Publication: Oshili 24
Date: March 22, 2017

Dr. Gert Cloete is a Specialist Hydraulics, Hydrology, and Dam Safety Engineer at Knight Piésold’s Windhoek office. He is a civil engineer with a doctorate in risk based dam safety from the University of Stellenbosh. He also obtained his B.Eng. and M.Sc.Eng. at the University of Stellenbosch with research in aspects of hydraulics.

1. Q. What have been your key highlights for 2016?

A. My highlights include our appointment to investigate the condition of the Von Bach Dam asphaltic seal layer, and after finding it in need of repair, being appointed to proceed with the design and construction supervision of the refurbishment. We have a small window of opportunity, given the draught and the low water level in the dam, to replace a significant portion of the bituminous lining. Another key highlight was providing training to Hydrology Staff of the Ministry of Agriculture, Water and Forestry (MAWF): data collection for surface water run-off, and calibration of gauging weir infrastructure, are vitally important for any water planning project in any country. Doing research in 2011, I found gaps in some of the MAWF data, and after submitting a proposal to assist the MAWF, I was appointed in 2016 to provide training to field technicians and hydrologists in reading flood peaks in ephemeral rivers, performing instream flow gaugings, utilising flood modelling software, and using the new determined flood peak data to update rating curves for flow gauging stations.

Credit: Toini Martin, Oshili 24

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