Work underway to upgrade the iconic Mundaring Weir

• About 180 local workers involved in $14 million project to modernise historic dam

• 400 tonne crane lifts 40m-long steel pipe into intake tower

• The South-West of WA is one of three places in the world most impacted by climate change 

A project to upgrade one of Western Australia's most iconic dams has reached a major milestone this month when a 42 tonne steel pipe was lifted into the Mundaring Weir's intake tower.

The $14 million project will help modernise the weir through the refurbishment of the intake tower, its associated pipework, and a new visitor's viewing platform.

Perth-based company Clough is carrying out the construction work, with about 180 workers involved in the project. The project is expected to be completed next month.

When complete, the Water Corporation will be able to draw water from the dam at a lower depth -  reducing the need to transfer groundwater or desalinated water into the dam to boost its level in low streamflow years.

To ensure the community's safety during the upgrade, the walkway across the top of the dam wall will remain closed and the Bibbulmun Track has a small diversion in place until December.

First built between 1898 and 1901 and considered to be one of Australia's greatest engineering achievements, Mundaring Weir through the Goldfields Pipeline today supplies drinking water to more than 100,000 people from Mundaring to Kalgoorlie.

To view time-lapse photography of the steel pipe being placed into the intake tower, visit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dqT1xcCa5H4

Comments attributed to Water Minister Dave Kelly:

"This is yet another Government project that is supporting local jobs in WA.

"The 40-metre-long, 2.5m-wide pipe was manufactured and transported to the site from a workshop in Naval Base.

"With our rainfall levels in decline as a result of climate change, this is an important upgrade that will allow the Water Corporation to continue to draw water from Mundaring Weir when its level is low.

"The upgrade also ensures communities supplied with drinking water from Mundaring Weir will continue to receive a reliable water supply for decades to come."