LATEST NEWS

Entura sponsors IECA field trip to Edgar Dam

21 May, 2026

On an unusually warm May day, under a brilliant blue sky, members and guests of the International Erosion Control Association (IECA) Australasia chapter headed deep into Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area to visit Edgar Dam, where Hydro Tasmania is completing a dam upgrade.

The field trip, for which Entura was the gold sponsor, was a rare opportunity to see best-practice erosion and sediment control (ESC) measures at projects in sensitive environments.

“Entura was proud to sponsor this event,” said Dr Amanda Ashworth, Entura’s Director Strategy, Sales and Commercial. “We see great value in this kind of practical, on-site industry knowledge-sharing and we thank our Hydro Tasmania colleagues for the site visit arrangements. We are very pleased to be part of extending industry knowledge and learnings in erosion and sediment control as a critical part of construction and operations.”

For IECA field trip participants, the visit to Edgar Dam offered more than a snapshot of construction activity. It demonstrated how asset owners, designers, contractors and environmental specialists can work together – rain, hail or shine – to deliver successful infrastructure projects while also protecting our waterbodies and the creatures that depend on them.

The project design incorporated multiple layers of sediment containment and treatment, which were expertly designed, implemented, managed and monitored by the principal contractor Hall Earthmoving, working with experienced ESC practitioner Tim Elder and Tasmanian business Finn Environmental – all overseen by Hydro Tasmania.

Dallas Frazier, President of the IECA Australasia Board, was pleased to see the high level of care being taken on site:

“The Edgar Dam project is a great example of best-practice ESC that sets a national standard for others to emulate. IECA is encouraging our industry to move beyond lip service or bare minimums, to learn about the wide range of effective controls that can be put in place, and to make very thoughtful decisions about how natural, biodegradable and circular materials can be used to avoid plastics and reduce waste.”

Background: Edgar Dam is one of 3 dams built in the early 1970s that impound Lake Pedder, which stores water that feeds Tasmania’s hydropower system. The dam is built on a seismic fault, which at the time was believed to be inactive. Since then, the understanding of earthquake risk at the site has evolved, and Hydro Tasmania is strengthening the dam to comply with modern safety standards and provide reassurance to downstream communities. Entura’s role in the project included the natural values assessment, planning submission and engineering design.

Find out more about Entura’s environmental and planning services and our dam engineering expertise.