The Zambezi River Authority (ZRA) conducted critical commissioning tests on Kariba Dam’s sluice gates last week, marking the final stages of a four-year rehabilitation project, the agency announced.
Engineers released water equivalent to three seconds’ worth of power generation turbine operation through the gates over a four-minute period, directing it into the dam’s reshaped plunge pool to check for leaks and assess structural integrity.
The tests aimed to validate repairs to the gates and the plunge pool, which were overhauled to mitigate erosion risks. The $294 million rehabilitation project, jointly funded by Zambia, Zimbabwe, and international partners, began in 2019 after studies warned that erosion at the dam, one of Africa’s largest hydroelectric facilities, could compromise its stability.
ZRA planning officer Engineer Munesushe Mudzi said the tests were being undertaken to gauge the efficacy of the work undertaken over the past four years.
“Today (Friday), we were commissioning Sluice No. 2 that we have been working on since 2019. The tests are part of quality checks that we do,” said Eng Mudzi.
“We have done the tests and we used 1 500 cubic metres of water and in terms of power generation, this is similar to 3 seconds of turbines turning.”
The stop beams have to be tight when closed to ensure that no water passes through.
