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Sterkfontein Dam
The Sterkfontein Dam, located just outside the town of Harrismith, in the Free State, province of South Africa, is part of the Tugela-Vaal Water Project and the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme, and located on the Nuwejaarspruit, a tributary of the Wilge River in the upper catchment area of the Vaal River. It is the second highest dam wall in South Africa and its highest earth fill dam. Background History The rapid economic expansion of the greater Johannesburg area in the 1960s and 70s put its water supply under long term threat and it was decided to redirect water from the large Tugela River which was going largely un-used into the sea and store it in large strategic water storage reservoir with very low evaporation. The initial site chosen for this project was in the adjacent valley to the west on the Elands River. This was the preferred option from an engineering aspect because it would involve a smaller dam wall. However shortly before construction was about to start t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
R74 Road (South Africa)
The R74 is a provincial route in South Africa that connects Harrismith with KwaDukuza (previously Stanger) on the coast, via Oliviershoek Pass, Bergville, Winterton, Colenso, Weenen and Greytown. Route The R74 begins in Harrismith, Free State, at a t-junction with the N5 National Route south of the town centre. It begins by going southwards for 8 kilometres to meet the eastern terminus of the R712 road, which connects to Phuthaditjhaba. The R74 continues south-south-east for 64 kilometres, crossing into the KwaZulu-Natal Province, bypassing the Woodstock Dam, to enter the town of Bergville, where it meets the western terminus of the R616 road. Just after the Bergville town centre, the R74 crosses the Tugela River. From Bergville, the R74 continues south-east for 20 kilometres to meet the R600 road and enter the town of Winterton, where it crosses the Little Tugela River in the town centre. It continues south-east for 22 kilometres to reach an intersection with the N ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Drakensberg Hydropower
The Drakensberg (Afrikaans: Drakensberge, Zulu: uKhahlambha, Sotho: Maluti) is the eastern portion of the Great Escarpment, which encloses the central Southern African plateau. The Great Escarpment reaches its greatest elevation – within the border region of South Africa and Lesotho. The Drakensberg escarpment stretches for more than from the Eastern Cape Province in the South, then successively forms, in order from south to north, the border between Lesotho and the Eastern Cape and the border between Lesotho and KwaZulu-Natal Province. Thereafter it forms the border between KwaZulu-Natal and the Free State, and next as the border between KwaZulu-Natal and Mpumalanga Province. The escarpment winds north from there, through Mpumalanga, where it includes features such as the Blyde River Canyon, Three Rondavels, and God's Window. It then extends farther north to Hoedspruit in southeastern Limpopo where it is known as 'Klein Drakensberg' by the Afrikaner. From Hoedspr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dams In South Africa
A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aquaculture, and navigability. Hydropower is often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect or store water which can be evenly distributed between locations. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. The earliest known dam is the Jawa Dam in Jordan, dating to 3,000 BC. The word ''dam'' can be traced back to Middle English, and before that, from Middle Dutch, as seen in the names of many old cities, such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. History Ancient dams Early dam building took place in Mesopotamia and the Middle East. Dams were used ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rand Water
Rand Water, previously known as the Rand Water Board, is a South African water utility that supplies potable water to the Gauteng province and other areas of the country and is the largest water utility in Africa. The water is drawn from numerous sources and is purified and supplied to industry, mining and local municipalities and is also involved in sanitation of waste water. History The Witwatersrand sits on the South African Highveld and consists of mostly grasslands with summer rains with an average yearly of 784mm rainfall. The Witwatersrand ridge stretches for 96 km from east to west with rivers north of the ridge flowing to north into the Limpopo and into the Indian Ocean while the rivers south of the ridge flow south into the Vaal and Orange River and into the Atlantic Ocean. The rivers in the Witwatersrand tended to dry out in the winter and were therefore a poor source of water and semiarid with grasslands and soil more suitable for cattle and sheep farming prior to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Reservoirs And Dams In South Africa
The following is a partial list of dams in South Africa. __NOTOC__ In South African English (as well as Afrikaans), a dam refers to both the wall as well as the reservoir or lake that builds up as a consequence. List of dams (reservoirs) * N Nett or working capacity * G Gross or maximum capacity * I The Bedford and Bramhoek dams form part of the Ingula Pumped Storage Scheme * D The Driekloof and Kilburn dams form part of the Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme * P The Kogelberg and Rockview dams form part of the Palmiet Pumped Storage Scheme * S The Steenbras Dam – Upper and Steenbras Hydro-Electric Lower Dam form part of the Steenbras Pumped Storage Scheme * V The Voëlvlei Dam is an off-channel reservoir supplied by canals from the Klein Berg River, Leeu River and Vier-en-Twintig River, and discharging by canal into the Great Berg River. See also * Water supply and sanitation in South Africa * List of lakes of South Africa * List of rivers of South Africa * Lis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protected Area
