Posted on May 23, 2025
The City’s Spatial Planning and Environment Directorate is pleased to announce that the components of the floating suction dredger have arrived at Zeekoevlei in the False Bay Nature Reserve over the weekend. The project team is now busy assembling the machine, and if all goes as planned, the dredger should take to the water at the end of this week for testing.
‘I am very pleased to say that all is on track for the dredging of Zeekoevlei to commence by mid-June 2025. The components arrived over the weekend, this in itself was quite an operation, and in coming days the dredger will be assembled and once ready, tested on the vlei.
‘We are celebrating some huge milestones with this project: the last time the City dredged a vlei was 42 years ago, in 1983, when parts of Home Bay were dredged. Then, this will be the first time ever the City will be using 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 am proud that the City is taking the lead when it comes to pushing the boundaries, and that the officials are bold to try something here, at Zeekoevlei, that has not been done before,’ said the City’s Deputy Mayor and Mayoral Committee Member for Spatial Planning and Environment, Alderman Eddie Andrews.
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.
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 a priority. 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 26 months,’ said Alderman Andrews.
Storm Bay will be dredged first; and thereafter the contractor will move to the section known as Home Bay.
Dredging information
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Two sections of Zeekoevlei will be dredged over a period of 26 months, namely Home Bay and Storm Bay
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The total volume of sediment to be dredged from Home Bay is 157 000m³ and is estimated to take about 14 months
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The total volume of sediment to be dredged from Storm Bay is 207 000m³ and is estimated to take about 12 months
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Hydrographic surveys of the dredged area will be conducted every two weeks to measure the progress
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The dredged sediment will be pumped from Zeekoevlei via a 4,3km long slurry pipeline to ponds for dewatering and storage
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The slurry pipeline will cross several roads within the area, amongst which Governors Walk and Peninsula Road
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The supernatant water will be pumped from the dewatering ponds to the Cape Flats WWTWs via a 2,3km long pipeline
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The contractor will be constructing rubble mound bund walls at the dewatering ponds to assist with the dewatering and drying of the dredged sediment
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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
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The contractor also needs to upgrade the access roads within the Cape Flats WWTWs area for the transportation of dredged sediment
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.
Caption: The components of the dredger arrived at Zeekoevlei in the False Bay Nature Reserve over the weekend and are now being assembled. Once ready, the dredger will be tested before the dredging will commence at Storm Bay, and thereafter Home Bay.
