The Gariep Dam is located in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, near the town of Norvalspont, bordering the Free State and

Eastern Cape The Eastern Cape ( ; ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Its capital is Bhisho, and its largest city is Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth). Due to its climate and nineteenth-century towns, it is a common location for tourists. It is also kno ...

provinces. Its primary purpose is for irrigation, domestic and industrial use as well as for power generation. It the largest dam in South Africa.

Name

The Gariep Dam, at its commission in 1971, was originally named the Hendrik Verwoerd Dam after

Hendrik Verwoerd Hendrik Frensch Verwoerd (; 8 September 1901 – 6 September 1966), also known as H. F. Verwoerd, was a Dutch-born South African politician, scholar in applied psychology, philosophy, and sociology, and newspaper editor who was Prime Mini ...

, the Prime Minister before and after 31 May 1961, when the country changed from the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa (; , ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day South Africa, Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the British Cape Colony, Cape, Colony of Natal, Natal, Tra ...

to the

Republic of South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

. However, after the end of

apartheid Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...

, the Verwoerd name was considered unsuitable. The name was officially changed to Gariep Dam on 4 October 1996. ''Gariep'' is

Khoekhoe Khoikhoi ( /ˈkɔɪkɔɪ/ ''KOY-koy'') (or Khoekhoe in Namibian orthography) are the traditionally nomadic pastoralist indigenous population of South Africa. They are often grouped with the hunter-gatherer San (literally "foragers") peop ...

for "river", the original name of the

Orange River The Orange River (from Afrikaans/Dutch language, 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 Namibi ...

(the longest river in South Africa).

Location

The dam is on the

about north-east of Colesberg and south of

Bloemfontein Bloemfontein ( ; ), also known as Bloem, is the capital and the largest city of the Free State (province), Free State province in South Africa. It is often, and has been traditionally, referred to as the country's "judicial capital", alongsi ...

. It is in a gorge at the entrance to the Ruigte Valley some east of Norvalspont. The dam crest is some 1300 m (4250 ft) 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 (SAfE, SAfEn, SAE, en-ZA) is the List of dialects of English, set of English language dialects native to South Africans. History British Empire, British settlers first arrived in the South African region in 1795, ...

, '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 The Caledon River () is a major river located in central South Africa. Its total length is , rising in the Drakensberg Mountains on the Lesotho border, flowing southwestward and then westward before joining the Orange River near Bethulie in the ...

* 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. There is trade off in the water usage for electricity and inter-basin transfer for water in other areas like

Port Elizabeth Gqeberha ( , ), formerly named Port Elizabeth, and colloquially 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 Municipal ...

Orange–Fish Water Scheme

The scheme diverts water from the

to the

Great Fish River The Great Fish River (called ''great'' to distinguish it from the Namibian Fish River) () is a river running through the South African province of the Eastern Cape. The coastal area between Port Elizabeth and the Fish River mouth is known as ...

valley. * 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

, then via Darlington Dam, Korhaansdrift Weir, Canal, Scheepersvlakte Balancing Dam, Bulk water Pipeline to *

, Nooitgedracht Water Treatment Works, since 1992 with water from the Sundays River Valley (See External links for more video documentaries on construction and drone footage for canal system.) Oviston Orange-Fish Tunnel Inlet - panoramio

Oviston Orange-Fish Tunnel Inlet - panoramio

Orange-Fish River Tunnel

At Oviston, on the south bank of the reservoir, is the inlet of the Orange-Fish River Tunnel, allowing water to be diverted to the

and most of the

's western parts.

Gariep hydroelectric power plant

A 360 MW hydroelectric power plant is one is run by Eskom. Four 90 MW hydro turbines (which are remotely controlled from

Gauteng Gauteng ( , ; Sotho-Tswana languages, Sotho-Tswana for 'place of gold'; or ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts f ...

)

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

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

) 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)
The excavation of the Orange-Fish Tunnel

ORANGE / FISH & LOWER SUNDAYS RIVERWATER SUPPLY SCHEMES

Part 1 , From the towering inlet to the town that disappeared forever , Oviston to Midshaft

Part 2 , The road that time simply forgot , The Bulhoek Pass

Part 3 , Ghost town of empty houses and empty swimming pools , Teebus to The Outlet

Videos - Aerial , 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. Eskom was established in 1923 as the Electricity Supply Commission (ESCOM) (). Eskom represents South Africa in the Southern African Power Pool. The utility is the larg ...

-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 20th-century architecture in South Africa