How rain and flood water is captured at the Links: Fortifications for the Sand River Bridge

By Bev Mortimer:

Heavy rains anticipated? Where the storm water goes…

With rumours flying crazy around following the announcement by the weather bureau of the possibility of flooding this weekend – from tomorrow , 13  July 2012 –  St Francis Chronicle spoke to St Francis Links CEO, Jeff Cluase this afternoon about flood waters and the water course.

According to Clause and as these photos illustrate, rain and storm water from the big wetland area behind the Dunes flows to the Links where it is kept instead of it just flowing down the hill along the R330 to the entrance of St Francis Bay and onto the St Francis Bay Golf Course.

When possible. the Links is required to allow natural water to pass until its dams are full. Then, the Links is allowed to stop the flow from the back and detour it to the left though an earthen canal (constructed after the 2007 flooding). Ground water that runs down the R330 road is captured this way (up to 80% of the water flowing) and pumped back to the top.

If the capacity exceeds the Links’ pumping ability overflows and goes across the R330 on the taxi side.  Currently no water is overflowing.

The water that is channelled away at the top is soaked away in the catchments/ dams – or in extreme conditions it is merged with the water that comes through the Links from the west.

 The following photos were taken on 2 July by Roland Peacock – Pilot, Herman Pieterson

Fortifying the Sand River Bridge…

In other news the Provincial Roads Department with some Kouga Municipality officials were placing sandbags at the Sand River Bridge this afternoon. The placing of sandbags comes after the severe weather predictions  – heavy rains, snow and floods  – from the weather bureau.  The fortifications are presumably an attempt to protect  this temporary and unstable bridge from flood waters this weekend.

See: Severe weather this weekend: https://stfrancischronicle.com/2012/07/11/below-zero-temps-snow-and-flash-floods-expected-this-weekend/

Related post: https://stfrancischronicle.com/2012/07/04/water-water-everywhere-and-fears-of-floods/