Snowy! Power of a nation

Jounama Dam.

Tunnellers at the end of their shift.

A selection of medals awarded to Sir William Hudson in recognition of his contribution to the overall management of the Scheme.

28 September 1999 - 30 January 2001

The exhibition, Snowy! Power of a nation, marked the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.

The exhibition traced the Scheme from its beginning on 17 October 1949 to today; it is still recognised as one of the great engineering feats of the modern world and one of the largest projects ever undertaken in Australia.

The Scheme took 25 years to build and is one of the largest and most complex integrated water and hydro-electric power schemes in operation. It features seven power stations – two underground – and a pumping station, 80km of aqueducts, 145km of tunnels and 16 large dams. One of the reservoirs, Lake Eucumbene, has a capacity nine times the volume of Sydney Harbour. Today this water helps supply the huge amount of electricity needed across south-east Australia, including Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra. It also provides water for irrigation areas to the west which produce food for Australia and the world.

More than 100,000 people helped build the Scheme between 1949 and 1974, often working in dangerous conditions and an extreme climate. They worked in a diverse range of jobs from tunnellers, drivers and cooks to administrators, engineers, scientists and surveyors. Many were single men and women; others came with their families. Good job opportunities and high wages attracted.

Two thirds of the workforce came from overseas as contracted personnel, migrants or refugees from Europe. These people were drawn from more than 30 nations and brought with them a diverse range of beliefs and practices. As a result Cooma and other settlements were transformed from small country towns to cosmopolitan centres.

The Scheme had other social and physical impacts upon local communities. Settlements and valleys were flooded in the course of constructing the reservoirs and dams. The old towns of Jindabyne and Adaminaby were moved house by house and rebuilt by the Snowy Mountains Hydro-electric Authority above the waterline. Some residents were pleased with the move to new towns, while others were not so willing to leave family homes and farms. Along with centuries of Aboriginal history, these old towns now lie under water.

The diversion of the Snowy River has impacted upon the ecology of that water system and the communities around it. At the same time, the storage and redirection of these waters has led to the development of new farms and the town of Coleambally to the west of the mountains.

Snowy! Power of a nation

Snowy! Power of a nation explored the history of human occupation of the Snowy Mountains area; the technical innovations and practices employed in the construction of the Scheme; environmental impacts and current-day protest movements; the way in which the project was promoted to the Australian people; and the various experiences of Scheme workers, their families and the local people of the region.

The exhibition also looked at how the Scheme affected Australian culture by boosting immigration, and its benefits for communities in the irrigated farmlands around Griffith and Coleambally.

Through a variety of objects, graphics and interactives the exhibition presented the breadth and enormity of the Scheme. Specially built hands-on interactives brought the exhibition to life. Visitors could crawl through a tunnel, plunge a detonator to release a gigantic explosion or learn about the location of the Scheme’s power stations and dams by pressing buttons on a large three-dimensional topographical map. A series of audiovisual interviews with people who worked on the Scheme complemented the exhibition.

English classes at Cooma, 1950-51

Site of Tumut1 Power Station
Site of Tumut Power Station