I relived a childhood memory today and visited the dam. It is a relic from the long-gone days when Australia was enthusiastic to progress and was willing and able to do big projects to develop the country.
great footage , loved going to Warragamba as a kid and exploring or the tracks/paths around and across the dam, and the joy of going across the suspension Bridge, even though the suspension bridge was install for the workers during building, its a shame the water board let it fall in disrepair and didn't keep the maintenance up to it, As it was a great tourist attraction and draw card to the dam,
The dam is still amazing as ever, when they open the gates on a nice night you can hear it from the town, and when all the gates open you can feel windows shake especially the ones pointed at the dam. Going inside it is amazing and its just a nice place to be. Really wish the suspension bridge was still open. You could shake the entire thing sometimes.
I can remember the "flying fox" system used to transport gravel (for incorporation into the cement to form concrete) it stretched from Yarramundi (on the Nepean river, near where the Grose River joins) to the Warragamba construction site. I think it operated all day (or was we would say today 24/7). I think the buckets were about one half of a cubic yard. It saved having trucks on the roads.
My Uncle worked on the dam in its early stages i have some great pictures of the construction sight i went to the opening came up from Melbourne i was only about 12 at the time of the first construction
@ Lt Cook landed and crew shot natives in 1770. Banks started the "Terra Nullius" in 1770 and argued hard well before 1788. The British came with that attitude fully charged. The war started then and hasn't ended.
hey! I'm just doing a project about how machinery and technology in construction of the Warragamba dam has changed so wandered if you could provide some information based on the video? thanks!
During construction, it boasted the largest concrete batching plant in the southern hemisphere. It was good to see the skip cars that bought the aggregate from Mc Cans Island just south of Penrith, some of the ruminants of the towers can still be seen around Mulgoa.
The concrete batching plant also was the first concrete plant to use Ice! They discovered that if they didn't have some sort of coolant the Dam would still be Cooling Down! There was a big Ice plant where they built that stupid fuse!
One of the greatest infrastructure projects of the 1947-1983 post-WWII boom era. Warragamba Dam would just be behind Snowy Hydro at number two. I probably rank Sydney Opera House as number three. Eastern Suburbs Railway line opened in 1979 at four. Five being the Melbourne City Loop Line and six Brisbane city railway electrification and the associated Merrivale bridge. Some capital city port developments round out the list.
Marvelous piece of public infrastructure ,in a dry arid country such as Australia you would think we would have some sort of drought proof strategy but unfortunately Gladys Berejiklian is the only political leader to talk about this and dares to mention the building of more dams
NSW tax payers continue to waste $millions every year just giving money to Veolia to keep the Cronulla desalination plant just ticking over but not contributing to water supply as it was planned. No supply means Veolia makes no money, so part of their contract was to be paid in full even when supplying a paltry 1% of the plant's capacity. Another reason never to vote for Liberals or the Coalition in NSW.
My father a WWII veteran and POW of the Japanese worked on the dam It was before I was born but at the time my mother and father lived at Warragamba He also worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Hi Taylor, if your great grandfather is Harry then you would like a book called "Thank God There Were No Greenies" Warragamba Dam. The author is Red Morgan
no, thats rational thinking,thats not how governments operate. what we need is a vaccine for an imaginary virus thats killed less people than smoking,and constant advertising and reminders thats theres a virus, that has not even affected 1% of the population. oh and other countries, we need to send our tax dollars to other countries that hate us.
@@davidhusband5022 I thought I would have a quick scan through the comments on this video, and perhaps share the admiration that realists might have in the completion of the cornerstone of Sydney's water supply. Luckily, I chanced upon the comment of a gormless knob who thinks that his/her view of the world 60+ years later is the only truth. I have never previously said this to someone commenting on a TH-cam video, but . . . You sir, are a fuckwit!
We need a second dam for sydney our politicians don't want that because they want to do bush walking and when they started the desaltion plant at kurnell I got a mouthfuls of salt water to drink from tap
The following sydney water dams are all connected via pipe lines and can send water back and forth. Warragamba dam, avon dam, Cordeaux dam, cataract dam, prospect dam, Nepean dam Lake medlow, Cascades dam 1,2 and 3. A few years ago Woodford dam was disconnected and I could be wrong but I believe Woronora dam may also be connected via pipes. A lot more water than what most people think...
