted
thousands of people all over the year.
 Control of floods
Besides helping the local farmers, the control of floods by the dam has also led to the
prevention of life loss and property that may be due to the constant flooding menace. The
design of the dam was to take care of flooding and for that reason it can be evaluated to
have lived up to the expectations (Wieland, 2014).
 Water storage
Having critically analyzed the dam features, it is evident that the large capacity of the
dam enables it to store a lot of water that can be used locally, for industrial purposes as
well as for agricultural activities.
 Irrigation
A larger percentage of the south Australian cropland is irrigated using water from
Eucembene dam. Such activities also lead to increased job and food security within the
country.
The above benefits are as a result of a proper design process that was put in place before carrying
out the construction of the Eucembene Dam.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 15
Conclusion
The Eucembene dam was built to serve a lot of purpose. In order to achieve its full potential and
fully reap from it, it was important to have in place a detailed design that would make it more
optimized. In order to achieve the most appropriate design for the dam, a number of activities
have to be performed. This article has clearly carried out the analysis of the whole system design
process for the Eucembene dam. The most vital stages that would ensure an appropriate design is
achieved are the preliminary and the detailed design stages. The detailed design clearly outlines
the part by part description of the Eucembene dam and hoe they are to be configured in order to
achieve the whole system.
Once the detailed design for the dam is complete, a system test is carried out on the project. The
purpose to carry out the test is to ensure that the project begins its operation once it has been
ascertained to achieve the required objectives and safety standards as per the requirements by the
relevant state bodies. Most importantly, for the participants that were directly involved in putting
up the project, they will be able to determine whether they will get the best value out of the
whole project. An optimization process at the latter stages of the project development will ensure
that all the participants are able to enjoy the maximum benefits from the Eucembene. This paper
therefore has discussed the activities involved in designing the Eucembene dam and the factors
that were considered to ensure that it is implemented just as required (Wood, 2011).

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 16
Bibliography
Byrne, G., 2010. Reinventing the Snowy: fifty years of mythmaking. Arena Magazine (Fitzroy,
Vic), (44), p.34.
Coffey, D.D., 2012. Commercial Geomechanics Development in Australia. In Proceedings 8th
Australia New Zealand Conference on Geomechanics: Consolidating Knowledge (p. 29).
Australian Geomechanics Society.
Cole, B., Coltheart, L. and Moulds, T., 2010. Identifying Australia's Heritage Dams. In 9th
National Conference on Engineering Heritage: Proceedings (p. 89). Institution of Engineers,
Australia, Victoria Division..
Crichton, A., Willey, J., Bell, G. and Franzmann, A., 2014. Jindabyne Dam Spillway Upgrade
and Outlet Works.
Endersbee, L., 2013. Snowy River myths need correction. News Weekly, (18 Dec 1999), p.16.
Erskine, W.D., Terrazzolo, N. and Warner, R.F., 2011. River rehabilitation from the
hydrogeomorphic impacts of a large hydro‐electric power project: Snowy River, Australia.
Regulated Rivers: Research & Management: An International Journal Devoted to River Research
and Management, 15(1‐3), pp.3-24.
Gale, S.J., 2010. The Snowy Water Inquiry: food, power, politics and the environment.
Australian Geographical Studies, 37(3), pp.301-313.
Langford-Smith, T., 2012. Australia's Snowy Mountains Project. Geography, pp.42-44.
Lee, F.M. and Speedie, M.G., 2012. Earth dams in Victoria: A Historical review.

System Design Process Of Eucembene Dam 17
Magee, O., 2016. Building and Selling the Snowy. Quadrant, 50(5), p.24.
Mandzhavidze, N.F. and Mamradze, G.P., 2015. The High Dams of the World: Systematic
Tables of Data and Bibliography on Dams Over 75 M High. Israel Program for Scientific
Translations.
Soughan, D.W., 2014. Power from the snowy mountains. A vast project in south-east australia.
Journal of the Institution of Electrical Engineers, 2(15), pp.157-161.
Walker, K.F., 2013. A review of the ecological effects of river regulation in Australia. In
Perspectives in Southern Hemisphere Limnology (pp. 111-129). Springer, Dordrecht.
Wieland, M., 2014. Dam safety aspects of reservoir-triggered seismicity. In New Developments
in Dam Engineering (pp. 106-111). CRC Press.
Wood, C.C., 2011. Geophysics in the engineering earth sciences. Exploration Geophysics, 2(2),
pp.50-57.