Country Australia Opening date 1968 Impounds Khancoban Back Length 131 m Surface area 190 ha Spillway 1 | Status Operational Type of dam Arch dam Height 43 m Catchment area 53 km² Owner Snowy Hydro | |
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Location Snowy Mountains, New South Wales Similar Balmain Reservoir, Fitzroy Falls Dam, Spring Creek Dam, Wingecarribee Dam, Winburndale Dam | ||
Murray Two Dam or Murray 2 Dam is a major ungated concrete arch dam with a controlled spillway across Khancoban Bank, a diverted flow of the Snowy and Geehi rivers in the Snowy Mountains region of New South Wales, Australia. The dam's main purpose is for the generation of hydro-power and is one of the sixteen major dams that comprise the Snowy Mountains Scheme, a vast hydroelectricity and irrigation complex constructed in south-east Australia between 1949 and 1974 and now run by Snowy Hydro.
Contents
The impounded reservoir is called the Murray Two Pondage or Murray 2 Pondage.
Location and features
Completed in 1968, Murray Two Dam is a major dam, located within the Tumbarumba Shire, approximately 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southeast of the town of Khancoban. The dam was constructed by a consortia including Thiess Bros Pty Limited and Dillingham Corporation based on engineering plans developed under contract from the Snowy Mountains Hydroelectric Authority.
The arch dam wall comprises 19,500 cubic metres (690,000 cu ft) of concrete and is 43 metres (141 ft) high and 131 metres (430 ft) long. At 100% capacity the dam wall holds back 2,344 megalitres (82.8×106 cu ft) of water. The surface area of Murray Two Pondage is 190 hectares (470 acres) and the catchment area is 53 square kilometres (20 sq mi). The controlled spillway is capable of discharging 566 cubic metres per second (20,000 cu ft/s).
Power generation
Located immediately upstream of the Murray Two Pondage is the Murray 1 Power Station, a 950 megawatts (1,270,000 hp) conventional hydroelectric power station. Murray 1 draws the supply of its water under pressure from an 11.8 kilometres (7.3 mi) Haupt-tunnel, with a diameter of 6.93 metres (22.7 ft), that is fully lined along its length; completed in 1966. Meanwhile, located immediately downstream is the Murray 2 Power Station, a 550 megawatts (740,000 hp) conventional hydroelectric power station. Water from the power plant is discharged into the reservoir, before passing over the spillway of Khancoban Dam, and down the Swampy Plain River.