Hazelmere dam wall upgrade back on track with return of Group Five

Delayed construction work to raise the Hazelmere Dam wall has at last resumed, with Water and Sanitation Minister Senzo Mchunu on Saturday admitting he was embarrassed about the project experiencing so many setbacks.

Mchunu visited the construction site at the weekend to inspect progress on the project, which was originally scheduled for completion in June 2017.

Indications now are that the completion date will be no later than December, taking the project’s original cost of R110-million to a whopping R800-million.

Also read: Millions wasted as Hazelmere Dam project stalled after Department’s failure to pay

Since construction work to raise the dam wall by 7 metres began in July 2015, delays and setbacks caused continuous disruptions, eventually forcing construction company Group Five to bring work to a halt in 2018 after the water and sanitation department failed to pay R40-million needed to buy specialised materials to complete the job.

Matters got worse the following year when Group Five moved off-site after terminating its contract with the department.

The department suggested the project again go out on tender, but Treasury intervened and Group Five was brought back in October last year.

By December they had resumed operations.

The Courier recently reported on the millions of litres of water which went to waste when the dam wall’s structural integrity had been put at risk, requiring the release of water.

Heavy rains pushed the dam to 62% of its current capacity – already greater than 100% of its old capacity.

But water had to be released from the dam sporadically to maintain lower capacity levels which would not compromise the dam wall’s integrity.

This translated to a loss of 11 608 megalitres of water – a single megalitre equates to 1 million litres.

Once complete, the wall will have been raised by 7 metres, stabilised and a piano key weir (PKW) system built in to allow for a free overflow spillway which requires far less maintenance than a mechanically operated spillway gate.

Post-tensioned anchors were installed using the largest hydraulic jack in the world, specifically commissioned for the Hazelmere Dam project.

While the construction of the PKW and grouting curtain have been completed, 10 of the 83 anchors are still to be installed and stressed.

The raising of the wall will increase water availability for the North Coast by some 10 million m3 per annum to keep up with the region’s growing needs.

Hazelmere Dam, located on the Mdloti River, was constructed as a concrete gravity dam in 1975.

The supply area of the dam extends from KwaDukuza (Stanger) in the north, to Groutville, Blythedale, Ballito and Verulam to the south.

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