Merowe Dam: Pearl of Nile in Sudan

December 23, 2007 ( KHARTOUM) — Alongside a highway on the top of a some 10-km long dam, there is a wide lake with different kinds of boats running on the blue water, attracting a great number of domestic and foreign tourists.

The dream for the Sudanese in Merowe in Northern Province is becoming reality as the Chinese-built multipurpose Merowe Dam project is foreseeing its completion in the near future.

Invited by the dam management group CCMD JV, a Xinhua team arrived in the dam construction site to see its progress.

The project, called by people as “Pearl of Nile,” is a second dam built on the Nile River succeeding Aswan Dam of Egypt and the largest hydropower station under the construction both in Sudan and in Africa.

The dam, measuring 9.5 km by length and reaching a maximum height of 67 meters, is structured into a powerhouse and the main dam, which consists three types of sub-structure: a CFRD dam ( concrete-faced rockfill dam), ECRD dam that is built on riverbed with concrete cut-off-war embedded into bedrock for 4m and a concrete gravity dam.

With a reservoir capacity of 8.3 billion cubic meters and an irrigational extent reaching as far as over 400 km and covering an area of more than 66.67 hectares, the dam project can benefit more than 3 million local people.

Equipped with 10 generating units, the dam has a total installed capacity of 1.25 million kilowatt, two-fold of existing capacity in the whole country.

During a recent tour to Merowe, Sudanese President Omer al- Bashir affirmed that the lack of electricity would be solved when “the national project” of the Merowe dam is completed.

“In our aspiration to solving Sudan’s problems, we realized
that one of the biggest problems we faced was power,” the Sudanese
president said, adding that “the amount of power currently being
generated meets only a fraction of the requirements of the
Sudanese people.”

With a determination to construct a high-quality Merowe dam and
set an exemplary profile for China’s hydropower in overseas
construction, China’s SINOHYDRO Corporation and China
International Water & Electric Corp. (CWE) won the awards of
contracts for the project and formed the management group CCMD JV
on May 20, 2003.

Despite a variety of formidable challenges encountered, the project was formally commenced by the end of November 2003.

The construction of main work started in early December 2003 and has achieved five milestones in succession: completion of first stage cofferdam on March 31, 2004; passing river flows through spillway on Nov. 30, 2005; second stage of river closure on Dec. 31, 2005; raising the entire dam water-front structure prior to flood season and laying a solid foundation for the final success of the project.

Meanwhile, CCMD JV has set up auxiliary facilities required for the execution of the dam project, including pontoon bridge, crushed aggregate sieving system, concrete batching plant, temporary power plant, integrated processing plant, mechanical workshop and laboratory, and Chinese and employer’s camps.

“When I came here in Merowe in the first batch of the construction team, there was nothing except barren land of desert and a nearby small but very backward village,” a Chinese manager told Xinhua.

“But now you can see what a great change has taken place. I’m proud of being a member of the dam construction,” he said, pointing at the main body of the dam and the powerhouse, which is near completion.

From his fingers, Xinhua correspondents saw that the Merowe Dam is demonstrating its new outlook with rapid progress as standing lofty above the world-renowned Nile River with a length extending for some 10 km.

According to CCMD JV, some 88 percent work of the dam construction has been over and the whole work is estimated to be completed at the end of next year.

More than 2000 Chinese staffs, along with the same number of Sudanese, have overcome adverse natural conditions and extremely shortage of resources by relying on their diligences and wisdom.

A China Hydropower City was built on the river side near the dam with full furnished camp facilities like accommodation, canteen, supermarket, hospital, swimming pool, basketball/tennis courts and club.

In early morning wind, Muslims were praying while others busy preparing for a get-together to enjoy their Eid al-Adha feast as CCMD JV allows a five-day vocation for the 2000 Sudanese employees to celebrate one of the most important holidays of the Islamic calendar.

“We Sudanese are eager to see the completion of the dam which will surely play a great role in our national construction and development because power is a key factor for economic production, ” said Mohamed Hassan Elsheikh from the Dam Implementation Unit, the employer of Merowe project subordinate to Sudan Water Resource and Irrigation Ministry.

Calling Xinhua correspondents and other Chinese friends to take a picture with him on a newly-built bridge with Chinese assistance near the Merowe city, Elsheikh drew a bright future for local development.

Following the completion of this bridge and the dam highway, there is a connection of transport from Khartoum Port to other northern cities via Merowe, which is more convenient to link Sudan to Egypt’s Aswan, making a new tourist route between Sudan and Egypt, he said.

The Sudanese engineer, meanwhile, praised China for its sincere assistance and cooperation, saying that Sudan has benefit a lot from China’s real cooperation and assistance in recent years.

“We Sudanese can see great changes in economic and social development with the help of the Chinese, especially in oil, electricity and transport sectors,” he said.

(Xinhua)