Upper Nepean Scheme - Cordeaux Dam

Cordeaux Dam

Cordeaux Dam is a curved dam with an unlined side spillway on the left abutment. It is 191 feet (58 m) high, 1,327 feet (404 m) long and holds 93,640 megalitres. Construction began in 1918 and was completed in 1926. The wall consists of large sandstone blocks, quarried onsite and cemented together, faced with a combination of bluestone and sandstone concrete. The blue metal used in the construction of the dam was supplied from the Government Quarries at Kiama and brought by rail to Douglas Park. From here it was conveyed by aerial ropeway across the Nepean Gorge to an interchange on the eastern side where the material was transferred to a 2 ft (610mm) gauge steam tramway to a point adjacent to the dam site.