The Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project (MZWP) is an ambitious

project A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

being undertaken in the arid

Matabeleland North Matabeleland North is a province in western Zimbabwe. With a population of 827,645 as of the 2022 census, it is the country's second-least populous province, after Matabeleland South, and the least densely Zimbabwean populated province. Matabele ...

province of

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

.The project seeks to end the perennial water shortages bedevilling Zimbabwe's second

city A city is a human settlement of a substantial size. The term "city" has different meanings around the world and in some places the settlement can be very small. Even where the term is limited to larger settlements, there is no universally agree ...

Bulawayo Bulawayo (, ; ) is the second largest city in Zimbabwe, and the largest city in the country's Matabeleland region. The city's population is disputed; the 2022 census listed it at 665,940, while the Bulawayo City Council claimed it to be about ...

by bringing water from the mighty

Zambezi The Zambezi (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than half of t ...

river to the

The project

The

can be classified as a major project. It is expected to cost US$600 million which is a huge investment by African standards. The project will consist of three phases as follows: *Phase one: Gwayi-Shangani Dam *Phase two: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo Pipeline *Phase three: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Zambezi River Pipelne

Phase one: Gwayi-Shangani Dam

The Gwayi-Shangani dam is the first phase of the MZWP and is the core of the project. Commenced in September 2004, it is expected to provide a

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

for this project. The

dam A dam is a barrier that stops or restricts the flow of surface water or underground streams. Reservoirs created by dams not only suppress floods but also provide water for activities such as irrigation, human consumption, industrial use, aqua ...

will be located about 6 km downstream of the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Gwayi River and Shangani River.

Dam type and description

*Type: It is a roller-compacted concrete

gravity dam A gravity dam is a dam constructed from concrete or stone masonry and designed to hold back water by using only the weight of the material and its resistance against the foundation. Gravity dams are designed so that each section of the dam is ...

, which means it is a

relying on its weight for stability. *Dimensions **Length: 305 metres from one mountain to the other. **Width: 60 metres at the base. **Height: 70 metres maximum. **Bridge: Dam will have a

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

at the top of

width Length is a measure of distance. In the International System of Quantities, length is a quantity with dimension distance. In most systems of measurement a base unit for length is chosen, from which all other units are derived. In the Intern ...

8 m. *Depth and capacity **Maximum water depth: 59 metres, 11 metres freeboard. **Capacity: 634 million m³ **10% Yield: 210 million m³ *Materials used and quantities **

Concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

: 300,000 m³ **

Quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

: 400,000 m³ **

Cement A cement is a binder, a chemical substance used for construction that sets, hardens, and adheres to other materials to bind them together. Cement is seldom used on its own, but rather to bind sand and gravel ( aggregate) together. Cement mi ...

water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

ratio: 0.55 **

Fly ash Coal combustion products (CCPs), also called coal combustion wastes (CCWs) or coal combustion residuals (CCRs), are byproducts of burning coal. They are categorized in four groups, each based on physical and chemical forms derived from coal combust ...

/cement ratio: 7:3 **Concrete grades: dental 20, other 25.

Phase two: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo Pipeline

The envisaged pipeline will be 260km. Construction of the pipeline is scheduled to be completed in 2022. In April 2021, the Government of Zimbabwe floated a tender for the construction of the pipeline.

The project

Phase one: Gwayi-Shangani Dam

Dam type and description

Phase two: Gwayi-Shangani Dam to Bulawayo Pipeline

References

Further reading