Two construction villages soon sprang up.

In Victoria, the hamlet of Mitta Junction was expanded considerably.

It had first boasted a post office in 1859.

The school was revamped in 1922 as No 4080 to cope with the huge increase in activity in the area. It closed in 1981.

Some conjecture persists over the name of the village, due to both football and cricket clubs playing under the name Ebden Weir.

A branch from the Cudgewa Line near Ebden was laid, allowing most of the Victorian requirements to come by rail.

The NSW village was known as Hume Weir and was started from nothing. A metalled road was installed from Wirlinga (now the Riverina Highway). A railway siding and depot was constructed at North Street.

A fleet of 10 solid rubber-tyred Thornycroft motor lorries — capable of 10 miles per hour (16km/h) — shuttled vast amounts of stores, equipment and cement to the dam site.

Two quarries were also established to meet the needs of construction.

The one in Victoria provided earth fill and clay for the embankment.

In NSW, the stone quarry on Hawksview Hill still remains a gaping hole overlooking the weir.

Initially, two 16-tonne Jacques Bros gyratory crushers were used.

From 1925, a 30-tonne Hadfield was deployed.

Both states made extensive use of narrow-gauge rail, taking clay and stone to their respective work sites.

Frequently, the lines had to be relocated as the work progressed.

NSW had a line inside their coffer dam to remove rubble while excavating the spillway foundations.

The river never ceased to flow, meaning coffer dams were needed to divert the flow around a particular work site, sometimes located as much as 20-30m below river level.

A pile-driving barge was deployed for about 10 years.

It was relocated to the Bethanga Bridge site, where it did service for about a year as a cable ferry, before the new bridge was opened.

It ended its days as the Wymah Ferry.

NSW had two huge cement mixers, capable of producing 700 cubic yards a day, enabling a continuous pour to be maintained.

The mix was five crushed stone, 21/2 sand to one cement and frequently tested to 3000 psi. River gravel and reinforcing were only used above spillway height. Victoria's core wall had different requirements. It had steel reinforcing from end to end and the concrete was mixed mostly from river gravel.

The centenary of the start of construction of the Hume Dam will be celebrated in November. It will be 100 years since Governor-General, Sir Ronald Munro-Ferguson, turned the first sod. For more details, visit www.alburyhistory.com.au

In 2001, then president of Albury and District Historical Society, Gerry Curtis, produced and narrated a presentation outlining planning and construction of the dam, machines used and the people involved. The presentation has been restored and converted to an 83-minute video available on YouTube.