Sunday 1 February 2015

Devil's Gate Dam, Tasmania

On one of our day trips recently we decided to visit the Devil's Gate Dam, the gate was closed, the Devil wouldn't let us in!  A good thing in one way :) I wasn't ready to go there.

The Dams arch wall is one of the thinnest in the world. It holds water in Lake Barrington which is used for the power station.  The wall was completed in 1969 and is 84m (275ft) high.

This photo I borrowed and it's used extensively on the internet.





 We went up on a hill and managed to get a photo from there, though it doesn't show the dam well.


A scene I took up on the hill.

22 comments:

  1. Oh how beautiful! Do you like to swim? Can you swim there, in the lake behind the dam wall?

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    1. Love to swim when I get the opportunity.
      Yes, you can swim in the lake, it's called Lake Barrington, it's where rowing is held..

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  2. Margaret,the last photo is very interesting view. It is a beautiful rural landscape. What is the plant in the foreground.?.

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    1. A hill view which often is lovely. That is a weed, called 'grass'..

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  3. If you took the same photos now, everything would be much greener, as it is here. I think I can see the strength in the dam wall is in its shape.

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    1. Andrew, the photo was taken only the other week, so that is the summer paddocks in that area, brownish, would be green in early spring, winter and late autumn.
      I expect you are correct on the arched wall being in strength otherwise it wouldn't not have lasted.

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  4. Wow haven't visited a dam in many years since I was a child but remember loving it

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    1. Great structures are dams, and thanks to the immigrants who worked on them - Polish, Greeks, Italians, Irish and so on.

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  5. That's a huge dam. I think I would be a little worried about the fact that it is the thinnest dam in the world and not want to get to close on the downstream side!

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    1. I believe it's safe Cynthia. I have never seen the water flow on the steep side but I bet it's a great site to see.

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  6. Replies
    1. Hello Pearl, it is lovely driving around that area and many others here in Tasmania.

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  7. That is a very impressive dam - some manmade structures are beautiful to behold.

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    1. It's rather a nice one, we do have a few within our island.

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  8. Interesting!
    Where is the walkway from side to side located??? Generally it is topside of the dam.
    Great looking countryside and also wonderful to know that water sports can be carried out.
    Some dam areas - this I have been told - is not permitted???? Pollution of the water from speed
    boats and those ghastly water speed bikes.
    Cheers
    Colin

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    1. Don't know where it is, but I expect they have somewhere where they can get to the other side.
      There is another dam in the South West and I believe they fish there, it's a mighty dam and that one you can walk across as it''s quite wide.
      I don't think speed boats are permitted at Lake Barrington which is behind the Devil's Gate Dam.

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  9. Looking at the top of the Dam is always scary for me.

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  10. Looking down on that first pic I see immediately where the name came from!

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