More Kariba Dam

[GrahamS]

This is one of the power generator chambers under construction. It was carved out of the solid bedrock, this one on the southern bank of the river. Rolleiflex f2.8 Planar, Kodak Tri-X 400 ASA and no, I don't remember what the aperture or exposure time was but I remember counting pineapples as I did not posess an exposure meter - confiscated by my father.


Kariba dam was constructed between 1956 and 1959. The site of the dam wall can be seen here top left corner, overwhelmed by floodwaters caused by heavy rains. This entire area would later become submerged under the rising waters of the new Lake Kariba.



It took five years to build Kariba dam wall. It was built by an Italian contractor, Impresit SA, who imported all of the required labour from Italy and who never used any local labour at all. The workers were housed in this village, built on the top of a hill overlooking the construction site. 86 workers lost their lives during the construction, 58 of whom are entoumbed in the concrete of the dam wall.


The power generator chamber at a later date, after the turbines have been installed. There are six generators of 111 megawatts (149,000 hp) capacity each for a total of 666 megawatts (893,000 hp).


Near completion.

More here:
https://flic.kr/s/aHsmVdUivi

And here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kariba_Dam

[alexvaras]

Impressive!!
Last one deserves a large print!

[GrahamS]

Impressive!!
Last one deserves a large print!

Alex, the Power Board actually had a 3m x 2m print made which I saw in the foyer of their offices.

[Philip]

Beautiful pictures. That big enlargement must have be a sight to behold.

[Julio1fer]

Very impressive construction and great pictures!

86 workers lost their lives during the construction, 58 of whom are entoumbed in the concrete of the dam wall.

What a price to pay for a dam, and what a tomb. I am making a minute of silence and reflection.

[GrahamS]

Very impressive construction and great pictures!

86 workers lost their lives during the construction, 58 of whom are entoumbed in the concrete of the dam wall.

What a price to pay for a dam, and what a tomb. I am making a minute of silence and reflection.

I like to think that such statistics would never be tolerated today. Back then, I don't think the words "Health & Safety" had been coined.

[titrisol]

Julio,
That price was quite common back then, and is still common today in such size projects. I actually find it amazing that they buried them in the concrete; which I find a very fitting tribute.
In a tall dam, the slightest mistake can have the highest price, and slip/falls and landslides happen more often than we know.

E.G. I know that building the Paute Dam in the late 70s in Ecuador at least 40 people died (my uncle was a hydraulic engineer for the Electric Works), even recently over 20 in the Coca-Codo dam that was built in the last 10 yrs --which was built by chinese company and is already failing, besides destroying the tallest waterfall in EC due to poor design --
When I visited Iguazu, someone mentioned that during the construction of Itaipu dam at least 120 deaths were recorded

Very impressive construction and great pictures!

86 workers lost their lives during the construction, 58 of whom are entoumbed in the concrete of the dam wall.

What a price to pay for a dam, and what a tomb. I am making a minute of silence and reflection.

[GrahamS]

Julio,
That price was quite common back then, and is still common today in such size projects. I actually find it amazing that they buried them in the concrete; which I find a very fitting tribute.

I know for a fact that many of those who perished weren't buried in the concrete intentionally - they fell into the shuttered wet casts while the concrete was being poured and could not be retrieved.