You people have all forgotten the discracefull state of the Hume Highway through all this period. Should have been number one priority,bodies of families getting scraped off the roads so that we could build a "Opera house".I still resent that building and many other unneccessary eyesores.
Do you understand Warragama is a water supply ? You know, you've gotta have water And wasn't the Opera House largely funded with a lottery ? I reckon the Opera House looks great
Why waste $$Billions of dollars on a new dam in Sydney when the Water Board can regulate water demand by increasing prices. Privatise Warragamba Dam and let market forces dictate the need for a new dam, desalination plant or new technology for water purification and recycling.
@@hodaka1000 The new dam was on the drawing board many years ago and the last time it was mentioned was before the Kurnell desalination plant was envisaged. But if Sydney keeps growing there might be pressure to build the Colo River Dam or raise Warragamba's walls. Who wants to see potable water as a luxury? But it will become a luxury if we have to depend more and more on desalinated water.
That's utter bulshit I grew up in Warragamba Dam 53 to 73 the river was a great source of several different types of fish below the damn wall even mullet coming up the Hawkesbury to spawn at the junction of the rivers at Nortons Basin
@@johncavanagh1392 Funny how many people in the comments have a problem with Sydney's water supply My father worked on the dam and at the time my family lived at Warragama
watching this video made me wish i could get a glimpse of my great-grandfather 😢 he worked here.
I relived a childhood memory today and visited the dam. It is a relic from the long-gone days when Australia was enthusiastic to progress and was willing and able to do big projects to develop the country.
And we didn’t need Indians
Remember going in the dam walls on school excursions, hopefully its allowed again when it gets built higher so people appreciate how amazing it is
I remember doing that once n the old rope bridge
@@neil2550 wouldn't let primary school kids on the old rope bridge, went inside the dam 3 times 👍🏻
great footage , loved going to Warragamba as a kid and exploring or the tracks/paths around and across the dam,
and the joy of going across the suspension Bridge, even though the suspension bridge was install for the workers during building, its a shame the water board let it fall in disrepair and didn't keep the maintenance up to it, As it was a great tourist attraction and draw card to the dam,
The dam is still amazing as ever, when they open the gates on a nice night you can hear it from the town, and when all the gates open you can feel windows shake especially the ones pointed at the dam. Going inside it is amazing and its just a nice place to be. Really wish the suspension bridge was still open. You could shake the entire thing sometimes.
That bridge was excellent
I can remember the "flying fox" system used to transport gravel (for incorporation into the cement to form concrete) it stretched from Yarramundi (on the Nepean river, near where the Grose River joins) to the Warragamba construction site. I think it operated all day (or was we would say today 24/7). I think the buckets were about one half of a cubic yard. It saved having trucks on the roads.
Love the bloke mowing grass with a very early Victa mower!
8:16 'Turning spears and shield into plows'; I love the re-purposed WW2 blitz wagons cab and chassis.
My Uncle worked on the dam in its early stages i have some great pictures of the construction sight i went to the opening came up from Melbourne i was only about 12 at the time of the first construction
Considering how long ago this footage was taken it’s been done very well.
Look at the amazing construction feet’s that Australian’s achieved and yet we are still made to feel like that we don’t belong here 🇦🇺
Had a long tough time there as an Aboriginal?
1770 to date... Been going on for a long time. Too long
Oh, and, it is spelt 'feats'.
@@BTW...
The Aboriginals were very lucky to have had Phillip instead of a Cortez
Oh, and I suppose you meant to say 1788
@ Lt Cook landed and crew shot natives in 1770.
Banks started the "Terra Nullius" in 1770 and argued hard well before 1788.
The British came with that attitude fully charged. The war started then and hasn't ended.
Back when we built things
GREAT VIDEO ! AN AWSOME CONSTRUCTION WITHOUT MODERN MACHINERY & TECHNOLOGY OF TODAY ! SUCH HARD WORK BY AUSTRALIAN WORKERS !!!
hey!
I'm just doing a project about how machinery and technology in construction of the Warragamba dam has changed so wandered if you could provide some information based on the video?
thanks!
