Divers delve below Goolwa to keep Barrage booming

SA Water has utilised an experienced team of underwater divers to tackle essential maintenance below the depths of the River Murray, helping to keep the popular Goolwa Barrage operating for keen boaties.

The team of divers took the plunge to remove the site's existing timber navigational pass pylons, originally designed to guide large river vessels through the barrage system during high flows.

The utility's in-house team of qualified divers perform vital construction and maintenance work, with extensive experience working in low visibility environments like the River Murray.

SA Water's Senior Manager of River Murray Operations Garry Fyfe said using divers enabled boats to continue using the lock system throughout the duration of the work.

"Goolwa's navigational pass structure was commonly used during high flows to enable safe passage for large cargo vessels and paddle steamers using the Murray as a freight route, but as these are now rare sightings, the timber structure has sat unused for around two decades," Garry said.

"Identifying the need to safely remove the timber pylons, we investigated ways to get the job done without closing the lock operations, as is usually the case with large-scale refurbishments and maintenance.”

"Taking around two weeks to complete with the assistance of the lock crane, our team was able to safely remove the structure and clean away any underwater coral growth from the lock's valve chamber tunnels, without disrupting the operation of the lock.”

"When you consider the Goolwa Lock team helps more than 2,500 vessels safely navigate the structure every year – more than three times the volume of our next busiest lock upstream – this is a great outcome for all the boaties and the continued operation of the Barrage into the future."

On behalf of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, SA Water manages Locks One to Six in South Australia as well as Lock Seven at Rufus River, Lock Eight at Wangumma in New South Wales, Lock Nine at Kulnine in Victoria and Lake Victoria Storage at Rufus River NSW. The utility also operates barrages at Goolwa, Mundoo, Boundary Creek, Ewe Island and Tauwitchere.

"We’re proud of our team who work every day to help keep thousands of boats, kayaks and houseboats happily traversing the mighty Murray, and we thank everyone for continuing to navigate our locks in a safe way."

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