Snowy river hydro electric scheme

The hydro electric scheme is one of the most complex integrated water and hydro electric power schemes in the world and is listed as a ” world class civil engineering project” This scheme interlocks seven power stations and sixteen major dams through 145 km’s of trans mountain tunnels and 80 km’s of aqueducts. The scheme covers 5,124 square km’s almost entirely within Kosciuszko national park.

The snowy river hydro scheme took 25 years to build from 1949 to 1974 at the cost of $820 million which is equivalent to $6 billion dollars today. They employed over 100000 people from 30 different countries in its construction. Seventy precent of all workers were immigrants. There were several towns built for the worker to live in and some still remain such as Cabramurra and Khancoban.

The water for the hydro scheme comes from snowmelt.