Outstanding video Cheers too all involved Top job
Excellent video, well done! The safety back then Though😱
@Aussie Pom, they would be called stupid today if they worked like that and ignored all the advances we've made to to do the job and stay alive too🙂
During construction, it boasted the largest concrete batching plant in the southern hemisphere. It was good to see the skip cars that bought the aggregate from Mc Cans Island just south of Penrith, some of the ruminants of the towers can still be seen around Mulgoa.
The concrete batching plant also was the first concrete plant to use Ice!
They discovered that if they didn't have some sort of coolant the Dam would still be Cooling Down!
There was a big Ice plant where they built that stupid fuse!
Suggest "ruminants" should be "remnants".
Watch out, the spelling police are on your case
You made a great video for my school
I am a kid I am 8yrs old I Watch this this at school
Thanks guys, Great video👍🏼
Back then Engineers needed to know how to do calculations manually. They didn't have computer software to figure things out for them!
they also knew what they built would stand there and not destroy it self computers dont have feelings for the finished jobs.
Nah, they had pre computed tables.
Slide rules?
@@AphonenewNewLog Tables and Slide Rules. The Log Tables were ‘pre computed’ well before computers.
@@jefftheaussie2225 I think the computers they were referring to were actually people
Spent many a happy picnic at waragamba dam circa 1973
Great video
One of the greatest infrastructure projects of the 1947-1983 post-WWII boom era. Warragamba Dam would just be behind Snowy Hydro at number two. I probably rank Sydney Opera House as number three. Eastern Suburbs Railway line opened in 1979 at four. Five being the Melbourne City Loop Line and six Brisbane city railway electrification and the associated Merrivale bridge. Some capital city port developments round out the list.
Harbour bridge?
@@MrCites1Harbour Bridge opened 1932... outside his '47-'83 criteria
Yes, we had a property on mulgoa road opposite the tip, we had a number of old footings from the towers
Couple of my uncles worked on this at one time ❤
Marvelous piece of public infrastructure ,in a dry arid country such as Australia you would think we would have some sort of drought proof strategy but unfortunately Gladys Berejiklian is the only political leader to talk about this and dares to mention the building of more dams
Why can't this country put a dam in today. We need water to survive. All governments should ignore Greens and create H2O storage.
NSW tax payers continue to waste $millions every year just giving money to Veolia to keep the Cronulla desalination plant just ticking over but not contributing to water supply as it was planned. No supply means Veolia makes no money, so part of their contract was to be paid in full even when supplying a paltry 1% of the plant's capacity. Another reason never to vote for Liberals or the Coalition in NSW.
the greens would want you to stand outside & collect rainwater when its raining...🤣
A young Gough and Margaret Whitlam at the 11:15 mark......
This is when governments had vision....
In the late 80's Sydney Water bought a large area of land near Braidwood to build another to support Warragamba dam ,nothing happened ,WHY?.
I wonder if they still own the land?
Could it be 10 years and millions of dollars for permits only to have it shut down by paid protestors.
Blame Bob Carr for that. Welcome Reef on the Shoalhaven.
@@daleolson3506
"paid protesters" ? 🤣
What became of the suspension bridge
It was pulled down in the 80's due to rot and lack of maintaining.
@@time2kickarse what a pitty
I thought they lost it in a bushfire.
@@davidsteer8142 the bush fire burnt what was left as all the planks were rotted out before the fires.
Couldn't have been the 80s, I was born in 1991 and I remember watching my dad walk across it, when I was 3-4yrs old...
My father a WWII veteran and POW of the Japanese worked on the dam
It was before I was born but at the time my mother and father lived at Warragamba
He also worked on the Snowy Mountains Scheme
Tea & bickies served in china cups & saucers, ahh the good old days before everything became disposable
My father-in-law worked on the Dam for years he got to be head gardener before he retired
My great grandfather at 10:42
Hi Taylor, if your great grandfather is Harry then you would like a book called "Thank God There Were No Greenies" Warragamba Dam. The author is Red Morgan
@@shane2801 will check it out
Harry taught my dad to swim when he was a kid
@@shane2801 Great book I read it my self and MET the Guy many years ago
@@shane2801 . In the Dam ?
