The Environment Committee of the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate, headed by Dr. Eng. Manal Metwally, organized a symposium entitled "From the High Dam to Tanzania Dam... Years of Success in the African Continent and their Environmental Impact." The symposium was coordinated and moderated by Prof. Dr. Eng. Sherine Shawky - Committee Rapporteur, and presented by Eng. Ahmed Salah - Committee Deputy. The symposium included Eng. Heba Abu El Ela -Vice Chairman of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Wael Hamdy -Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Elsewedy Electric Company, Prof. Dr. Mohamed El Moatasem Kotb - former Director of the Nile Research Institute, Eng. Hossam Moharam - former Advisor to the Minister of Environment, Eng. Ahmed El Adalany - Board Member of the Arab Contractors Company, Eng. Rahab Yahya - Manager of the Arab Contractors Chairman Office, and Eng. Ahmed El Deeb - Manager of the Technical Support for Projects Department.
In her opening remarks, Dr. Eng. Manal Metwally – Chair of the Environment Committee praised the achievements of the Environment Committee during the past period and presented her vision for the committee’s future role in the coming days.
Eng. Heba Abou El Ela – AC Vice Chairman stressed that the success of the Egyptian JV of the Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric, in designing and implementing Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam in Tanzania represents a huge national achievement and a source of pride for all Egyptian engineers. She noted that Egyptian engineers were able to overcome the challenges they faced in this massive project.
Eng. Wael Hamdy explained that Julius Nyerere Hydropower Plant and Dam is the second largest in Africa in terms of height and installed power capacity. He emphasized that the project reflects Egyptian engineers' ability to embrace the latest construction technologies and engineering innovation. The project also contributed to honing the expertise of a new generation of young engineers, in addition to its humanitarian, environmental, social, and developmental dimensions.
Professor Dr. Sherine Shawky addressed the story of the struggle and success of the High Dam, reviewing the purpose of its construction, the challenges Egypt faced during that period, as well as the significant achievements and positive impacts due to this historic project and Egypt's successes over the 65 years since the laying of the foundation stone of the High Dam in January 1960 till the construction of Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania, as well as Egypt's leading role in the Nile Basin countries and its unwavering support.
Professor Dr. Mohamed El Moatasem Kotb highlighted that the construction of Julius Nyerere Dam, a large-scale endeavor led by Egyptian expertise, is a milestone achievement showcasing Egypt’s growing technological edge and ability to deliver on massive undertakings.
Eng. Hossam Moharam explored the environmental and social impacts of dams at every phase of their life cycle, emphasizing that the negative aspects of dams do not detract from their role in saving humanity from certain risks.
For their part, Eng. Ehssan Elatfy - Project Package Manager, Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project, Tanzania, and Eng. Mohamed Samaha - Project Manager of Julius Nyerere Dam in Tanzania, gave a detailed presentation on the construction phases. Eng. Ehssan Elatfy pointed out that the project was established to generate hydropower in Tanzania with a capacity of 2,115 megawatts, on Rufiji River, in Stiegler's Gorge Area, in the heart of Selous Game. He said that Rufiji Dam is a concrete dam 134 meters high, with 9 turbines, each with a capacity of 235 MW. It is located on an area of approximately 1,350 km2 and cost $2.9 billion. In addition, the project has 4 saddle dams will be built to increase the storage capacity to 34 billion m3. It is implemented in just 6 years.
Describing the project works, he explained that they include permanent roads connecting the site to the existing road network with a length of approximately 21 km, temporary internal service roads connecting all permanent facilities with a length of approximately 94 km, a 400 kV electrical connection station including electricity transmission line works, 4 variable dimension saddle dams for the length of the crest and the height of the dam for collecting and storing water, including 3 rock dams and the 4th made of RCC concrete with a length of 12 km, a 660 m long tunnel to divert river water, and a permanent concrete bridge over Rufiji River.
At the end of his lecture, he explored the main electromechanical works of the dam’s power station.
The symposium concluded with an open discussion, featuring several insightful contributions by Professor Abdulghani Al Jundi - Director of King Salman University - Ras Sedr Branch, and Professor Nadia Ashara, who addressed a topic related to hydropower generation and its role in supporting the sustainability of electrical energy in Egypt.