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The Gariep Dam is located in
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
, near the town of
Norvalspont Norvalspont is a small town in Pixley ka Seme District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The name is Afrikaans for ''Norval’s ferry'', and named after an enterprising Scot who constructed a ferry here in 1848. The sett ...
, bordering the Free State and
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation.


Name

The Gariep Dam, on its commission in 1971, was originally named the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam after
Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966) was a South African politician, a scholar of applied psychology and sociology, and chief editor of ''Die Transvaler'' newspaper. He is commonly regarded as the architect ...
, the Prime Minister before and after 31 May 1961, when the country changed from the
Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...
to the Republic of South Africa. However, after the end of
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
, the Verwoerd name was considered unsuitable. The name was officially changed to Gariep Dam on 4 October 1996. ''Gariep'' is
Khoekhoe Khoekhoen (singular Khoekhoe) (or Khoikhoi in the former orthography; formerly also '' Hottentots''"Hottentot, n. and adj." ''OED Online'', Oxford University Press, March 2018, www.oed.com/view/Entry/88829. Accessed 13 May 2018. Citing G. S. ...
for "river", the original name of the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
.


Location

The dam is on the
Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch: ''Oranjerivier'') is a river in Southern Africa. It is the longest river in South Africa. With a total length of , the Orange River Basin extends from Lesotho into South Africa and Namibia to the north ...
about north-east of
Colesberg Colesberg is a town with 17,354 inhabitants in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, located on the main N1 road from Cape Town to Johannesburg. In a sheep-farming area spread over half-a-million hectares, greater Colesberg breeds many ...
and south of
Bloemfontein Bloemfontein, ( ; , "fountain of flowers") also known as Bloem, is one of South Africa's three capital cities and the capital of the Free State (province), Free State province. It serves as the country's judicial capital, along with legisla ...
. It is in a gorge at the entrance to the Ruigte Valley some east of
Norvalspont Norvalspont is a small town in Pixley ka Seme District Municipality in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The name is Afrikaans for ''Norval’s ferry'', and named after an enterprising Scot who constructed a ferry here in 1848. The sett ...
. The dam crest is some 1300m (4250ft) above sea level.


Dimensions

The wall is 88 m high and has a crest length of 914 m and contains approximately 1.73 million m³ of concrete. The Gariep Dam is the largest storage reservoir in South Africa. In
South African English South African English (SAfrE, SAfrEng, SAE, en-ZA) is the set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, when they established a military holding op ...
, 'dam' refers both to the structure and the water volume it retains. Gariep Dam has a total storage capacity of approximately and a surface area of more than when full. The hydro-electrical power station houses four 90 MW generators.


Design type and contractors

The structure is a concrete gravity-arch hybrid dam. This design was chosen as the gorge is too wide for a complete arch so flanking walls form gravity abutments to the central arch. It was built by Dumez, a French construction company.


Gariep Dam Bridge


Rivers and spruits flowing into the dam

* Orange RiverDept of Water Affairs website
/ref> * Caledon River * Brakspruit * Broekspruit * Oudagspruit * Palmietspruit * Slykspruit


Water consumption, outflow, derivative usages and diversions

It must be carefully managed by balancing the supply-and-demand of this water resource usage for its derivatives of electricity generation, irrigation(food) and municipal drinking water.

Department of Water - Orange River Basin - Map and flow diagrams


Orange-Fish River Project (Tunnel)


Map (Tunnel & Canals)Illustration - Further details on the Department of Water - Fish-Sundays
* Great Fish River Valley, then via Grassridge Dam, ElandsDrift Wier, Cookhouse Tunnel, De MistKraal Weir into * Sundays River Valley ( Canals and Tunnels Scheme) North-West of
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
, then via Darlington Dam, Korhaansdrift Weir, Canal, Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dam, Bulk water Pipeline to *
Port Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
, Nooitgedracht Water Treatment Works, since 1992 with water from the Sundays River Valley


Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...


Gariep Hydro-Electric power plants
which is remotely controlled from
Gauteng Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only ...

Further Facts and Details


Vanderkloof Dam The Vanderkloof Dam (originally the P. K. Le Roux Dam) is situated approximately downstream from Gariep Dam and is fed by the Orange River, South Africa's largest river. Vanderkloof Dam is the second-largest dam in South Africa (in volume), hav ...


Gariep Town


Orange-Fish River Project

At
Oviston Oviston is a settlement in Walter Sisulu Local Municipality in Joe Gqabi District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Township 8 km north of Venterstad, on the southern bank of the Gariep Dam The Gariep Dam is loca ...
, on the south bank of the reservoir, is the inlet of the Orange-Fish River Tunnel, allowing water to be diverted to the
Great Fish River The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) ( af, Groot-Visrivier) is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish R ...
and most of the
Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape is one of the provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, but its two largest cities are East London and Gqeberha. The second largest province in the country (at 168,966 km2) after Northern Cape, it was formed in ...
's western parts.

There is trade off in the water usage for electricity and inter-basin transfer for water in other areas like
Port_Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...

Orange-Fish River Tunnel Basin Transfer Schema construction 1972 (
Port_Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
) on YouTube


Gallery

File:Gariep dam overflowing in Jan 2011.jpg, Gariep Dam overflowing in January 2011 File:Sunset at Oviston Gariep photo by Siloam Village.JPG, Sunset at Oviston Nature Reserve on the dam's southern shores File:GC Gariep Dam (7).JPG, Road sign heading for the dam wall File:GC Gariep Dam (11).JPG, View over the lake File:GC Gariep Dam (14).JPG, Forever Holiday Resort at Gariep Dam


See also

*
List of rivers of South Africa This is a list of rivers in South Africa. It is quite common to find the Afrikaans word ''-rivier'' as part of the name. Another common suffix is "''-kamma''", from the Khoisan term for "river" Meiring, Barbara"South African Toponymic Guideline ...
*
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) ...


References


External links


Videos - Opening , Documentaries , Construction


Official Opening of the Orange River Dam in South Africa
on YouTube
Short Documentary on the dam construction and motivations thereof (1 of 3 planned dams)
on YouTube
History of the town Construction
on YouTube
Orange-Fish River Tunnel Basin Transfer Schema Construction 1972 - Technical illustrations & diagrams
Port_Elizabeth Gqeberha (), formerly Port Elizabeth and colloquially often referred to as P.E., is a major seaport and the most populous city in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. It is the seat of the Nelson Mandela Bay Metropolitan Municipality, Sou ...
) on YouTube
Orange-Fish River Tunnel Basin Transfer Schema Construction - Footage
on YouTube
History of the construction and where it all started, rainfall, diagrams, extra

Orange River Transfer Scheme to Port Elizabeth Documentary - Nooitgedracht Water Treatment Works
on YouTube (Carte Blanche)


Videos - Arial , Presentation


Full Flood over gates January 2000
on YouTube
4K Aerial footage of Dam, bridge, campsite, amenities
on YouTube
4K Aerial footage not in flood
on YouTube


Other


Gariep Dam - Roots - Largest in the Country - Construction Posters, Origins and Designs from inside the dam wallGariep Hydroelectric Power Station
on the
Eskom Eskom Hld SOC Ltd or Eskom is a South African electricity public utility. It was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) and was also known by its Afrikaans name Elektrisiteitsvoorsieningskommissie (EVKOM). Eskom repre ...
-Website * {{Power in South Africa , state=expanded Dams completed in 1971 Energy infrastructure completed in 1971 Dams in South Africa Hydroelectric power stations in South Africa Orange River Irrigation in South Africa