20/02/2023
VAAL DAM 1975
The Vaal Dam has a total of 60 Sluice Gates. The last decade the maximum amount of gates opened were 16. However, the 1974 - 1975 floods, which were the biggest recorded floods in history at the time, led to the second raising of the Vaal Dam wall in 1985, the Vaal Dam walls were then raised by 3,05m.
In 1975 they pulled open ALL 60 Sluice gates and 4000 cumecs of water thundered past Three Rivers & Peacehaven, and overnight raised the normal water level by around 9.5 metres.
The Vaal Dam was constructed in the early 1930s and completed in 1938 it boasts the longest shoreline, which is 800km, and the shoreline comprising of 3 provinces Free State, Mpumalanga, and Gauteng.
After the completion of the construction of the Vaal Dam, a small group of workers was appointed for the purpose of maintenance and this led to the establishment of the town of Deneysville.
On the 13th of December in 1938 the dam had overflowed for the first time, and at that time the Vaal Dam had a full capacity of 994 million m3.
During the periods of 1952 and 1956, A project commenced as it was decided that the Vaal Dam walls would be raised by 6,1m to provide additional supplies of water.
This increased the Vaal Dam's storage capacity to 2 330-million m3 and the project costed around R 2,9-million.
During the early seventies, there was a country-wide drought and due to this drought the Sterkfontein Dam was constructed, near Harrismith, to provide as a backup water source for the Vaal Dam in case of any future droughts.
Water is pumped from the Tugela River to the Sterkfontein Dam which is then supplied to the Vaal Dam.
Photo and Info Saartjie Klipkop and Leon Delport
