As the main component of Phase 2 of the Mooi Mgeni transfer scheme (MMTS), Spring Grove Dam is the fifth dam to be built in the MMTS system — which will provide water to more than five million people and industries in Durban, Pietermaritzburg and surrounding towns. The new dam will augment the system’s yield by 60 million m3 / year, taking it to 394 million m3 / year at a 99 percent level of assurance supply.
Together with project management, detail design and tender design and documentation, AECOM’s services included construction monitoring, contract administration and commissioning, and environment, social and health and safety specifications.
Spring Grove Dam has been designed as a composite roller compacted concrete gravity dam with an earthfill embankment. It has maximum capacity of 139.5 million m3, and a wall height of 37.7m. Due to its proximity to Rosetta Town, it has a high-hazard potential, and is classified as a Category III dam. A full emergency preparedness plan, or dam break safety plan, has been compiled and approved. This involved two months of fieldwork, gathering data on downstream residents.