Arabic version: سد جوليوس يحتفل بمرور 50 عاماً على دعم شمال غرب كوينزلاند
According to ABC News, Julius Dam is marking 50 years since it was built to strengthen water security after a devastating 1971 drought exposed shortages in Mount Isa. The dam, about 70 kilometres north-east of the city at the junction of the Leichhardt River and Paroo Creek, was officially commissioned on October 8, 1976.
Lake Moondarra, built by Mount Isa Mines in 1958, had been Australia’s largest privately funded water scheme at the time. But growth in Mount Isa and its mining industry demonstrated the need for another dependable source. Julius Dam was constructed by Thiess Brothers between 1973 and 1976, with hundreds of workers involved, including people from Scotland, England and Ireland.
The structure has a concrete multiple-arch and buttress design, which Sunwater says is the only one of its kind in Queensland. The approach reduced the amount of material required for construction in the remote location. Its 18-metre-wide concrete arches also form a built-in spillway, allowing excess water to flow directly over the dam. Julius Dam can hold 107,500 megalitres, or about one-fifth of Sydney Harbour’s volume.
Originally intended to supplement Mount Isa’s supply, the dam’s role expanded with the 113-kilometre North West Queensland Water Pipeline, completed in 1998, which supplies mining operations including the Ernest Henry copper and gold mine near Cloncurry. A further 38-kilometre pipeline completed in 2010 gave Cloncurry an additional year-round supply. Lake Moondarra remains Mount Isa’s main source, while Julius Dam provides supplementary water when needed.
Sunwater north region general manager of operations William Weaver said Julius Dam had spilled every year for the past decade, with monsoonal and cyclonic rainfall replenishing the Leichhardt River catchment. A seven-person Cloncurry-based team operates and maintains the dam and associated pipelines. University of Queensland professor Alexander Scheuermann said ongoing maintenance, skilled labour and safety assessments would be important as the infrastructure ages.
