De Hoop Dam receives award

STEELPOORT – De Hoop Dam is one of the largest roller-compacted dams in South Africa and was announced as a winner at a special gala dinner which was attended by 400 guests that was held in the Drakensburg.

It was the winner in the sustainable-concrete category and commendation went to Koeberg Interchange and Gauteng Freeway Improvement Project – Packages

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The Fulton Awards are held every two years by the Concrete Society of Southern Africa, which recognises and rewards excellence and innovation in the use of concrete. It continues to celebrate the legacy of scientific and technological advances in the construction industry, and Dr Sandy Fulton’s life and achievements in this industry.

The awards featured six categories of entries, namely civil- engineering structure, building structure, architectural concrete, community structure and innovative construction.

It is made symbolically to the structure and is presented to the entire team responsible for its construction, including the owner/developer, all professionals and the contractors.

The De Hoop Dam is located on the Steelpoort River. Its wall is approximately 1 015m in length and 81m in maximum height.

At full supply level, the reservoir will cover the surface area of approximately 1690ha and capacity of 347,6 million square metres. It is constructed with roller-compacted concrete (RCC) and conventional concrete.

The outletworks situated on the right bank between the spillway and the non-overspill section were constructed with reinforced concrete.

The dam wall contains around 1,125 million square metres of concrete of which 90 per cent consists of RCC.

The downstream wall rises in 1,2m-high steps with the upstream side being vertical.

It is truly a flagship project for the department of water affairs and is set to address a significant part of the future needs of Limpopo.