Letter: Payment is the problem

Group Five construction manager Paul Greyling writes:

It is a pity Hazelmere dam is in the newspapers for the wrong reasons. The dam should be in the newspaper for the following:

• Design and execution of the project (first in South Africa).

• Biggest piano key weir system built in the world.

• The biggest capacity ground anchors ever installed in the world (91 strand +-110m long).

ALSO READ: Millions wasted as Hazelmere Dam project stalled after Department’s failure to pay

• Biggest hydraulic jack in the world was built for the dam (91 strand, 2200t with a 1 metre stroke hydraulic jack).

• The engineer on the project received an award in France for the design and not in South Africa, very interesting if I may say so.

The real issue is as follows:

The dam is not finished due to funding issues, mainly due to geotechnical challenges encountered during the grout curtain upgrade and the ground anchor installation.

Hazelmere dam as is can take three metres extra water from the original level and can be clearly seen if the dam level of around February/March 2018 and 2019 is looked at. The original level was 86 metres and the new level will be 93 metres on completion. The uncompleted dam can be impounded to level 89.

There is no corruption or incompetence at Hazelmere dam as suggested by ill-informed readers. There is no quality issue on concrete as suggested by readers or the Siza Water official.

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