Race to complete Hazelmere Dam wall before rainy season
Once complete, the wall will have been raised by seven metres 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 system.
While the April and May floods have delayed completion of the raising of the Hazelmere Dam wall by three months, all appears on track for the project to be finished by December.
Provincial head of the water and sanitation department, Ashley Starkey, said good progress had been made since the floods.
“We are on track to complete the project in time for much of the rainy season,” he said.
With just three anchors left to be tensioned, the dam’s capacity will more than double.
Last week Thursday the dam was at 48% capacity, holding 20 million cubic metres which is more than 100% of the old capacity.
“Despite some setbacks during the floods, assessments determined that no damage had been done to the wall,” Starkey said.
He noted that the last three anchors – each 100 metres deep into the dam wall – were being tensioned with one completed each month.
Work on the wall began in 2015. Delays and setbacks caused continuous disruptions which forced construction company Group Five to halt work in 2018.
Government failure to make payments prevented the company from buying specialised material needed to complete the job, but work resumed last December after the matter was resolved.
To date, the original cost of the project, initially scheduled for completion in 2017, had snowballed from R110-million to R800-million.
Once complete, the wall will have been raised by seven metres 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 system..
The raising of the wall means increased water availability for the North Coast by some 10 million m3 per annum to keep up with the region’s growing demands.
Located on the Mdloti River, the dam 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 in the south.
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