There needs to be a 2nd dam like this Warragamba Dam.
no, thats rational thinking,thats not how governments operate. what we need is a vaccine for an imaginary virus thats killed less people than smoking,and constant advertising and reminders thats theres a virus, that has not even affected 1% of the population. oh and other countries, we need to send our tax dollars to other countries that hate us.
@@davidhusband5022 spot on nailed it!
Building of another dam would make common sense, but what common sense does government have, both sides!
@@davidhusband5022 I thought I would have a quick scan through the comments on this video, and perhaps share the admiration that realists might have in the completion of the cornerstone of Sydney's water supply. Luckily, I chanced upon the comment of a gormless knob who thinks that his/her view of the world 60+ years later is the only truth. I have never previously said this to someone commenting on a TH-cam video, but . . . You sir, are a fuckwit!
@Units Received prove it with something other than media lies then?
@@teddythewonderlizard1448 the truth hurts dosnt it! name calling ..thats when you know you have hit a nerve!
Not a high vis vest in sight
Aahhh not a mobile phone 📱 insight..... hang on is the guy in the grey suit at 11:19 taking a selfie 🤳
they did all this with not a pride flag in sight? AMAZING
200 years from now, man will do what we always do and say ancient man couldnt have done that, aliens must have done it.
It was done with a copper butter knife
@@daleolson3506
It was done by WWII veterans
We use to camp on the weir.
Back when we actually used to build shit in this country !! Can't do a bloody thing now !!
We need a second dam for sydney our politicians don't want that because they want to do bush walking and when they started the desaltion plant at kurnell I got a mouthfuls of salt water to drink from tap
Sydney has 5 dams.
Actually we have six main dams, Warragamba, Avon, Nepean, Cordeaux , Cataract and Woronora.@@jamesmcgee7723
The following sydney water dams are all connected via pipe lines and can send water back and forth.
Warragamba dam, avon dam, Cordeaux dam, cataract dam, prospect dam, Nepean dam
Lake medlow, Cascades dam 1,2 and 3. A few years ago Woodford dam was disconnected and I could be wrong but I believe Woronora dam may also be connected via pipes.
A lot more water than what most people think...
Like my mother in laws mouth, open 7 Days a week.
Now now David.
Not rocket science.. When are they going to build another dam or stop the growth of Sydney ??????? LOL
No one's stopping you from doing it
we got the desal plant...
When men where men....
how dare you assume their genders!!
yeh, now women are men Lol!
My father a WWII veteran worked on Warragama dam
You people have all forgotten the discracefull state of the Hume Highway through all this period. Should have been number one priority,bodies of families getting scraped off the roads so that we could build a "Opera house".I still resent that building and many other unneccessary eyesores.
Do you understand Warragama is a water supply ?
You know, you've gotta have water
And wasn't the Opera House largely funded with a lottery ?
I reckon the Opera House looks great
And the Mother Nature said.... Time will come for all this accountability!
Yes remember that every time you turn at Tap 🚰 on !
No water 💧 for anyone!!!!!
@@Mr61grod Yep these idiots live in fantasy land, now hopefully they build it higher
The music junked another video 👎👎👎👎👎💩💩😬
Why waste $$Billions of dollars on a new dam in Sydney when the Water Board can regulate water demand by increasing prices. Privatise Warragamba Dam and let market forces dictate the need for a new dam, desalination plant or new technology for water purification and recycling.
when has privatisation ever worked out well for the public ? Never. It always ends costing us heaps more.
Where's the "new dam in Sydney" ?
And why would you want to make clean water a luxury ?
@@hodaka1000 The new dam was on the drawing board many years ago and the last time it was mentioned was before the Kurnell desalination plant was envisaged. But if Sydney keeps growing there might be pressure to build the Colo River Dam or raise Warragamba's walls. Who wants to see potable water as a luxury? But it will become a luxury if we have to depend more and more on desalinated water.
... and after this dam was built the downstream river bed went sterile. A disaster for the marine life in the region.
That's utter bulshit I grew up in Warragamba Dam 53 to 73 the river was a great source of several different types of fish below the damn wall even mullet coming up the Hawkesbury to spawn at the junction of the rivers at Nortons Basin
@@johncavanagh1392
Funny how many people in the comments have a problem with Sydney's water supply
My father worked on the dam and at the time my family lived at Warragama
Should of dammed Picton instead that town loves to flood