Disaster of 'serious magnitude' averted in Benoni
Officials says they have averted a “disaster of serious magnitude” after intervening at the Middle Lake dam in Benoni.
The City of Ekurhuleni was informed about the caving in of the spillway at the dam wall on Sunday. The city and the water affairs department then launched a joint operation to “prevent loss of lives and damage to properties downstream”.
The team started pumping water from the dam to reduce the water levels to assess the damage and repairs they might need to do. The team diverted the water at the onset before deploying 11 suction pumps to reduce the dam level.
“The lowering of the dam level will help to avoid further erosion on the exposed downstream face of the spillway. Secondly, the lowering of the dam level will assist in allowing engineers access to the damaged slab for repairs,” the City of Ekurhuleni and the water affairs department said in a joint statement.
The team will use six siphon suction pumps to further lower the dam levels.
“Following the lowering of the dam, then work will start to remove the damaged concrete slab and filling the voids on the spillway. Whilst this is a temporary measure, it is expected that it will take a number of months to complete the refurbishment of the spillway.”
The Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Police Department closed Bunyan and Tom Jones roads and the nearby N12 on and off-ramps.
Ekurhuleni mayor Mzwandile Masina visited the site on Thursday and said they would reopen the roads when the siphon suction pumps were in place.