Helping Build Taylor

Taylor is one of Canberra’s newest suburbs with 2,500 dwellings in development, located about four kilometres from the Gungahlin Town Centre.

Supplying high quality drinking water to the Canberra community is one of the most important things we do at Icon Water, and careful planning is required to ensure we meet demand for current and future developments.

There are two drinking water reservoirs currently serving Taylor, and Icon Water is in the process of constructing two more 900,000 litre reservoirs on One Tree Hill to service the higher parts of the suburb. The works will also include a 2.7 kilometre supply main, access road, pump station modifications and monitoring and control equipment.

 

The construction works present a range of unique technical and environmental challenges. Early design work has included a rigorous heritage assessment, working with experts to locate numerous Indigenous Heritage artefacts and helping arrange Return to Country ceremonies.

Substantial effort has also been devoted to minimising the removal of trees affected by construction and making sure endangered Pink Tail Worm Lizard habitat areas are taken into consideration.

One of the unique technical challenges of the project is the presence of extensive hard rock located directly beneath the two reservoirs. Whilst the rock provides an excellent foundation, its excavation can be problematic, and, in this case, the most suitable excavation technique proved to be blasting. The controlled blast was very successful and paved the way for bulk excavation to proceed. 

The new reservoirs will start supplying drinking water from late July 2020.

Supporting Canberra’s development is an important role for Icon Water, and we’re proud to be part of building our city.