Construction of the Garden Route Dam Spillway in South Africa on track

Construction works of the Garden Route Dam Spillway in George Municipality, Western Cape, South Africa is on track and scheduled for completion in the next ten months. Municipal spokesperson, Chantel Edwards-Klose announced the reports.

Construction works began in May. The old concrete spillway was demolished and a new drainage channel excavated. The first basic concrete layer has since started with more than 500 rock anchors installed into the bedrock. 

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Garden Route Dam Spillway

The drainage channel will also provide drainage during the construction period in the event that the site was flooded. The current weir height is 179.94m with a volume capacity of about 10 million cubic metres. The new weir height will be 182,5 metres with a storage capacity of approximately 12.5 million cubic metres.

According to the Municipal spokesperson, the completed raised dam wall and spillway will raise the full supply level by 2.5 metres, which will increase the total storage capacity of the dam by approximately 25%.  

Chantel Edwards-Klose further cautioned the public that unauthorized access to the construction site was strictly prohibited for safety reasons and also appealed to cyclists to find alternative routes outside the area.  

“Heavy vehicles will be using almost all the plantation and forest roads that cyclists frequent. Cyclists speeding down mountain paths run the risk of encountering large vehicles on winding plantation roads and they may not be able to stop or get out of the way in time if they come upon a truck. The area is always considered a high-risk site 24 hours, seven days a week. Ongoing safety risk reviews will be carried out and areas will be opened to public access only if it is considered safe for general access,” said Edwards-Klose.