Executive Mayor, Melvin Naik today officially opened the construction site for the raising of the Garden Route Dam spillway project with a Sod Turning ceremony. The construction works on the dam wall and spillway area started on 13th May this year.
“This is a first for George and the Western Cape, the project design is unique and I would like to thank all role-players within George Municipality and externally who started with the planning of this project as far back as December 2008. Given the uncertain impact of climate change and the future expansion of George, I am excited about this project which is part of the Grow George initiative, increasing the storage capacity of this precious resource is a positive step for the future development of George. I wish only success to the project and everyone involved here today,” said Naik.
The dam’s full supply level will be raised by 2.5 metres, which will increase the total storage capacity of the dam by approximately 25%. The current weir height is 179,94m with a volume capacity of about 10.0 million cubic metres. The new weir height will be 182,5m with a storage capacity of approximately 12,5 million cubic metres. The construction period is still estimated to be ten months from time of contractual commencement and the site and an extended surrounding area remains closed to the public for safety reasons. The fill for the raising of the dam wall will be excavated on the MTO/NMU side of the dam and transported to the construction site and it is expected that approximately 13 000 cubic meters of material will be transported.
The new spillway will be approximately 80m in length and varies between 3.7m to 4.7m in height (above existing ground levels) and approximately 400 to 600mm thick at the top of new spillway wall. Hydraulic testing on the spillway design was done at the Department of Water and Sanitation’s (DWS) Hydraulic Laboratory in November 2017 and was undertaken to substantiate the computer modelling simulation undertaken by Aurecon. The model tested as calculated and was accepted as such by DWS.
