Kariba Dam

Concrete dam on the Zambezi River, on the Zambia-Zimbabwe border, about 386 km/240 mi downstream from the Victoria Falls, constructed 1955-60 to supply power to both countries.

The dam crosses the Kariba Gorge, and the reservoir, Lake Kariba, has important fisheries.

Work on the first stage of the dam began in 1956, with the first electricity being transmitted to the Zambian copperbelt in December 1959. The dam was officially opened in May 1960. Construction entailed the building of a concrete arch dam over 650 m/2,132 ft long and 128 m/420 ft high across the Zambezi to raise the water about 110 m/361 ft above the dry-season level of the river, flooding the Gwembe valley. The scheme involved the resettlement of 50,000 people whose lands were flooded, and the construction of power lines to the Zambian copperbelt and across Zimbabwe. The second stage involved the construction of a second underground powerhouse on the Zambian bank of the river with a capacity of 900 MW. Together, the power stations on each bank of the Zambezi River generate 6,700 million kWh of electricity per year.