Flood management study on the Orange River
Independent UK based engineering and environmental hydraulics consultancy HR Wallingford has teamed up with Johannesburg based Fourth Element Consulting to offer sustainable environmental solutions to the rapidly developing economies in southern Africa.
The two organisations are now collaborating on a project to investigate flood management solutions for the Orange River in South Africa.
Fourth Element Consulting has been engaged by ILISO Consulting to undertake the hydraulic modelling of the Orange River in the Northern Cape, South Africa. ILISO has been appointed by the Northern Cape Department of Agriculture, Land Reform and Rural Development to provide flood management assistance in the Lower Orange River. The project includes the hydraulic modelling of over 350 km of river, covering the vineyards and wheat fields from Boegoeberg Dam to Onseepkans. Over R1bn has been allocated to the rehabilitation works.
A two dimensional model is being developed and is probably the largest 2D simulation of a river system undertaken in South Africa.
Fourth Element has employed the expertise of HR Wallingford to provide technical advice to the project team.
Already over 800 km of flood levees have been identified and are being incorporated in the hydraulic model. The 2D model will be a very valuable asset for longer term planning, design and even disaster management for communities along the river.
The data sets are enormous and each model will take a number of days to run. However, preliminary runs are already showing the potential of the models.
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