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the enabling laws of each country or the regulations of the international organizations involved. Generally speaking though, protected areas are understood to be those in which human presence or at least the exploitation of natural resources (e.g. firewood, non-timber forest products, water, ...) is limited. The term "protected area" also includes marine protected areas, the boundaries of which will include some area of ocean, and transboundary protected areas that overlap multiple countries which remove the borders inside the area for conservation and economic purposes. There are over 161,000 protected areas in the world (as of October 2010) with more added daily, representing between 10 and 15 percent of the world's land surface area. As of 20 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve
Sterkfontein Dam Nature Reserve, Free State, South Africa is an 18,000 Ha reserve situated to the south west of Harrismith. The reserve is close to the Drakensberg Mountain nature reserve. The reserve offers campsites and hiking trails and a large variety of fauna and flora. Fauna and flora Antelope *Oribi *Mountain reedbuck *Grey rhebuck Birdlife African fish eagle just caught fish.jpg, African fish eagle Bartgeier Gypaetus barbatus front Richard Bartz.jpg, Bearded vulture Polemaetus bellicosus -Masai Mara-8.jpg, Martial eagle Gyps coprotheres1.jpg, Cape vulture Witkruisarend.jpg, Verreaux's eagle Black_eagle.jpg, Black eagle Trees * Yellowwood * Wild peach *Koko tree *Silky bark Grasses and bushes *Wild myrtle *Redwood rooihout (not to be confused with the redwood tree) *Ouhout *Bush guarri * Highveld protea * Silver sugarbush *Tree fern Gallery (Click to enlarge) Image:Sterkfonteindamcampsite.JPG, A campsite with chalets at the water's edge of the Sterkfontein Dam ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Driekloof Dam
Driekloof Dam is a small section of the Sterkfontein Dam, Free State, South Africa. A section of the Sterkfontein Dam reservoir is isolated after the construction of Driekloof Dam, this small reservoir has a capacity of ., together with the Kilburn Dam almost lower, Driekloof forms part of Eskom's Drakensberg Pumped Storage Scheme and Tugela-Vaal Water Project, and provides for up to of electricity storage in the form of of water. The water is pumped to Driekloof during times of low national power consumption (generally over weekends) and released back into Kilburn through four turbine generators in times of high electricity demand. The scheme is operated in such a way that there is a net pumping of up to /annum depending upon the water availability in the Tugela catchment (Woodstock Dam) as well as the need for augmentation in the Vaal Dam The Vaal Dam in South Africa was constructed in 1938 and lies 77 km south of OR Tambo International Airport. The lake behind the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sterkfontein Dam Weir
Sterkfontein (Afrikaans for ''Strong Spring'') is a set of limestone caves of special interest to paleo- anthropologists located in Gauteng province, about northwest of Johannesburg, South Africa in the Muldersdrift area close to the town of Krugersdorp. The archaeological sites of Swartkrans and Kromdraai are in the same area. Sterkfontein is a South African National Heritage Site and was also declared a World Heritage Site in 2000. The area in which it is situated is known as the Cradle of Humankind. The Sterkfontein Caves are also home to numerous wild African species including '' Belonogaster petiolata'', a wasp species of which there is a large nesting presence. Numerous early hominin remains have been found at the site over the last few decades. These have been attributed to ''Australopithecus'', early ''Homo'' and '' Paranthropus''. History of investigations Modern excavation of the caves began in the late 1890s by limestone miners who noticed the fossils and bro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vaal Dam
The Vaal Dam in South Africa was constructed in 1938 and lies 77 km south of OR Tambo International Airport. The lake behind the dam wall has a surface area of about and is 47 meters deep. The Vaal Dam lies on the Vaal River, which is one of South Africa's strongest-flowing rivers. Other rivers flowing into the dam are the Wilge River, Klip River, Molspruit and Grootspruit. It has over of shoreline and is South Africa's second biggest dam by area and the fourth largest by volume. History The construction of Vaal Dam started during the depression of the early thirties and the dam was completed in 1938 with a wall height of above lowest foundation and a full supply capacity of . The dam is a concrete gravity structure with an earthfill section on the right flank. It was built as a joint venture by Rand Water and the Department of Irrigation (now known as the Department of Water Affairs). The dam was subsequently raised in the early fifties to a height of which increased ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Afrikaans
Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics during the course of the 18th century. Now spoken in South Africa, Namibia and (to a lesser extent) Botswana, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, estimates circa 2010 of the total number of Afrikaans speakers range between 15 and 23 million. Most linguists consider Afrikaans to be a partly creole language. An estimated 90 to 95% of the vocabulary is of Dutch origin with adopted words from other languages including German and the Khoisan languages of Southern Africa. Differences with Dutch include a more analytic-type morphology and grammar, and some pronunciations. There is a large degree of mutual intelligibility between the two languages, especially in written form. About 13.5% of the South ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
