Lake Burley Griffin

It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra. Griffin designed the lake with many geometric motifs, so that the axes of his design lined up with natural geographical landmarks in the area. However, government authorities changed his original plans and no substantial work was completed before he left Australia in 1920. Griffin's proposal was further delayed by the Great Depression and World War II, and it was not until the 1950s that planning resumed. After political disputes and consideration of other proposed variations, excavation work began in 1960 with the energetic backing of Prime Minister Robert Menzies. After the completion of the bridges and dams, the dams were locked in September 1963. However, because of a drought, the lake's target water level was not reached until April 1964. The lake was formally inaugurated on 17 October 1964.

Design history

Charles Robert Scrivener (1855–1923) recommended the site for Canberra in 1909, which was to be a planned capital city for the country. One of the reasons for the location's selection was its ability to store water "for ornamental purposes at reasonable cost";[3] Scrivener's work had demonstrated that the topography could be used to create a lake through flooding.[4]

In 1911, a competition for the design of Canberra was launched, and Scrivener's detailed survey of the area was supplied to the competing architects. The Molonglo River flowed through the site, which was a flood plain and Scrivener's survey showed in grey an area clearly representing an artificial lake—similar to the lake later created—and four possible locations for a dam to create it. Most of the proposals took the hint and included artificial bodies of water.

Length: 11 km
Area: 6.64 km²
Average depth: 4 m (13 ft)
Max. depth: 18 m (59 ft)
Dam: Scrivener Dam