The Paradise Dam rebuild project in Queensland has reached a key milestone, with three contracts awarded for design, geotechnical and environmental services.
Paradise Dam is approximately 20km north-west of Biggenden and 80km south-west of Bundaberg on the Burnett River. It is a key component of the Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme.
Following the 2011 and 2013 floods, the Paradise Dam was damaged. Since then, water service providers Sunwater have been working to repair and improve the dam.
Engineering specialist GHD has been appointed to prepare the reference design for the project. This will be used to procure a major construction partner.
Jacobs will undertake geotechnical investigations and assess availability of any suitable basalt material that could be used as aggregate for the dam.
Specialist consultants, Epic Environmental, will undertake an environmental impact assessment and prepare applications for the necessary environment and planning approvals for the project.
The three contracts will support 37 jobs over the coming year and follow the recent appointment of Harrison Infrastructure Group to lead an extensive investigation of the road network leading to the dam to ensure approximately one million tonnes of aggregate can be transported safely.
Queensland Water Minister Glenn Butcher said the contracts highlighted the progress being made on important planning, design and approval activities required for major construction.
“The Paradise Dam Improvement Project is expected to support about 250 jobs during construction and will deliver significant economic benefits to the Bundaberg region for generations,” he said. “In this year’s state budget, $30.1 million was allocated in the next 12 months, for this rebuild.”
Sunwater CEO Glenn Stockton said the consulting firms will provide specialist expertise essential for project success.
“They all have significant experience on large projects and are familiar with the challenges that come with working on operational water infrastructure assets,” he said.
The new contracts will further support the investigations Sunwater has already progressed.
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- Federal Gov commits $600M to QLD’s Paradise Dam repairs
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