Tokwe Mukorsi Dam

The Tokwe Mukorsi Dam is a concrete-face rock-fill dam on the Tokwe River, just downstream of its confluence with the Mukorsi River, about 72 kilometres (45 mi) south of Masvingo in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe.[1] It is 90.3 metres (296 ft) tall and creates a 1,750,000,000 m3 (1,420,000 acre⋅ft) reservoir, the largest inland dam in the country. The associated hydroelectric power station has a 12 megawatts (16,000 hp) installed capacity.[2]

Tokwe Mukorsi Dam
Location of Tokwe Mukorsi Dam in Zimbabwe
CountryZimbabwe
LocationMasvingo
Coordinates21°03′46.25″S 30°23′39.99″E
PurposeWater storage, flood control, irrigation, fisheries, power
StatusOperational
Construction began1998
Opening date2016
Construction costUS$200 million
Dam and spillways
Type of damEmbankment, concrete-face rock-fill
ImpoundsTokwe River
Height90.3 m (296 ft)
Width (crest)8.5 m (28 ft)
Dam volume1,915,000 m3 (67,600,000 cu ft)
Reservoir
Total capacity1,750×10^6 m3 (1,420,000 acre⋅ft)
Catchment area7,120 km2 (2,750 sq mi)
Surface area96.4 km2 (37.2 sq mi)
Maximum water depth82.7 m (271 ft)
Commission dateMay 2017
Installed capacity12 MW (16,000 hp)

Construction on the dam began in June 1998 but stalled in 2008. Salini Impregilo began to finish the dam in 2011. Heavy flooding in February 2014 caused a partial failure on 4 February, on the downstream face of the dam.[3][4] By late February the dam had not been fully breached but the unplanned rising reservoir behind the dam caused evacuations upstream.[5] Both upstream and downstream, over 20,000 people were evacuated.[6] Construction of the dam was suspended in June 2014 due to a lack of funding.[7][8] In May 2016 the government released $35 million to Salini Impregilio to enable the Italian contractor resume construction work that stopped two years ago owing to payment problems.[9] The Dam was eventually completed in December 2016 and commissioned in May 2017.[10]

  • Water has not settled as yet.
  • Looking east you can get the best view of the dam.
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References
  1. "Update:Flood water over Tokwe Mukorsi Dam" (PDF). ReliefWeb. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  2. "Cheap design linked to problems at Tokwe-Mukosi". Nehanda Radio. 15 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  3. "Water gushes over crumbling dam wall in Zimbabwe". Digital Journal. 9 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  4. "Tokwe - Mukorsi Dam". Salini Impregilo. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  5. "Update: Tokwe Mukorsi dam in Zimbabwe". Digital Journal. 25 February 2014. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  6. "In photos: The aftermath of Zimbabwe's Tokwe-Mukorsi dam disaster". Daily Maverick. 14 April 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  7. "Tokwe-Mukorsi construction suspended". News Day. 26 June 2014. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
  8. "Tokwe Mukosi dam complete". The Zimbabwean. 7 January 2015. Archived from the original on 19 January 2015. Retrieved 17 January 2015.
  9. Tokwe-Mukosi Dam contractor resumes work
  10. "Tokwe-Mukosi dam".
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