Irvinebank Dam

Irvinebank Dam
Irvinebank Dam
	Irvinebank Dam
Location	34 km South West of Atherton, Queensland
Coordinates	17°25′45″S 145°12′00″E / 17.4291°S 145.2001°E
Type	reservoir
Primary inflows	Gibbs Creek, McDonald Creek
Primary outflows	Gibbs Creek
Basin countries	Australia
Water volume	150 million litres (33,000,000 imp gal; 40,000,000 US gal)

Irvinebank Dam (also known as Loudoun Weir) is a heritage-listed timber and concrete weir initially constructed around 1885 when a tin battery was built.^[1]

History[edit]

The two creeks which form the basis of the dam at Irvinebank were known as Gibbs Creek and McDonald Creek, after the earliest prospectors. The battery was erected on the Gibbs Creek frontage, and the dam was constructed just below the junction of these two creeks and embraced an area, when full, of about 12 - 13 acres (53,000 m²) of water, with depths varying from about 15 feet (4.6 m) down to about two or three feet.^[1] The original capacity was 150 million litres (33,000,000 imp gal; 40,000,000 US gal).

The dam was upgraded with concrete in 2006, retaining the original timbers in the facade. Following the discovery of a leak in 2017, work was carried out between December 2020 and August 2021 to repair the leak and replace six original logs in the facade with "like-for-like" new timber.^[2]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b A History of Irvinebank Archived 2 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine. Atherton Tableland Netguide. Retrieved 12 February 2016.
^ "Dam rescue mission preserves FNQ history". North Queensland Register. 30 August 2021. Retrieved 29 October 2021.