Kariba Dam

Kariba Dam

arch dam, hydroelectric power station

Year dem found am	1955, 1960
Reservoir created	Lake Kariba
Country	Zambia, Zimbabwe
Edey de administrative territorial entity insyd	Siavonga District, Kariba
Ein location	Zambia, Zimbabwe
Located in or next to body of water	Zambezi River
Coordinate location	16°31′18″S 28°45′41″E
Creator	André Coyne
Significant event	population transfer
Operator	Zambezi River Authority
Date of official opening	1959
Crosses	Zambezi River

De Kariba Dam be a double curvature concrete arch dam insyd de Kariba Gorge of de Zambezi river basin between Zambia den Zimbabwe. De dam dey stand 128 metres (420 ft) tall den 579 metres (1,900 ft) long. De dam dey form Lake Kariba, wich dey extend for 280 kilometres (170 mi) den dey hold 185 cubic kilometres (150,000,000 acre⋅ft) of water.

Construction

Na dem construct de dam on de orders of de Government of de Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, a 'federal colony' within de British Empire. De consulting engineers, wey be Gibb, Coyne, Sogei (Kariba) (PVT.) Limited, a joint venture of consulting engineers, wich include Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, wey ein team be led by Sir Angus Paton, den Coyne et Bellier, wey ein team be led by André Coyne. De double curvature concrete arch dam be constructed between 1955 den 1959 by Cogefar-Impresit of Italy at a cost of $135,000,000 for de first stage plus only de Kariba South power cavern. Final construction den de addition of de Kariba North Power cavern by Mitchell Construction na dem no plete am til 1977, secof largely political problems, for a total cost of $480,000,000. During construction, 86 construction workers loose dema lives.

De dam officially be opened by Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother on 17 May 1960.

Power generation

De Kariba Dam dey supply 2,010 megawatts (2,700,000 hp) of electricity to parts of both Zambia (de Copperbelt) den Zimbabwe wey dey generate 6,400 gigawatt-hours (23,000 TJ) per annum. Each country get ein own power station on de north den south bank of de dam, respectively. De south station wey dey belong to Zimbabwe be insyd operation since 1960 wey e get six generators of 125 megawatts (168,000 hp) capacity each for a total of 750 megawatts (1,010,000 hp).

Location

De way to Zambia thru Kariba Dam

Zambezi river basin

Na dem plan den carry out de Kariba Dam project by de Government of de Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. De Federation often be referred to as de Central African Federation (CAF). Na de CAF be a 'federal colony' within de British Empire insyd southern Africa wey exist from 1953 to de end of 1963, wey dey comprise de former self-governing British colony of Southern Rhodesia den de former British protectorates of Northern Rhodesia den Nyasaland. Northern Rhodesia decide earlier insyd 1953 (before na dem found de Federation) to build a dam within ein territory, on de Kafue River, a major tributary of de Zambezi. Na e go be closer to Northern Rhodesia ein Copperbelt, wich be in need of more power. Dis go be a cheaper den less grandiose project, plus a smaller environmental impact. Southern Rhodesia, de richest of de three, object to a Kafue dam wey dem insist dat de dam be sited instead at Kariba. Also, de capacity of de Kafue dam be much lower dan dat at Kariba. Initially, na de dam be managed den maintained by de Central African Power Corporation. De Kariba Dam now be owned den operated by de Zambezi River Authority, wich be jointly den equally owned by Zimbabwe den Zambia.

Since Zambia's independence, three dams have been built on de Kafue River: de Kafue Gorge Upper Dam, Kafue Gorge Lower Dam den de Itezhi-Tezhi Dam.