Conceptual Design And Construction Of Hume Dam

This assessment requires you critically analyse the system design process of a project using the theory and principles studied during the course.

In this group assessment, you are required to write a report which critically analyses the conceptual design phase of a systems engineering project. Projects might include designing a bridge, a dam, an environmentally-conscious building or a mechatronic system. You might not have been involved in the project personally, but some connection with the project would make the analysis more meaningful. Choose your project carefully because in assignment 2, your group will need to analyse the preliminary design and detailed design phases of the project. If you are unsure as to whether your chosen project has sufficient depth/detail, consult with your tutor. You will also have the opportunity to work on the assignment in the tutorials for the unit. Every group must do a different project. Also, projects from previous years can not be reused.

The report is to analyse the following phases of the project:

Needs definition
Conceptual system design
To demonstrate your research skills and understanding, the report must draw upon relevant sources like journals, books or reputable trade publications in analysing the project. You must also present the case study in terms of the above two lifecycle phases and evaluate the proposed conceptual design against the identified needs / requirements.

Design and Construction of Hume Dam

This assessment paper evaluates the process of designing the Hume Dam with major considerations being taken on the conceptual design of the Hume Dam. The conceptual design of the Hume Dam primarily analyzes the construction process of the dam, performance measurement, requirements of system operation, system planning, maintenance, feasibility study, and functional analysis of the dam. Hume dam which was initially known as Hume Weir is a primary dam across Murray River downstream of its junction with Mitta River in the New South Wales, Riverina region. When Hovell and Hume trecked through in 1824 November, they were close to the current site of the dam remarkable, crossing the Narantheran, Nurongong, and Milewa, the native names for the Kiewa, Mitta, and Murray Rivers.  

The major purpose of designing the Hume Dam include water conservation, water supply for both domestic and industrial purposes, irrigation purposes, hydro-power generation, and flood mitigation. The origin of Hume Dam goes back in the 19^th century as interest in agricultural irrigation developed and the need for a reliable supply of water along the Murray River. The construction and design began with the selection of concrete gravity, constructed and designed by New South Wales and the primary earthen embankment constructed and designed by Victoria. The two states, Victoria and South Wales, started a separate organization, each with different employment conditions and terms and set up separate camps of construction on either side of the river (Allan, 2010).

The major reason for designing the Hume Dam by both the Victoria and New South Wales States was due to the interest in agricultural irrigation development by the people who stayed along Murray River and also there was the need for a reliable supply of water by the locals was recognized. The other reasons for designing the Hume Dam include water conservation, water supply for both domestic and industrial purposes, irrigation purposes, hydro-power generation, and flood mitigation. After World War II, numerous settlements regions of the soldiers were established for irrigation in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, which promoted the demand for water from Murray River. Before the completion of the Dam, the decision was made to further enlarge the capacity of the dam to 3038 GL, for the purposes of regulation of the extra flows of Murray River that were diverted from the Snowy Mountains Scheme (Association, 2010).

The conceptual design of the Hume Dam evaluates predetermination, commitment, and the establishment of the development schedule, function, form, and cost of the Hume Dam as well as its components such as the reservoir and hydro-electric plant. The conceptual design of the Hume Dam primary involves the analysis of the feasibility study, performance evaluation, the requirements of system operation, operational analysis, system planning, and the construction process of the Hume Dam. The initial Home Dam was designed to maximize the storage when needed, by the installation of gates on the spillway. Afterwards, extensive upgrading and remedial works which were for foreseen during the designing process are meant to keep the initial structure and also significant in ensuring that the integrity of the structure and its capability of satisfying demand (Fell, 2014).

Conceptual Design of Hume Dam

The dam was named after Hamilton Hume, who was the first explorer upstream of Albury in 1824. The establishment of Murray Valley was originally dependent on the transport along the river by paddle steamers with a season of thriving trade along the river a significant part in expanding the valley. The fluctuations in the flow of the river led to unreliability is navigation with the problem being intensified in the 1880s as a result of water diversion for development of irrigation. A primary storage dam with a system of navigation and weirs locks along the length of the river through NSW, Victoria, and South Australia was discussed at numerous conferences (Golzé, 2009).

The federation later reached an agreement between the three states on the regulation and allocation of the waters of Murray as well as possibility of essential works. The design and construction of the Hume Dam began in 1919 with an aim of supplying reliable water supply to encourage new settlements in the valley and bring prosperity and confidence to the locals. The structure of concrete gravity was constructed and designed by the New South Wales Department of Public Works while the State Rivers and Water supply Commission of Victoria constructed and designed the 1.2km long earth fill dam with a wall of the concrete core. The basic reason for the construction and design of Hume Dam was to conserve water in seasons of high flow and later discharge the water during the low flow periods. The major use of water was for irrigation purpose but significant water quantities are diverted from River Murray for industrial uses, domestic uses and to assist in supplying entitlement flows to South Australia (Guyer, 2018).

Planning began by the investigation of 25 sites across the Cumberoona where 600000acre could be impounded but would not restrict water of the River Mitta. The initial designs for Hume Dam were carried out by Dethridge Commissioner, State Rivers and Water Supply Commission and Burgh Chief Engineer, Department of Public Works New South Wales. After World War II, numerous settlements regions of the soldiers were established for irrigation in New South Wales, Victoria, and South Australia, which promoted the demand for water from Murray River. The structure of concrete gravity was constructed and designed by the New South Wales Department of Public Works while the State Rivers and Water supply Commission of Victoria constructed and designed the 1.2km long earth fill dam with a wall of the concrete core (Hanna, 2012).

