Strength in Anchors

The engineering and construction of dams marked the beginning of SRG Global’s story with the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Scheme in 1961. Our recent contract award of Seqwater’s North Pine Dam Staged Strengthening Project is a continuation of that legacy, demonstrating our ongoing expertise in the sector.

Dams are enduring assets which require ongoing assessment, monitoring and maintenance across their lifespan. Seqwater’s dams were built to the robust standards of the time several decades ago. Technological advancements in engineering, design and construction practices, together with new data used to estimate extreme rainfall and earthquake events, now necessitate a thorough review of the North Pine Dam structure.

Across Australia, a number of dams are undergoing upgrades to meet modern standards and accommodate factors including population growth, revised design data and stricter safety requirements. In South East Queensland, Seqwater is progressively refurbishing some of its own assets through its Dam Improvement Program, which aims to “ensure water security for years to come”. Since 2008, Seqwater has so far upgraded 13 dams across its network and the program is set to continue into the next decade.

In May 2025, SRG Global was engaged to deliver the staged strengthening works which will enhance safety benefits ahead of the longer-term North Pine Dam Improvement Project. Located approximately 30km north of Brisbane’s CBD, North Pine Dam is a critical component of the Seqwater grid, supplying Brisbane’s northern and Moreton Bay regions. Seqwater’s grid draws from 11 dams from across South East Queensland to supply drinking water to more than 3.8 million people. Constructed in 1976, the dam is part of the state’s long-term water security strategy and is of particular significance in an area prone to both droughts and floods.

So how do you further strengthen a dam that’s still going strong after nearly 50 years of operation? While the answer is complex, SRG Global makes it simple. For us, this is routine work thanks to our expert team and more than six decades’ experience in the development and application of dam anchoring techniques and technologies.

The work will involve the vertical installation of more than 50 large-scale, post-tensioned anchors through sections of the dam wall and into the foundation below. The anchors, which consist of ultra-high-capacity steel cables – some more than 100m in length and equalling the largest ever installed by SRG Global across multiple projects – will work like huge bolts, locking the dam wall to the bedrock underneath. When they are all in place, the anchors will add a stabilising force of around 75,000 tonnes – that’s roughly the weight of 50,000 cars.

SRG Global is a pioneer in the development of high-capacity permanent anchors, having established and currently holding world records for the greatest-capacity and longest permanent anchors ever installed. In fact, since 2006, we have completed the anchoring upgrade works to every Australian dam where high-capacity anchors have been the selected solution. The technique of anchoring dams is proven, both technically and economically, as the preferred strategy to enhance a dam’s structural stability.

As well as making the North Pine Dam wall more resilient and ensuring it can withstand earthquakes and extreme rainfall events, the strengthening works will provide the basis for further long-term enhancements to take place as part of the North Pine Dam Improvement Project.