About Hartbeespoort

Hartbeespoort Dam Construction

The dam was built on the farm Hartebeestpoort, once owned by the Boer General Hendrik Schoeman . The farm and adjacent land was acquired by the State, mainly through the facilitation of his son, Johan Schoeman, in about 1912. The dam was completed in 1923. Hartbeespoort Dam first overflowed the dam wall in March 1925.

The dam is 149.5 metres long and 59.4 metres and is built across a gorge cutting through the Magaliesberg. The reservoir is fed by the waters of the Crocodile River and Magalies River and covers approximately 18.83 square kilometres , with a mean depth of 9.6 metres and maximum depth of 45.1 metres. It has a surface area of 20 square kilometres , and its normal range of annual water level fluctuation is 0.8 metres . The mixing type of the reservoir is monomictic. A tarmac road skirts the water's edge on the north side; along its route it passes through a 56.6 m long tunnel and also crosses the dam.