Major Operational Requirements of Hume Dam

River Murray became the responsibility of the state to construct a concrete spillway including 4 valves for an outlet and 3 extra valves for the future generation of electricity. Victoria state charge of the earthen embankment which stretched for more than a kilometer across the floodplain. The concrete was made from thousand tons of rubble and sand tailings railed from mines of Chiltern valley and crushed on site. The filling of the wall upstream was all clay since the clay is impervious to water just like a brick. The test bores totaling to 158 were drilled to ascertain the depth to bedrock at numerous positions. In 1918, the New South Wales Government has made a decision that the site for dam construction would be beneath the junction of Mitta where numerous test bores were drilled (IPC, 2010).

The design and construction of the Hume Dam began in 1919 with an aim of supplying reliable water supply to encourage new settlements in the valley and bring prosperity and confidence to the locals. The other reasons for designing the Hume Dam include water conservation, water supply for both domestic and industrial purposes, irrigation purposes, hydro-power generation, and flood mitigation. The functional analysis of the Hume Dam can be analyzed by considering its major components which include Dam and spillways, reservoir, and power station (Jackson, 2011).

The Hume Power Station has an installed capacity of 58 MW and is basically used for generation during perk-load. The power generation station is composed of dual 29 MW turbines with an annual output of 220 GW/hr. Lake Hume is the major reservoir on the River Murray and has the ability to discharge water at a very high rate. The irrigation authorities use the reservoir for the purposes of storage. However, Lake Hume is currently reducing in capacity by almost one-third every year caused by the unpredictable climatic condition in Australia. This has resulted in the storage capacity of the lake to be 500000 Mega litters between 2010 and 2013. The lake is also stocked with fish which are majorly introduced species such as trout, Redfin, and carp (Jansen, 2012).

The dam was made by mixing a concrete gravity with four earth embankments. The dam is made up of the 1615m crest and 51m height with supplementary embankments encompassing an extra 1010m. The optimum depth of water is 40m and the dam can hold back 3005157 Megalitres of water at 100% capacity. The catchment area of Lake Hume is 15300 sq km and the surface area of Lake Hume is 20190 hectares. The construction of the dam wall was done on the rock covered with clay and other earth. A concrete spillway that is controlled which is composed of a gated concrete overflow, with 29 vertical undershot gates, has the ability to discharge 7929m³ per second. Water is restricted approximately 40km on the reservoir upstream in the valleys of both Mitta Mitta and Murray rivers (Leslie, 2013).

Functional Analysis of the Hume Dam

                                                                        Figure 1: Core wall of Hume Dam

The dam wall was stretched during the 1950s and completed in 1961 resulting to the removal of Tallangatta Township and also diversion of the road and railway. The inspection of the Hume Dam discovered that the leakage and water pressure had resulted in the dam slightly moving on its foundations, resulting to anxieties that the Hume Dam was heading for collapse, treating the entire Murray basin and Albury Wodonga. Further upgrades of the dam commenced in 2010 at an estimated cost of A$60 million and were completed in 2015 (Martin, 2014).  

The major operational requirements for the Hume Dam include the Hume Reservoir, Dam and spillways, and power station. The major water supply of water to the Hume Dam is the River Murray which has a length of 2500km, rising in the Alps of Australia and discharging into the sea in South Australia. The Hume Power Station has an installed capacity of 58 MW and is basically used for generation during perk-load. The power generation station is composed of dual 29 MW turbines with an annual output of 220 GW/hr. The reservoir has a total capacity of 3036500 Megalitres with the active capacity and inactive capacity of 1,417,188 ML and 1,619,312 ML respectively (Pedro, 2009).

The continuation of monitoring and maintenance of the dam structure includes estimation of the impacts of extreme floods on the Hume catchment. This dam is maintained in proper physical condition carefully and its behaviour during service is monitored constantly. There are numerous occasions when the foundations of the uplift pressure are strengthened or even the effects from earthquake loading. The inspection of the Hume Dam discovered that the leakage and water pressure had resulted in the dam slightly moving on its foundations, resulting to anxieties that the Hume Dam was heading for collapse, treating the entire Murray basin and Albury Wodonga. Other maintenance work on the Hume Dam that are currently underway include possible modification to improve the capability of the dam to handle advance floods, construction of a concrete buttress on the southern training wall,  drainage system on the junction between the southern embankment and concrete spillway, and the installation of an improved drainage system (Society, 2013).

Lake Hume and Hume Power Station

The performance measurement of the Hume Dam can be determined by the evaluating the importance of the dam to the locals which include hydro-electric generation, irrigation purposes, water supply for domestic and industrial purposes, and also water conservation. The Hume Power Station has an installed capacity of 58 MW and is basically used for generation during perk-load. The power generation station is composed of dual 29 MW turbines with an annual output of 220 GW/hr. The reservoir has a total capacity of 3036500 Megalitres with the active capacity and inactive capacity of 1,417,188 ML and 1,619,312 ML respectively (Thomas, 2010).

Some of the research skills that were of great importance during this exercise of analyzing the design process of Hume Dam include critical reviewing, documentation and reporting, research methods, recognizing research problems, and analysis skills. Critical reviewing skill is very significant during the design process since there is need to consider all the possible design options critically before selecting the best design for the system. Documentation and reporting skills are useful when gathering the information attained after critically selecting the best design option for a required system. The analysis skill is important during selection of the best design out of other possible options.

Conclusion:

This assessment paper evaluates the process of designing the Hume Dam with major considerations being taken on the conceptual design of the Hume Dam. The major purpose of designing the Hume Dam include water conservation, water supply for both domestic and industrial purposes, irrigation purposes, hydro-power generation, and flood mitigation. The construction and design began with the selection of concrete gravity, constructed and designed by New South Wales and the primary earthen embankment constructed and designed by Victoria. The major operational requirements for the Hume Dam include the Hume Reservoir, Dam and spillways, and power station.

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