A Natural Wonder
The Zambezi River
The Victoria Falls
Formation of the Victoria Falls
People of the Victoria Falls
Enter the Ndebele
Discovery of the Victoria Falls
In Livingstone's Footsteps
Development of the Railway
To the Banks of the Zambezi
Development of the Falls
To The Congo
Development of Tourism
Development of Victoria Falls Town
Recent History
Further Information
Collectables

    
Discover the Victoria Falls with the Zambezi Book Company

To The Victoria Falls

Development of the Victoria Falls



The following text is adapted from 'Footsteps Through Time - A History of Travel and Tourism to the Victoria Falls', researched and written by Peter Roberts and first published in 2017. Please visit the Zambezi Book Company website for more information.



Harnessing the Power of the Falls

The British South Africa Company had originally sold the contract to develop the hydro-electric potential of the Zambezi in the vicinity of the Victoria Falls in 1901 as a key part of the industrial development of the region. On 24th July 1901 the African Concessions Syndicate Limited obtained a seventy-five year concession from the Company to harness the water power of the Zambezi at the Victoria Falls for the development of electrical power to supply mining and other industries.

Visions quickly spread of the industrial growth that would follow:

“It was confidently assumed that urban and industrial developments would be on the scale of Niagara City and Buffalo, which had grown up on the basis of power generated from the Niagara Falls... The South Africa Handbook of 1903 noted that thanks to the proximity of coal, minerals and water power, the site possessed ‘all the factors for the creation of a great manufacturing centre. A new Chicago, let us call it Cecilton, will spring up near the banks of the Zambezi.’... [In contrast] Niagara’s precedent was invoked again in debates over conservation, this time offering a negative example. Lord Curzon was not alone in feeling that the Victoria Falls were more sublime than Niagara on the grounds of the ‘lack of signs of civilization,’ and it was widely believed that new industrial prosperity in Niagara had spoilt its aesthetic appeal.” (McGregor, 2009)

At the time of the construction of the Falls Bridge, Varian, and another engineer, Everard, were detailed to conduct a survey of the Victoria Falls, above and below the Falls, to access the feasibility of a hydro-electric power generation scheme. Along with others of the same period, such as Molyneux and Lamplugh, they were the first to conduct scientific geological surveys of the area.

"A cross-section of the gorge below the bridge-site was made as part of the work, and soundings were taken from the bridge. The bottom was found to be extremely rough, either from fissures in the rock, or more probably from the presence of rock debris and boulders. The cross-section showed that the river shallowed under the right bank, and the bed shelved in a more or less even slope for nearly three-quarters of the distance to the left bank. The deepest sounding at lowest water in 1906 at this point showed a depth of 56 feet [17 metres]. From that point there was a steep rise to the cliffs on the left side of the gorge, and the highest flood mark to be found at that time was 45 feet [13.72 metres] above lowest water level. This would make the maximum possible depth of water, when the river was in flood below the bridge, about 101 feet [31 metres]." [Varian, 1953]

The concession to develop the power of the Falls which had been granted to the Africa Concessions Syndicate was ceded in late 1906 to the Victoria Falls Power Company Ltd. (renamed the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company Ltd. in 1909). By this agreement the Company was allowed to make use of the entire water power of the Zambezi in the vicinity of the Victoria Falls for the purpose of developing and transmitting electrical power.

Livingstone residents and investors in the power scheme would, however, have to wait over thirty years before development of the Victoria Falls hydro-electric scheme became a reality.

The Victoria Falls Power Scheme

Located by the ‘Silent Pool’ in the bend of the third and forth gorges, construction of the plant was begun in June 1936 by the Victoria Falls and Transvaal Power Company, the turbines being supplied by the English Electric Company and the pipe-line by the South Durham Iron and Steel Company.

The power station was opened on 16 March 1938, Sir Hubert Young, the Governor of Northern Rhodesia. The immediate scope of the scheme was to supply power to the neighbouring town of Livingstone and to the Victoria Falls Hotel.

“At the request of the Government great care was taken to avoid spoiling the beauty of the Falls. The water inlet is some distance above the Falls and an underground pipe-line leads to the top of a gorge some distance below them. An overhead power cable was necessary in one place, but it was put as far from the Falls as possible and it will not be seen by tourists. Even in the dry season the quantity of water taken by the Power Station is negligible in comparison with the total flow over the Falls.”

“The Power Station houses two reaction turbo-generators each giving 1000 kilowatts. The head water is almost constant throughout the year at 350ft and at full load 2,500 cubic ft of water per minute are taken… There is a 60 ft deep settling tank at the top of the gorge, which may be made into a public swimming bath.” (Parsons, 1938)

The plant was built quickly to avoid loss of the contract under the specified timescales, and small in scale, diverting only a small amount of flow from the Falls.

In 1949 the then Northern Rhodesian Government acquired all interests in the Company, including the hydro-electric undertaking, for the sum of £104,000.

Today the power station is composed of Station A, built in 1938, with four units of 2 megawatts (MW) each; Station B (built underground) was added in 1969 with six units of 10 MW each, and Station C, completed in 1972 with four units of 10 MW each. Altogether the power station is designed to provide an installed capacity of 108 MW.

In 1972 a report, by Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners (who also worked on Kariba Dam) prepared on behalf of the Central African Power Corporation (CAPCO), identified a number of other suitable sites on the Zambezi for development as hydro schemes. These included Batoka Gorge and Devil’s Gorge, upstream of Kariba and Mupata Gorge, downstream of Kariba.

Next page: Wings of War

Recommended Reading

Clark, J D [Editor] (1952) The Victoria Falls : A Handbook to the Victoria Falls, the Batoka Gorge, and part of the Upper Zambesi River Commission for the Preservation of Natural and Historical Monuments and Relics, Lusaka, Northern Rhodesia.

Further Reading

Roberts, P. (2021) Footsteps Through Time - A History of Travel and Tourism to the Victoria Falls. Zambezi Book Company.

Footsteps Through Time - A History of Travel and Tourism to the Victoria Falls


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Discover the Victoria Falls with the Zambezi Book Company

'To The Victoria Falls' aims to bring you the wonder of the Victoria Falls through a look at its natural and human history.

This website has been developed using information researched from a wide variety of sources, including books, magazines and websites etc too numerous to mention or credit individually, although many key references are identified on our References page. Many of the images contained in this website have been sourced from old photographic postcards and publications and no infringement of copyright is intended. We warmly welcome any donations of photographs or information to this website.

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