BREEDE RIVER IRRIGATION WORKS. 93 



sour vekL which forms the catchment of the Breede River. Within 

 the sour veld areas there is a heavy rainfall of over 30 inches per 

 annum, whereas on the strip of Karroo the average rainfall does not 

 exceed on the average more than 12 inches per annum. This low 

 rainfall is the main cause of the formation of the Karroo soils in 

 the Breede Valley, for the rains have not, through countless ages, 

 washed out the plant food from the soils, as we find both higher up 

 and lower down the valley, in those areas known as the sour veld. 

 Naturally the geological features prevailing in the valley have 

 largely contributed to its fertility; but its sheltered position, formed 

 by the mountain ranges which exclude the heavy rains of the coastal 

 belt, have allowed irrigation to be of so much value to the districts. 

 It is now over five years since the works were completed, and it is 

 not often that an engineer has the opportunity of seeing a scheme 

 upon which he has toiled become of so much benefit to a community 

 and to a Colony in general. In March, 1904 the late Director of 

 Irrigation, Mr. ^^'. B. Gordon, said, when reporting upon the scheme 

 after his first visit to the Breede Valley : — 



" The works generally have been well and economically designed and 

 constructed, and I venture to predict that before many years have passed 

 the Public Works Department, the Board, and everyone who has fostered 

 or taken an interest in this scheme will be gratified at the results. Accidents 

 may occur and unforseen difficulties may arise. These are almost inevitable 

 in the case of a canal constructed on a diflicult alignment and crossing numer- 

 ous mountain torrents ; but 1 have no doubt as to the future of the work 

 and its ultimate success." 



A forecast which the last few years have fully justified. 



The Breede River Irrigation Works. 



This being a pioneer scheme, many difficulties presented them- 

 selves in the early s ages which are non-existent to-day, for the 

 problems have been solved : while it has been shown how an engineer 

 can, by co-operation with an Irrigation Board, bring schemes like 

 the Robertson Canal and Weir, to an entire and successful comple- 

 tion. I look back upon the four years spent with the Irrigation 

 Board as four years of strenuous pleasure, and no small credit is 

 due to the Working Committee who took such a prominent part in 

 the construction of the works. Arrangements were made in the 

 early stages of construction for the Committee to visit the works 

 every Thursday, when I accompanied them, and any point was 

 discussed and settled on the spot. This Committee formed as it were 

 a buffer state between the engineer and the shareholders, allowing 

 the engineer to devote all his attention to the work free from outside 

 criticism. 



The Weir Across the Breede River. 



The construction of the weir was not an easy or simple matter. 

 The getting in of the foundation of the cement concrete core in- 

 volved a considerable amount of excavating below the water level. 

 During the first season the foundations were put in right across the 

 ri\^er before the winter floods arrived, then the work there was sus- 

 pended until the next season. The stones used in the construction 

 of the weir had to be conveyed a distance of two miles by means of 



