All roads lead to Neckartal

Elizabeth Joseph KEETMANSHOOPOn Sunday, 17 January, the gates of the massive Neckertal dam in the //Karas Region opened for visitors for the first time since its completion.Construction of the dam, which cost government N$5.7 billion, started in 2013 and was completed in 2018.Long queues of cars caused a traffic hold-up as residents from neighboring towns tried to gain access to the dam.The excursion included touring the grounds around the dam as well as walking on the dam wall. Sunday road tripAccording to members of the project, this opportunity is one that will now be availed to the general public every Sunday between 14h00 and 17h30.Namibian Sun had an exclusive tour inside the dam wall where metal structures can be seen holding the reservoir together.Masses of people flocked to the dam to see it at 81.44% capacity.While some of the sight-seers were concerned, others were in awe. Social media frenzyRecently, a picture showing water seeping down over the stairs caused a social media frenzy when people believed that the dam was faulty and seemed to have been leaking from the upper and lower galleries of the dam.However, according to Salini's chief instrument engineer, Set-Son Hamwedi, the dam was constructed to hold this amount of water, and what is seen in the picture is water pressure released onto the steps to decrease dam pressure."This could be seen as a breathing technique so that the dam does not get overly pressurised. This is the gallery in the dam wall which will explain the leakage picture that was circulated."Releasing pressureHe further added that the dam has two tunnels called drainage galleries at different levels. In the galleries, there are drainage holes drilled deep into the foundation. These holes release pressure and also trap seeping water from upstream.The water is then collected into the sumps located in the gallery's drainage and drained out by a pipe onto the stairs.Andries Kok, the water utility's southern regional head, recently revealed that the Neckartal Dam water level on Sunday stood at 81.44%, while the inflow was measured at 1 045 cubic metres per second.Hamwedi added that the dam is very close to spilling over and it is just a matter of days before this happens.

All roads lead to Neckartal

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

All roads lead to Neckartal

Comments

Namibian Sun 2025-07-07

Please login to leave a comment

Login