The City’s Spatial Planning and Environment Directorate is pleased to announce that the dredging of Zeekoevlei will commence in June 2025. The project team is making great progress with the preparations for this major operation that will take about two years as part of our efforts in improving the water quality of the waterbody.
Zeekoevlei is located in the False Bay Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site of international importance for wetlands. The City is also accredited as a Ramsar City. Improving water quality is a key international commitment which is aligned to the Mayoral Priority Programme (MPP): Sanitation and Inland Water Quality MPP.
‘A few days ago, I visited Zeekoevlei to see how the contractor was progressing with the preparations for the dredging work. They were busy welding the final sections of the slurry pipe at the site where a long section was already floating on top of the vlei, in the vicinity of Storm Bay, where the first dredging will commence. The access roads to the Cape Flats Waste Water Treatment Plant are ready, and at the dewatering or drying ponds the work is also on track.
‘What is so exciting about this project is that the City will, for the first time ever, use a floating suction dredger to dredge organic rich sediment from the vlei bed. Normally, dredging is done by crane from the water’s edge, but given that the two sections to be dredged are located far from the edge, the City will be using a floating pontoon instead.
‘I was told that the floating pontoon’s parts will arrive later this week to be assembled, and tested before the dredging itself can commence. If all goes as planned, and inclement weather does not cause any delays, residents and visitors to the reserve will see the dredger doing its job by mid-June, if not sooner,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.
Two sections of Zeekoevlei will be dredged: first Storm Bay and thereafter the contractor will move to the section known as Home Bay. The dredged material will be pumped with a slurry pipeline from Zeekoevlei to dewatering ponds where the sediment can dry out.
‘The last time the City undertook a dredging project was in 1983 when parts of Home Bay were dredged. The current dredging is more extensive and a significant milestone event,’ said Alderman Andrews.
Dredging information
- Two sections of Zeekoevlei will be dredged over a period of 26 months, namely Home Bay and Storm Bay
- The total volume of sediment to be dredged from Home Bay is 157 000m³ and is estimated to take about 14 months
- The total volume of sediment to be dredged from Storm Bay is 207 000m³ and is estimated to take about 12 months
- Hydrographic surveys of the dredged area will be conducted every two weeks to measure the progress
- The dredged sediment will be pumped from Zeekoevlei via a 4,3km long slurry pipeline to ponds for dewatering and storage
- The slurry pipeline will cross several roads within the area, amongst which Governors Walk and Peninsula Road
- The supernatant water will be pumped from the dewatering ponds to the Cape Flats WWTWs via a 2,3km long pipeline
- The contractor will be constructing rubble mound bund walls at the dewatering ponds to assist with the dewatering and drying of the dredged sediment
- Dewatering sumps will be constructed around the perimeter of the dewatering ponds to assist with the drainage of supernatant water to the Cape Flats WWTWs
- The contractor also needs to upgrade the access roads within the Cape Flats WWTWs area for the transportation of dredged sediment
Over the past decades, there has been a significant build-up of sediment and nutrient rich organics in the Zeekoevlei lakebed that has resulted in algal blooms, which has been impacting the overall health of the vlei and its water quality for recreational users.
‘Improving the water quality at Zeekoevlei is one of our top priorities. The dredging will assist in removing pollutants and improving the overall health of this ecosystem. The intention is to dredge and remove as much of the nutrient rich sediment as possible over a period of two years or so,’ said Alderman Andrews.
The City will let the public know once the actual dredging has commenced, and how this will impact the recreational activities at and on the vlei. In the meantime, we apologise for the inconvenience and possible disturbance to birders making use of the Strandfontein Birding section while this project is ongoing.
The areas where the dredger will be operating will be clearly marked, and the floating slurry pipeline will be sunk below the surface of the vlei once the dredger is operating. The Rondevlei section of the reserve will remain open throughout this project, as well as the Strandfontein section.
360
A South African, an Australian and an Englishman are all having a drink
The Englishman and South African both drink from Pint Glasses, the Australian from a bottle.
The South African, upon draining his glass, drops in back down on the bar, pulls out a pistol, and shoots the glass.
\”In South Africa, there is so much sand that I never drink from the same glass twice!\”
The Australian, having drained his bottle, sets it down upon the bar and, upon seizing the South African\’s pistol, shoots his bottle.
\”In Australia, there is so much booze that I never drink from the same brand twice!\”
The Englishman, likewise having drained his glass, sets his glass upon the table, seizes the pistol the pistol from the Australian, and shoots the South African and the Australian, quite dead.
\”In England, there are so many of you bastards that I never drink with the same two twice!\”
Spooky Electric
Fun South African Fact: The Lion, the cheetah and the wildebeest are three of the five fastest animals in the world and they all live in South Africa.