The ABC’s Eleni Psaltis has an alarming story on just how bad the delays on the Cotter Dam Expansion have been and how much it’s costing as rain interrupts what was planned to be a continuous concrete pour.
The wall was scheduled to be at 70 metres high this month, but it is still sitting below 30 metres as workers pack up for Christmas.
“We’ve got about 30 per cent of the productive time of November and December that’s been able to be used to place concrete,” said ACTEW managing director Mark Sullivan.
“The problem we have is that rain not only stops us whilst it’s there, but once it rains for about half a day, we lose a day and half once it stops raining.
“And then the guys have been quite dispirited because you get to the end of that day and half and you see the clouds roll in.”
Project manager Ray Hezkial says about 200 workers are toiling around the clock, but rain keeps getting in the way.
“In the aftermath of the rain even you’ve got to actually clean up, so you’re cleaning up the surface and then there’s a very strict regime of preparing the surface before you can resume placement again,” he said.
If rain stops work for one day, it costs ACTEW almost $250,000.
The $120 million project, now a $363 million project will be reporting in February on what extra contingent funding is required.
March is now off the table for completion but they have hopes for the middle of 2012.