Affordable lifestyle at Gariep Dam
for weekend
and retirement buyers.

Gariep Dam Area - Doing it BIG from the beginning.

The big vision and brave exploration.
Dr. Alfred Lewis not an average "bookworm" took a 400km extreme journey on horseback, cart and feet down the Orange River. With temperatures running into the 40s he faced the rough terrain from Kenhardt the ocean writing a report printed in 1912. In this report he suggested the construction of a dam and even a tunnel running to the south feeding the Great Fish river.

You must agree that it must have been a vision combined with entrepreneurial boldness to even suggested such an absurd idea into the minds of the people living in the 1900s. It took them 32 years to getting use to the idea with possibility surveys starting in 1944. This report was taken the Government and was voted as being to expensive to consider.

The big decision
In 1962 the announcement was made in parliament that the government has decided to undertake the biggest, most important and most spectacular water supply project ever initiated in the history of the country. The biggest in Africa and one of the biggest projects of its kind in the world. Turning desert into a paradise Gariep Dam was created to provide for generations to come.

The big financial investment without wasting.
Every good investment is like good seed. Good seed doesn't cost it pays "in the end". The green-light was given for a 30 year project with a first phase costing an estimated +/-R85 million. Even though it was a lot of money careful planning in selecting the right spot where the smallest and lowest wall could be constructed to give the most water saved millions and possibly contributed to the fact that a less expensive design was canned for a more glorious modern design. Balancing the scales of financial bravery and structural excellence.

Big planning
The five "P's". Proper Planning Prevents Poor Performance. The right spot was needed to catch maximum water and depth the generate constant power. It had to be high enough to create a natural flow in the tunnel to the Great Fish river.

Big business opportunities
Tenders from all over the world competed for business in this project. Whole towns where created to house the men and there families involved in the project. Facilities and offices was constructed at strategic places with views to monitor the project phases from beginning to end.

The big construction and logistics
To get the perfect cement mix a large dolerite quarry was used, where some 150 000 tons of rock where removed each month. There was a 42in. gyratory primary crusher, a secondary crushing process and screening plant, with the rod mill plant for sand production, an automated blending and concrete batching plant all near the construction site. The mix was transported to the site by 'silo buses' to the 6cu. yd buckets of four cable ways, two of which were movable and two with buffing towers. The concrete was placed into the huge 50ft wide blocks of wall. The flow of the river was diverted at the time of construction. At times these diversion plans was over topped by the strong flow of the Orange River, taking everybody back to the drawing board.

Even the United Nations where involved to act as consulted between labour force and client.

The greatest civil engineering project in South Africa
The Orange River project was one of the greatest civil engineering projects in South Africa and constructed to supply in the growing demand of water and electricity. Gariep Dam wall was built to save water that would normally have flow to the ocean. Gariep Dam is the largest dam in South Africa with the Vaal Dam being second largest. With this project the flow of the river was better controlled providing a reliable water supply to the farmers and people next to the Orange River.

One of the longest bridges in South Africa
Starting at the longest bridge in South Africa “running 1km plus” near Bethulie the Orange River flows into the Gariep dam catchment area.

Big Stress
Yes, the power of the water is so strong the wall bends, move and gives a bit under pressure. Luckily it was designed to handle stress in this way. When the stress gets to much in Gariep Dam, the pressure gets releases through 8ft high 95t gates busting down three flood channels on each side of the dam spraying an arches of water with a relaxing rainbow mist into the air.

The big opening
While somewhere sceptic in predicting that the dam will never reach its full capacity it overflowed in 1972 with the official opening being March 1972.

Your big opportunity
Gariep Dam was established in the 1960s as a town to facilitate in the construction, maintenance and operation of the Orange River Scheme with the future plan of leaving South Africa with a "in the middle of the country" tourism oasis.
The town was managed by the Provincial Government of the Free State. Only in the 1994s the property was shifted to the Municipality with new opportunities for development grabbed by investors starting at 2000. This is proof in itself that Gariep Dam was a jewel given back to the people to explore and supply in the growing demand for tourism in the area.

The town Gariep Dam being young in new developments offer the clever investor with lots of opportunities worth exploring. Not just the town, but the great inland see called Lake Gariep or the Great Gariep also creates vast entrepreneurial opportunities.

Yes, it is true! We have just won the tourism town of the year award.

Article was compiled by: Berend Booysen with the help of the following resources.

Information was generated from the following articles.
Recognition to: Lani van Vuuren / The Water Wheel May/Jun 2010 / http://www.absoluteastronomy.com / http://www.gariepgliding.com / JOURNAL OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF MINING AND METALLURGY DECEMBER 1969 113