The area around the King River and Queenstown is rich in mining history which dates back to the 1860s.
Following the discovery of rich copper deposits in the area, the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company was formed in 1893, and in 1898 at the peak of the frenzied copper boom 28 companies had leases in the Mt Lyell area.
One such company was the North Mt Lyell Copper Mining Company which was founded by James Crotty in 1897. Crotty had ambitious plans and the company spent a fortune developing its mine, a railway, smelters and a port on Macquarie Harbour. The smelters - built at the township of Crotty - were a failure, and in May 1903 North Mt Lyell amalgamated with the Mt Lyell Mining and Railway Company.
The Crotty township, which had a population of 800 in 1901, died overnight and the railway line and port facilities at Pillinger fell into disrepair.
Hydro-Electric Development
The scheme was approved by Parliament in 1983 and is very similar to the one proposed in 1917-18. However, improved technology has meant a tunnel instead of a flume, a much higher dam and only one turbo-generator in the power station instead of the proposed four.
The scheme includes a large rockfill dam, the Crotty Dam, on the King River and a small levee at the Andrew Divide. These two dams form Lake Burbury, the 54 square kilometre storage for the system. Water is conveyed to the John Butters Power Station, situated on the King River near Newall Creek, by a seven kilometre headrace tunnel. On its journey to the power station the water falls 184 metres before passing through a single Francis turbine.
Lake Burbury
The scheme produces about six percent of the output of Hydro Tasmania's power system.
The new lake inundated six kilometres of the old Lyell Highway. The highway has been relocated and a spectacular bridge which crosses Lake Burbury has been built. The 350 metre-long Bradshaw Bridge was named after a well-known west coast identity, Cliff Bradshaw, who for many years had a sawmill at the Princess River.
For more information on the catchment power generation and history, click here.