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Date: 1893-1897 Type: Reservoir Status: Extant   Click to view map Coordinates: 33°58'38.11" S 18°24'07.64" E Alt: 724m

Woodhead Reservoir gets its name from the mayor who laid the last stone on the first of May 1897, Sir John Woodhead J.P. The summit plateau of Table Mountain, with an average rainfall of 1600mm, is an ideal water catchment, and the Back Table contains five reservoirs including this one. The others being Hely-Hutchinson, Victoria, Alexandra and De Villiers. The five reservoirs have a combined capacity of 2273m litres. For a long time these were the city's main sources of water. Some of the water is carried down Table Mountain by means of two tunnels, the Woodhead and Apostles tunnels, 1313 metres in length through Wood Buttress, to a filtration plant above Kloof Nek. During the same period, the last decade of the 19th century, saw the establishment of the Tokai plantations and the commencement of tree-planting on a large scale on Table Mountain and Devil's Peak. At the time of completion the Woodhead and Hely-Hutchinson reservoirs were considered engineering triumphs. The dam was designated as an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in 2008. It is one of two such declared landmark structures in South Africa, the other being the Cape Agulhas Lighthouse. To qualify for inclusion, a project must be over 50 years old, must have made a significant impact on civil engineering in its region, must still be in operation, and adhere to very stringent selection criteria. See ASCE. Transcription of plaque: INTERNATIONAL HISTORIC CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK WOODHEAD DAM BUILT BETWEEN 1893 AND 1897, THE WOODHEAD DAM WAS THE FIRST LARGE MASONRY DAM IN SOUTH AFRICA. A REGIONAL WATER SYSTEM WITH A MAJOR RESERVOIR WAS A BOLD VENTURE REQUIRING DIFFICULT CONSTRUCTION IN A REMOTE AREA. INNOVATIVE TECHNIQUES, INCLUDING AN AERIAL CABLEWAY TO CARRY MATERIALS, WERE NEEDED. THE DAM'S SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION PAVED THE WAY FOR SISTER DAMS THAT CONTINUE TO SUPPLY WATER TO CAPE TOWN AND ENVIRONS AND ESTABLISHED YOUNG THOMAS STEWART, THE ENGINEER WHO DESIGNED AND MANAGED THE PROJECT, AS A LEADING WATER ENGINEER AND RELIABLE CONSULTANT. STEWART IS KNOWN AS THE FATHER OF CONSULTING ENGINEERING IN SOUTH AFRICA. PRESENTED BY THE SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 1 AUGUST 2008 Books that reference Woodhead Reservoir Luckhoff, Carl August in collaboration with Gohl, Colin and Versveld, Martin. 1951. Table Mountain : our national heritage after three hundred years. Cape Town: AA Balkema . pg 114 Murray, Tony . 2015. Megastructures and masterminds : great feats of civil engineering in southern Africa. Cape Town: Tafelberg. pg 120-135 Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1974. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 10 Sle-Tun. Cape Town: Nasou. pg 399 Shorten, John R. 1963. Cape Town : A record of the Mother City from the earliest days to the present. Cape Town: JR Shorten in association with Shorten and Smith Publications. pg 336 South African National Committee on Large Dams . 1994. Large dams and water systems in South Africa. Pretoria: SANCOLD. pg 220