Construction of the mammoth Benmore dam began in 1958, and did not finish until 1965. The massive earth dam is 957 x 118 metres, and used around 12 million cubic metres of material. Almost 400,000 cubic metres of concrete were used for other structures. At the time it was the largest construction project ever undertaken in New Zealand. In 1962 the site had 160 heavy earthmoving and compacting machines and a workforce of 1,240 people. Up to 6,000 people a day visited the observation point to watch progress.
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