Africa’s $5BN Megadam Will Block the Nile

[Music] this dam is absolutely huge the reservoir behind it will be roughly the same size as London while the dam itself will be twice as tall as the Golden Gate Bridge welcome to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam an epic name for an epic feat of engineering it's decades in the making and forms part of the country's so-called economic Miracle largely because it has the potential to lift millions of people out of poverty but it could also be the dangerous spark that ignites a whole new conflict in the region Egypt Sudan and Ethiopia are at odds over who controls the world's longest river a fight for the Nile this is the largest dam in Africa so large it has its own classification it's a mega Dam Mega what once complete it'll produce over 5 000 megawatts of electricity more than double Ethiopia's current output today and its Reservoir will hold 74 billion cubic meters of water the numbers here don't get any less overwhelming the dam itself is made of 10 million cubic meters of roller compacted concrete and is set to include two power stations three spillways and a saddle Dam the main Dam itself will be 145 meters deep by 1.7 kilometers long while the saddle dams supporting the main structure will be an astonishing 4.8 kilometers long by 45 meters high there'll be two Outdoor Power stations on either Bank of the river with the capacities generates roughly 2 000 to 3700 megawatts of power the first step on the journey to build something as enormous as this kind of sets the tone for the rest of the project the Casual diversion of the blue Gnar River in 2013. now as dramatic as that sounds it's actually pretty common when building dams here's how it works most dams are built over rivers but to pour concrete you need a dry working area so diversion channels or tunnels are formed around the side of a Dam's location for the period of its construction if you're going through hard rock then explosives are normally used to clear a path while soft soils and rocks are excavated once there's a dry space for workers foundations are late they have to be strong enough to withstand the weight of the dam and the enormous water pressures acting on them as we said the Renaissance Dam will be 145 meters deep almost the high of a skyscraper and that 74 billion meters of water behind it will create a lot of pressure those foundations absolutely cannot leak so the soil and rocks in the ground below the dam have to be strength tested and are sometimes removed and replaced with stronger materials once a dam is complete and in place the diversion tiles around it are blocked and water typically built into a reservoir behind the dam structure that's exactly what happened at the Hoover Dam on the Arizona Nevada border water is let through openings in the dam as necessary and often harnessed for hydroelectric power the immense scale of the Renaissance Dam has likely required special on-site concrete patching plants to be established close to the work sites they help to increase efficiency and can ensure more control over the delivery of materials something that's essential once you've started a big concrete pour but a lot of the construction details for the Renaissance Dam have been kept under wraps and that's all due to these somewhat fragile political nature of this project you see the damage being built here on the Blue Nile just 30 kilometers Upstream from the Sudan border and it's caused Fierce debate over exactly who owns the Nile and the water flowing in it Egypt's President sisi says the Nile is a question of life a matter of existence to Egypt it's worried that its share of the water will be reduced when Ethiopia starts to fill the mass of death there is no Egypt without water we either have water or there is no future for us further down river is Egypt and Egypt is well Egypt's pretty much entirely built around the Nile an astounding 85 percent of the country's water comes from just this one's source and some 95 percent of the country's population live within a few kilometers of this famous river canals from the Nile irrigate farms and support cities agriculture and fishing the Nile has breathed life into this desert region for thousands of years and if something were to happen to jeopardize that water source well the consequences could be disastrous and Egypt knows this now to design any kind of dam let alone a mega Dam with a reservoir the size of London you need a pretty solid grasp on engineering and maths while the way you learn to solve equations at school may have been a bit daunting today's video sponsor brilliant.org teaches subjects like maths Science and Engineering in a Hands-On and visual way he each course is broken down into short bite-sized classes which makes it easy to make regular progress and there are daily rewards to help keep you on a learning streak a solid understanding of geometry is key to anybody working or aspiring to work in construction with brilliant you can quickly learn the fundamentals like finding the area or Advanced topics like Palomino tiling whether you want to learn a new skill from scratch brush up on the stuff you might have forgotten from school or just learn for fun brilliant.org is a great way to test your brain power and learn key skills at the same time to get started try a free 30-day offer by visiting brilliant.org forward slash the b1m or by clicking the link in the description the first 200 people to sign up will receive a 20 discount off Brilliance annual subscription now let's get back to the Nile tensions in the region are high and this Dam seems to be at the center of it Egypt was even reportedly prepared to bomb it to protect their stake in the Nile so why would Ethiopia risk a potential war or for a shiny new dam well its government is hoping this Mega project will actually help lift the entire country out of poverty half of all Ethiopians today don't have access to electricity the dam is going to change that the country is already on the fast track to achieving its economic goals Ethiopia has become Africa's fastest growing economy in part boosted by Massive investment in infrastructure during this period of transformational growth Ethiopia has managed to reduce the number of people living in extreme poverty dramatically from over 50 percent of the population to 31 it's been called the Ethiopian economic miracle and it's becoming a model for other African countries major infrastructure projects play such an important role in this process for its parts Ethiopia has argued that the effects of the dam are going to be minimal on the countries that are Downstream while the benefits will be plentiful and can be shared but the debate over who can lay claim to the waters continues today talked between the countries have almost completely broken down with no agreement Mets despite the dam now being 90 complete and scheduled to be filled within three years whatever the outcome this is a piece of infrastructure that's likely to reshape more than just rivers in the region who is made possible by Brilliance you can learn more about that at the link below there's also the chance to dive deeper on this and the other topics on our Channel over on the world's best construction podcasts available now wherever you get your podcasts and as always if you enjoyed this video and you want to get more from the definitive video channel for construction make sure you're subscribed to the p1m thank you [Music]

Channel: The B1M

Views: 3,573,108

Keywords: B1M, TheB1M, Construction, architecture, engineering, The B1M, Fred Mills, building, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Nile, Africa, mega-dam, Ethiopia, Blue Nile, dam construction, Hoover Dam, Renaissance Dam, Egypt

Id: a_-BrHqQwXI

Length: 8min 30sec (510 seconds)

Published: Wed May 31 2023