Copeton Dam upgrade information sessions will be held in Bingara on Saturday December 3 and Inverell on Sunday December 4. People are invited to drop-in to meet the project team, ask questions and find out about what’s happening at the dam.
State Water’s Copeton Dam site co-ordinator Duncan Wilson said the sessions would give locals a chance to see photos of construction and learn more about why the upgrade is taking place. “As we’re coming in to the peak time for visitors to the dam and there are some very obvious changes taking place we wanted to give people an opportunity to talk to the team working on the project. The information sessions will be quite informal to allow people to drop-in when they can, pick up a fact sheet and ask questions about the upgrade.”
The Copeton upgrade is one of seven State Water is managing across regional NSW to enable the dams to withstand extreme floods. A 250-metre-wide spillway is being constructed by Macmahon Contractors and will allow Copeton Dam to pass more water to preserve the dam wall should an extreme flood occur.
The upgrade continues to progress to schedule; 380,000 cubic metres of material has been excavated from the new spillway area which is around 30 percent of the total excavation work.
The bypass road which will divert traffic around construction works on the new spillway is now scheduled to be operational after the December/January school holidays to ensure minimal disruption over that period.
The Bingara information session will be held on Saturday, December 3 from 9am to 2pm in the Landcare Office on Maitland Street.
The Inverell information session will be held on Sunday, December 4 from 9am to 1pm in the Inverell Visitors Information Centre on Campbell Street.
For further information visit the website www.statewater.com.au/copetonupgrade or contact Jane Urquhart at State Water on (02) 6841 2087.
