French engineers to repair Kariba Dam wall
Zambia and Zimbabwe have identified French engineering company, Razel-Bec as the suitable firm to mend the Kariba Dam.
The dam was built to hold back up to 180 billion cubic meters of water, during the colonial era but of late its wall has been swelling, raising the risk of collapse. A 2015 report by AON warned that 3.5 million people in Zambia and Zimbabwe as well as Malawi and Mozambique along the Zambezi River were at risk if the dam was to collapse.
Speaking to Reuters Farai Furasa said:
It is a real risk that the dam could fall without that effort being put in place. Some forces are pushing toward the dam wall and digging into it and the water could slip underneath the dam and cause it to collapse.
Kariba Dam is managed by the Zambezi River Authority on behalf of Zambia and Zimbabwe and according to the authority’s safety manager Kozanai Gurukumba, the expansion should be completed by the end of 2020, while work on the spill-way to contain the swelling in the dam wall is expected to be done by 2022 and will cost $294 million which will be funded through a combination of grants and loans.
More: NewZimbabwe.com
