Birchville Dam facts for kids
The Birchville Dam is a special old dam in New Zealand. It was built in 1930 to help supply water to the town of Upper Hutt. This dam is thought to be the second concrete arch dam in New Zealand that didn't use extra steel to make it stronger.
Before this dam, there was a smaller water supply system built in 1913-1914 in the same spot on Clarke's Creek, near Birchville. The Birchville Dam was used until 1958. After that, Upper Hutt joined a bigger water system. Today, the dam is a cool historic spot you can visit on the Cannon Point Walkway.
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History of Birchville Dam
Early Water Supply Needs
In the early 1900s, people in Upper Hutt needed a good way to get water. There was a small pond nearby for raising trout, which got its water from Clarke's Creek. In 1912, an engineer named G. Laing-Meason suggested a plan to bring water from Clarke's Creek to Upper Hutt.
The first water system started being built in 1913 and was finished by February 1914. It used pipes to carry water and had a reservoir to store it. However, this first system wasn't big enough for everyone. By the mid-1920s, people in Upper Hutt were complaining about low water pressure. The town council even started saying no to people outside the main town who wanted water.
Building the New Dam
Because of the water problems, the Upper Hutt Borough Council decided to build a bigger dam. In early 1930, they hired an engineer, H. F. Toogood, to help them. They asked companies to bid on building a new concrete arch dam.
On April 12, 1930, a company owned by M. G. Templeton won the contract to build the dam. It cost about 5,800 pounds at the time. The dam was finished and ready to go by March 1931.
How Big is the Dam?
The Birchville Dam is about 15 metres (almost 50 feet) tall from its base to the top. It looks a bit shorter because there are large rocks at the bottom to stop water from washing away the ground. The dam is 2.33 metres thick at its widest part at the bottom. The top of the dam, where you might walk, is 1.25 metres wide. The curved part of the dam is 46 metres long and spans a gap of 40 metres across the creek.
When the Dam Stopped Being Used
The Birchville Dam provided water for Upper Hutt for many years. It stayed in use until 1958. At that time, Upper Hutt started getting its water from a larger, regional water system called the Kaitoke scheme. This meant the Birchville Dam was no longer needed for water supply.
In 1988, the water was drained from the dam's reservoir. Workers found that a lot of mud and dirt had built up in the reservoir over the years.
Images for kids
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Birchville Dam
