Massingir Dam rehabilitation Project

The bottom outlet of the Massingir dam on the Elefant River in Mozambique was revamped, just a few miles from the Limpopo Natural Park, famous for its variety of fauna.

The main irrigation system that will distribute water throughout Mozambique, essential for agriculture and for the life in the Country, was damaged by the explosion of a part of the plant caused by an operator maneuvering mistake in 2008.

The rehabilitation of the bottom outlet of the hydroelectric power plant was commissioned to ATB Riva Calzoni in October 2015, which in Massingir has opened a temporary workshop - equipped with rolling machines, welding and cladding machines, sandblasting and painting facilities, a bridge crane and a derrick crane – to enabling the producion on the spot.

For the hydropower project, commissioned by the governmental agency Ara Sul, the company provided and laid two penstocks of 260-meter-long, 6,4-meter diameter steel liners, radial gates, hydraulic units and control panels.

The design studies of steel liners and hydromechanical devices were carried out in Roncadelle, Italy, while the hydropower equipment was produced in a temporary workshop by 130 workers organized on 2 work shifts.

The works were successfully completed, although some difficulties are dependent on the tropical climate. For example, drawing on anti-corrosive components with paints that can dry only in the absence of moisture.

Overall, the hydropower project has planned rehabilitation of the bottom outlet works, construction of surface and subsurface drainage systems related to both the outlet works and the embankment, construction of dam safety related works, rehabilitation of dam instrumentation, the rehabilitation, repair and maintenance of existing houses and buildings, upgrading of roads, and the rehabilitation and upgrading of the water supply and distribution system for the Town of Massingir.