Australia’s largest weir since World War 2 now complete
Posted on November 29th, 2023
Construction on Australia’s newest major water infrastructure asset is now complete.
The $568.9 million Rookwood Weir, west of Rockhampton, will yield 86,000 megalitres each year to boost economic growth, agricultural production and industry in Central Queensland.
It is the largest weir completed in Australia since World War 2. It is also the largest piece of new water infrastructure delivered in Australia since the Queensland Government completed Wyaralong Dam in 2011.
Since construction began in late 2020, the project has injected more than $270 million into Central Queensland’s economy and provided 350 jobs, with more than half the positions filled by workers from the local region. Importantly, more than 30 apprentices and trainees have worked on the project, creating more workers for the significant number of Queensland water projects in the pipeline.
The weir will deliver significant benefits to Central Queensland by shoring up the region’s water security and driving economic growth and job creation for generations to come. More than 36,000 megalitres of water from the weir has already been allocated to agricultural use, with a mix of small businesses and larger enterprises from the region now able to expand or diversify their operations.
The first water from the weir is expected to be available for use in 2024.
Rookwood Weir was delivered through an Alliance comprised of Sunwater, construction partners ACCIONA and McCosker Contracting, and design partner GHD.
Rookwood Weir will also deliver important benefits for the Traditional Custodians of the land at the weir site with the Queensland Government and Darumbal People Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC signing an Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA) in April 2022.
A water allocation from the weir has been provided to the Darumbal People in perpetuity which will support ongoing cultural and economic development opportunities. A traditional language name will form part of the weir’s official title– Rookwood Weir (Managibei Gamu). This name gifted by the Darumbal People means ‘keeping-saving’ water.
Rookwood Weir Timeline:
May 2016, the Australian Government delivered $130 million for the first half of funding.
The Queensland Government came to party with remainder of funding in 2018.
In 2019, the Queensland Government re-designed weir and dropped wall height, reducing water capacity from 76,000 megalitres to 54,000 megalitres.
‘Build the Real Rookwood’ rally brought more than 200 local farmers to Rockhampton to fight back against weir wall downgrade.
March 2021, the Australian Government delivered an additional $15 million to add an additional 0.7m to wall to deliver an additional 10,000 megalitres in water capacity to the weir.
2020: Tenders for construction and water allocations opened
2021: the first concrete pours began.
2022: A second round of water allocation tenders opened.
November 2023: Construction of the Rookwood Weir was completed.
