Alberts Farm dam wall woes

Keen-eye users of Alberts Farm have noticed how a small section of the dam wall is being eroded.

According to Colleen Rood, a member of the Friends of Alberts Farm Conservancy Committee, although the dam wall had been fixed a month ago, it was a difficult wall to attend to for Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo (JCPZ) as the dam partly lies in a wetland.

It was not long after the dam wall was attended to that a slope at the wall started to fall away. “This because of a water leak found there, and Johannesburg City Parks and Zoo engineers have been to site and are in the process of determining what exactly is the problem,” said Rood.

She explained the entity is doing a whole series of tests, to find out whether it is a construction issue or a hydrological process that has caused it. Rood added that City Parks is working within the guidelines of the procedure they have to follow to. “They want to make sure that this issue is resolved properly and correctly.”

So far City Parks is said to have lowered the dam wall a little bit so they can better assess the problem and get to the root cause. Rood said community members are rightfully concerned, and as the conversancy committee, they too understand because the dam wall was fixed, and money was spent to do so and now this is happening.

“The leak is getting bigger and there is a concern it will collapse should this continue but something is being done and although it will take some time, hopefully it gets attended to before the rains come which the City is aiming for,” said Rood.

She shared it is important that park users abide by the safety protocols put in place. Currently people – either cyclists or pedestrians – are using the dam wall walkway and there is a possibility of the wall collapsing, “This is a no-go-zone while the matter is being attended to.”
Rood pleads with the community to not use the dam wall while it is being fixed.