ACTEW Corporation’s plans to deliver a Cotter Dam viewing trail and platform in August are on track, with construction group Abergeldie Complex Infrastructure selected to undertake the job.
'ACTEW Managing Director Mark Sullivan said Abergeldie, a company with extensive experience with complex infrastructure and building projects whose Canberra office is located at Mitchell, will begin work in May.
The Cotter Dam viewing trail and platform will include a two metre wide walking trail featuring a 16 metre wide platform at the end, providing visitors with an intimate trail experience along the Cotter River and extensive views of the Enlarged Cotter Dam construction site.
The project was conceived in response to feedback from the community who told ACTEW they wanted to be able to be involved in the Cotter Dam enlargement as it took place. It will accommodate wheelchair-assisted access.
'It’s not very often that a dam of this scale and size is built, particularly in such a picturesque setting so close to a major city - and we ought to take advantage of that.' said Mr Sullivan.
'The platform will be situated approximately 350 metres southeast of the new dam, so visitors to the platform will be close enough to see construction teams working on the 80 metre high new dam wall,' he said.
ACTEW expects a large number of people, particularly school children, to visit the viewing platform while the Enlarged Cotter Dam is being built. Visitors to the viewing platform will use upgraded parking facilities at the site of the old Cotter Pub, with the improved car park able to accommodate buses and disabled parking to encourage visits by schools and other community groups.
“Dam building is quite a spectacle and it’s important that everyone – not just the lucky ones like me who are involved in the project– get to experience the scale, complexity and significance of the project,” said Mr Sullivan.
’We are delighted that our plans for the viewing trail and platform are on schedule and I look forward to inviting everyone to come in August and see this historic Canberra infrastructure project unfold’, Mr Sullivan said.
In the meantime, progress documentaries on the Enlarged Cotter Dam project can viewed on ACTEW’s
YouTube site.
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