via Kariba Dam wall safe, says Mavhaire | The Herald March 26, 2014 by Walter Nyamukondiwa
ZIMBABWE and Zambia yesterday said the Kariba Dam wall is stable following a tour of the infrastructure by senior Government officials from the two countries. Some media reports had suggested the dam wall could collapse within three years. Zimbabwe was represented by Energy and Power Development Minister Dzikamai Mavhaire during the tour.
The two countries, separated by the Zambezi River, said everything was being done to ensure routine maintenance and repair and more than $16 million has been provided so far this year to that end.
About US$230 million is needed in the short-to-medium term to work on the plunge pool that absorbs shock when flood gates are opened. Erosion of the plunge pool can threaten the foundation of the dam wall.
From an initial depth of about 10 metres, falling water has eroded the plunge pool at some points to about 80 metres. The deepest point is about 125 metres from the wall.
Other areas that need attention are installation of an emergency gate and refurbishment of the spillway gate.
“The dam wall is equipped with several instruments which monitor its well-being and safety.
“The analysis of data from these instruments coupled with visual inspections, observations and evaluation of the dam safety in line with current practices in dam engineering give early warning signs of potential risks to the safety of Kariba Dam wall long before they occur,” Minister Mavhaire said.
He said tender designs for the projects had been finalised and work would begin in 2015.
Reshaping of the plunge pool is expected to be completed by the end of 2017 and refurbishment of the spillway will take about six years as only one gate can be worked on per year.
A technical committee has been set up to monitor and recommend action on what needs to be done.
Zambian Mines, Energy and Water Development Minister Mr Chris Yaluma said the two governments were mobilising funds for maintenance and refurbishment.
“We have approached various co-operating partners.
“There are no concrete positions taken as yet but there is interest to assist. Maintenance is an on-going process. As governments we are moving swiftly to look into mobilising the funds needed,” he said.
Mr Yaluma said there was no need for anyone to panic as the dam wall would not collapse overnight.
COMMENTS
With the composition of the technical team and their main worry being the erosion from thr spillway there is massive cause for concern.
The main problem is clearly the instability of the dam not the erosion.
1. siltation of hundreds of tons of silt lying against the dam wall, second the friability of the side wall rock and finally the cracks and the best way to repair them without causing a worse problem.
Finally of little significant importance the erosion at the base of the wall, the fact that they think it the most important gives an indication of their engineering capability and experience.
A child would look at the water flowing out of the spillway and equate it to a hosepipe in a flower bed making a hole with the water pressure – a little more is expected from an engineer.
@Apolitical-I agree with you, these non-technical political guys are trained to lie with their straight faces.This Zambian minister talks rubbish to say it will not suddenly collapse because disasters happen immediately otherwise corrective steps would be taken before they happen.Those who are clever, they prevent these disasters as soon as the slight signs of failure start showing not to leave it until its too late.
The government should appease nyami nyami by resigning and allowing the people of Zimbabwe elect better leaders who can manage the economy better.
Publishing a denial in the paper won’t stop natures own course.The top 15 worst dam disaster in the world were repaired but still failed in their time. To say interpretation of observations by Dam Safety Engineers has been done is wishful in any case there are no reputable dams engineers in this part of the world whats is needed is to put mitigation measures in place immediately.
It would be preferable if Kariba dam had been toured by a team of highly competent large dam engineers who jobs are not on the line if they say something that displeases their political overlords.
Serious professionalism is urgently required in the circumstances.
Don’t worry the 230 million will be siphoned off to feed zanupf bigwigs and mugabage . Why worry about a wall the whites built? If it fails Mugabe can blame the Rhodies or the west again.
I would be seriously worried the only hope is that Zambia has some resources in engineering to fix it which may save the day.
230 less the 30% kickback will only manage to get expert advise which will say it needs replacement.
As a rule of thumb ask any one who says concrete can be fixed -how? and again with maintenance-how?
