Paradise Dam Improvement Project – New dam wall

New dam wall

In January 2024, the Queensland Government announced Sunwater would begin planning for a new Paradise Dam wall on the Burnett River to ensure a safe and secure water supply for the Bundaberg region for future generations.

This comes after three unexpected new issues have been identified regarding the long-term strength and quality of Paradise Dam’s concrete, stemming from its original construction.

Sunwater has been progressing the Paradise Dam Improvement Project Detailed Business Case (Stage 2) since December 2021, when the Queensland Government confirmed that the dam would be returned to its full height and original capacity.

As part of the detailed business case, a program of intensive testing has been undertaken to inform design development. It is through this testing program that three unexpected new issues regarding the long-term strength and quality of the dam’s concrete were identified and investigated further.

The issues identified are swelling clay, cement leaching and carbonation (further information on these issues are outlined in a fact sheet below).

The new issues are unprecedented – dams are usually not tested for long-term strength loss, and as Paradise Dam was only constructed 18 years ago (by the Burnett Water Alliance) it should not be experiencing issues of this degree.

Because of this, Sunwater, along with its partners and independent experts were required to develop a bespoke and world-first testing program. Results from the testing program show that Paradise Dam was built with a far higher percentage of clay than the vast majority other roller-compacted concrete dams in the world.

There is no doubt that Paradise Dam is a compromised asset and that no amount of improvement work will fix the existing dam.  

Sunwater is now progressing a detailed business case for a new Paradise Dam wall, with project costs and timeframes to be confirmed as part of this process. Sunwater has appointed CPB Contractors and Georgiou as construction partner and GHD as the ongoing design partner for the project, which will ensure design and construction challenges are considered and addressed early.

Separate to planning for a new dam wall, Sunwater will also commence a detailed business case to expand the irrigation network within the Bundaberg Water Supply Scheme. This will build upon previous investigations to understand distribution constraints. Therefore, Sunwater will combine the two focuses into one detailed business case.  Further information on this can be found in a fact sheet below.

While determining details for the new wall at Paradise Dam and irrigation network capacity upgrades takes time, Sunwater is working as quickly as possible and will provide regular progress updates to the community.