Civil: Lake Margaret Wood Stave

Lake Margaret, West Coast Tasmania 

 The Lake Margaret village and its timber woodstave pipeline is a fascinating piece of history nestled in Tasmania’s rugged wilderness.  This is a two-kilometre timber pipeline winding through the wilderness, connecting Lake Margaret’s dam to the power station. The pipeline repairs was a unique Hydro Tasmania project which came with some challenges, due to the location and age of the pipeline. 

Lake Margaret Power Station was built in 1914 by the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company to provide energy for its mines. Hydro Tasmania purchased the station in 1985.

The pipeline is unique because it blended modern and old-style construction techniques and incorporated elements of the original works dating from 1914.   The pipeline will secure a long‐term operation of the power station. The power station uses refurbished 95‐year‐old equipment to generate an annual energy output of 50GWh.