Mugabe cannot be bothered, by the time it happens he will be dead anyway. His target, life President. Nothing else matters.
I read the article to say that they will fix the dam if donors give them the money. What kind of thinking is this?
@ John Thomas, surprise you cant fix concrete, no matter how much funding you have.
If it cracks it was a bad mixture and needs replacement.
You will get the odd idiot thinking it can be fixed, until it breaks.
Kariba Dam wall safe, says Mavhaire. Bumper harvests upon us, says Made. I have heard this dribbling gutter trash time and time again. They are singing for their supper by telling bald faced lies. It’s revolution time to save our country from ongoing abuse by these zanu hyenas. More to come.
Unfortunately Mavhaire seems to have listened to the former ministers ranting’s saying he should listen to the professionals not fire so many crooked Zesa employees.
Problem is the professionals don’t have the expertise.
The way they are proceeding it is not a question of whether the dam will fail or not, with the level of expertise it will its a fact, there is no if about it.
Expertise will say the concrete mix is sub standard, replace the wall.
Kariba is over there are no concrete magicians in Africa or elsewhere.
I thoroughly enjoyed the chorus
I do not agree with Nzou calling the present government Hyenas. Hyenas are noble animals that serve a useful purpose in the broad sense of the environment. A much more accurate description of the perpetrators is sewer rat.
Sewer rats also have a vital connection, and usefulness, in the broader spectrum.
I would call them what God created to transport Lucifers embodiment – serpents!
Nyoka-in-Chief!
Any pretence of assurance from Mavhaire must be treated with the contempt it deserves. We need an assessment from experts in this field. The designer of the Kariba dam wall Andre Coyne fell seriously ill when the Malpasset dam wall he had designed collapsed in 1959 in France. He took it very seriously and subsequently died in 1960 as a result. He prophetically said of this dam in 1952 “Of all the works of mankind, dams are the most murderous” This is a very serious matter that would be the most devastating disaster we have ever faced if the wall collapsed.
Failure, destruction and disaster are viable options in Zimbabwe. Unless poor people in rich countries in the free world dig deep in their pockets to fund maintenance, Zanupf will do nothing and the wall will collapse. This will create great opportunity for zanupf to blame the west and ‘sanctions’.
The lunatics (zanupf) are running this asylum they call Zimbabwe and the one thing they are really good at is destruction of everything they touch.
This destruction will continue unabated unless the people rise up in revolution.
The army haven’t been paid either but they are too stupid and brainwashed to do anything about it.
Here we go again, lunatics still thinking concrete can be maintained.
I mean how do you give it a service, really!!!!
The concrete has had it and so has the dam.
Why not ask the despicable, experienced West for help.
After all Mitchell Construction built the Dam Thing.
Hey! The shame, shame, shameful West might even foot the bill!
They should foot the bill its an absolute nightmare of negligence.
Don’t understand any sensible person saying if…
The dam is going to collapse, it cannot be repaired – you cannot repair concrete. the more they mess with it the faster it will go. Its like balancing botles on top of each other and trying to take away the bottom one without them collapsing.
Time that the Batonka Gorge Dam was built?????
remember Kariba was just a stop gap while Batonka was built, even flow between them would increase electricity production as well or that was the idea at 1 time.
Forget the past there is more to building a dam than standing there saying if we block it here we can have a dam .
The surrounding rock needs tom be checked by geologists etc.
They were negligent so to follow their plans would be suicide.
My suggestion, is that we move the ZANU-PF Government headquarters to beautifil Kiambi.
This idyllic, untrammeled setting is on the sandy banks of the majestic Zambesi, plenty of electricity, fresh water, good roads, and in the DIRECT path of the dam’s massive flood.
The collapse will take place before before 2018!
I bet Nikuv could never have thought of that, as a totally effective Election rigging option!
Forget abandoned Mount Hampden, I say Kiambi!