b'1974 Good dam(n) buildersThe first non-familyThe business had cut its teeth in the industry by sinking small dams on farmsManaging Director around the Darling Downs; by the 1970s, Thiess was the countrys number-one Indicative of the companys growingdam builder. Iconic work on the Snowy Mountains Scheme stood out, as did the size and professionalism, Alex Morokoffawe-inspiring Dartmouth Dam in north-eastern Victoria. But it was during the 1950s becomes the companys first non-familythat Thiess reputation in dam design and construction was cemented with the Bostock Managing Director. Dam (Victoria), the Gara River Dam (New South Wales), and the Gold Coast canals and Currumbin Creek land reclamation (Queensland). In the 1970s, dams in Ginninderra (Australian Capital Territory), Googong (New South Wales), Wallerawang (New South Wales), Wivenhoe and Julius (Queensland), and Sugarloaf (Victoria) secured Thiess position in the field.Dartmouth Dama joint venture between the state governments of New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria and the federal governmentwas a feature project of the eighty-three dams that Thiess built between 1954 and 2014. Built in a V-shaped gorge We had to create a mechanismon the Mitta Mitta River, a tributary of the Murray, it was to be Australias largest damthat siphoned 15 cubic metresin the countrys biggest river system. John Doyle worked for Thiess for more thana second through a 1-metrethree decades, starting with the Dartmouth project. Nothing Id seen was as impressive pipe, which we managed to as the work on Dartmouth, he says. I very quickly saw the depth of experience that do in a fortnight by workingThiess had. It used a lot of innovation. For example, when the project started storing water, there was a requirement to maintain the downstream flow. To do that, water was around the clock. Theres areleased through a pipeline, but the levels rose more than expectedthough not high great sense of achievementenough for a second outlet. We had to create a mechanism that siphoned 15 cubic and teamwork in that.metres a second through a 1-metre pipe, which we managed to do in a fortnight by working around the clock. Theres a great sense of achievement and teamwork in that. It wasnt just engineering experience that Thiess gained from this project. The tricky alchemy of accurate estimation was also put to the test. The dam bid was for the MurrayDarling Basin Authority at an initial estimated cost of $45 million. But that escalated dramatically to $100 million due to the ever-increasing complexities as the project unfolded. While Les and the other directors worked through the challenge, they also began to examine major projects with increased scrutiny; due to the size, complexity and capital required in these projects, contractors were often left exposed. Working as we are on a fixed-time basis and a bedrock award, the fellows have to go to arbitration to get every nickel and cent over and above what was originally agreed. Even then theyre beaten by taxation, so youve got built-in strife waiting on every project, Les says. He could see the writing on the wall: Dartmouth Dam was the last of its era. By the end of the decade, no corporate structure in Australia could afford to take the gamblethe gamble on the price, on the weather,on the people, on the geology, on the industrial scene.43'