Wivenhoe Dam

Wivenhoe Dam is a dam across the Brisbane River upstream from Lockyer Creek in Queensland, Australia. The dam creates the artificial Lake Wivenhoe. The dam wall is located about 80 kilometres (50 mi) by road from the centre of Brisbane.

Wivenhoe dam was planned in the early 1970s as a flood mitigation and water storage dam. The 1974 Brisbane flood, highlighted the need for flood protection South East Queensland. The lake also forms part of the water storages for the Wivenhoe Power Station.

Wivenhoe Dam consists of an earth and rock embankment 2.3 kilometres (1.4 mi) long and 50 metres (160 ft) high. It has a concrete spillway section on which five steel crest gates are installed. The gates, at 12 metres (39 ft) wide and 16.6 metres (54 ft) high, are among the largest of their type in the world. The dam also has an auxiliary spillway to stop over-topping.

The dam's reservoir has a total storage capacity of 2.61 cubic kilometres (0.63 cu mi), of which 1.16 cubic kilometres (0.28 cu mi) is used for urban water storage. Its surface area is 109.4 square kilometres (42.2 sq mi) and it has a 462 kilometres (287 mi) shoreline. 200 properties were acquired to provide the 337.50 square kilometres (130.31 sq mi) of land required for the dam. The catchment area is approximately 7,020 square kilometres (2,710 sq mi) and has an average annual rainfall of 940 millimetres (37 in). The dam holds twice as much water as Sydney Harbour and is about seven times bigger than Hinze Dam at the Gold Coast. Wivenhoe Dam contributes to the Gold Coast's water supply.