| Bloemhof Dam | |
|---|---|
| Official name | Bloemhof Dam |
| Location | border Northwest and Free State, South Africa |
| Opening date | 1970 |
| Dam and spillways | |
| Type of dam | Concrete gravity with earth flanks |
| Height | 33 m |
| Length | 4270 m |
| Impounds | Vaal River |
| Reservoir | |
| Creates | Bloemhof Dam Reservoir |
| Capacity | 1 269 000 000 m³ |
| Surface area | 2226 ha |
| Maximum capacity | 118% |
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Bloemhof Dam
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Bloemhof Dam, was originally known as the Oppermansdrif Dam when under construction during the late 60's. Situated in the Vaal River, on the border between the North West, and Free State, provinces of South Africa. The dam wall is very long with a total length of 4 270m. The reservoir is very shallow, and therefore needs a large area to mean anything for water storage. The area around the reservoir (dam), has been a protected area, but because it lies on the border between provinces, these became two separate nature reserves. On the North West Province side lies the Bloemhof Dam Nature Reserve, on the Free State side is the Sandveld Nature Reserve.
The town called Bloemhof lies on the North West side of the Vaal River.
The dam was commissioned in 1970, has a capacity of 1,269,000,000 cubic metres (4.48×1010 cu ft)[1], and an area of 223 square kilometres (86 sq mi)[1], the wall is 33 metres (108 ft) high. It is fed with the outflow from the Vaal dam (located upstream near Heidelberg) as well as rain collected in the Vaal-, Vet-, Vals- and Sandriver catchment areas.