George municipality spokesperson Chantel Edwards-Klose said construction for the raising of the Garden Route Dam spillway began on May 13, and the contractor was on schedule to complete the work within the contract period of 10 months.
“To date, the blinding layer comprising of 700m³ of mass concrete has been completed. The drainage channel in the basin has taken shape within this mass concrete layer. Approximately 85m of under-floor drains have also been placed,” Edwards-Klose said.
The raising of the actual dam wall is progressing steadily with the contractor having placed about 7 500m³ of suitable fill material excavated from the dam basin on the mountain to ocean (MTO) forestry and Nelson Mandela University (NMU) side of the dam.
“Almost 1 000m³ of rock ‘rip-rap’ has been placed on the upstream side of the dam wall. This rip-rap is needed to prevent erosion of the earth embankment of the dam wall and manage wave action.