CANBERRANS braved the cold yesterday for their chance to get a look at one of the biggest building projects in ACT history, at an open day for the enlarged Cotter Dam.
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A steady stream of people flowed into the designated lookout point, where Actew managing director Mark Sullivan gave a short talk and answered questions. The enlarged dam will hold 78 gigalitres of water, up from the current capacity of four gigalitres.
The dam walls sit at 45-metres high, but will reach 85 metres on completion (by Christmas if all goes to plan).
Mr Sullivan said flooding in early March, which saw the half-finished dam overflow, delayed the project for two months and had cost $17 million. ''We had estimated three or four months [until work could recommence], but we had good weather, some lucky breaks and we're back.''
He said 95 per cent of the workers who had been on site before the flooding had returned, with 200 people working 12-hour shifts, day and night, seven days a week.
Matt Peljo brought his children Katy, 4, and Mika, 6, to the open day, where they used paper binoculars to get a better view. Mr Peljo said his children were at an age where construction sites, trucks and cranes were particularly fascinating.
