African Entrepreneurship Records

  Chapter 326 "Central Canal" project

   What Constantine said about putting the Ndebele people in the east to dig canals was not just talk, but a huge project that had completed geological exploration and was ready to start construction.

  The East African government named this project the "Central Canal" project, which mainly connects the three main rivers in the central province and develops its shipping value.

  The three main rivers from north to south are the Wami River, the Little Rhine (Rufu River), and the Rufiji River.

Among them, the Wami-Little Rhine River is an inland swamp extending from the semi-arid Dodoma area to the Morogoro area, extending to the coastal cities, and finally reaching the Bagamoyo area, with a drainage area of ​​about 62,000 square kilometers. Among them, the Wami River basin covers an area of ​​about 43,000 square kilometers, and the Little Rhine River basin covers an area of ​​about 18,000 square kilometers. There are about 12 lakes with an area greater than 0.1 square kilometers in the basin, and the famous Morogoro National Park and Saadani National Park in Tanzania in the previous life are also in this basin.

  This basin was an economically developed area in Tanzania in the previous life. Tanzania's largest city-Dar es Salaam and the capital Dodoma are both located in this basin.

Similarly, it is also the most developed region in East Africa. The first town, Dar es Salaam, Bagamoyo, three of the top ten cities in East Africa, and Dodoma, the capital of the plateau province, so The future development potential is huge.

  The Rufiji River Basin was the largest river basin in Tanzania in the past, with an area of ​​about 177,400 square kilometers, accounting for one-fifth of the country's total area, and the Rufiji River is also the largest river in Tanzania. The basin provides about 25% of Tanzania's renewable water resources. In addition, the altitude of the basin ranges from 0 meters in the Indian Ocean to the mountainous area of ​​about 3,000 meters in the Mbeya region, and the climate varies from the tropical humid east to the temperate southern highlands.

  The river sections to be developed in East Africa are mainly concentrated in the middle and lower reaches of these three rivers, where the terrain is relatively flat, that is, the eastern coastal plain.

  After the completion of the project, it will cover an area of ​​about 70,000 square kilometers in the three river basins. It can realize the transportation of people and logistics through the canal, and open up the two channels of the central province's transportation.

  …

   May 3, 1871.

  Period Witte Palace.

  The chief designer of the canal project, Austrian water conservancy engineer Vaskov, introduced the construction plan of the "Central Canal" project to Constantine and East African officials on the sand table.

Vaskov: "At present, our plan is to build a 47-kilometer canal from the upper reaches of the Little Rhine to connect the middle reaches of the Rufiji River, and then connect to the Rufiji River through Lake Nazka in the east of Mpanga, so that the Rufiji River The river water can naturally flow into the Little Rhine along the terrain."

Constantine: "Mr. Vaskov, from the sand table, it can be seen that there are two rivers flowing into the upper reaches of Lake Nazca, so the terrain here should **** from northwest to southeast. Shouldn't the water of the Little Rhine flow into the Rufiji River? "

Vaskov gestured to the sand table and said: "Your Majesty, the area where the Rufiji River flows is generally higher than the Little Rhine River. The terrain of the Little Rhine River Basin is quite special. The northwest is the extension of the East African Plateau, and the Rufiji River Basin in the south. It is also higher than the Little Rhine Basin, so the Little Rhine is a depression in East Africa as a whole.

However, as you said, the terrain in the upper reaches of Lake Nazca obviously slopes from northwest to southeast. After all, it is common sense that water flows to lower places, but to the east of Lake Nazca, the terrain has reversed. Encountered the lower valley of the Little Rhine, the area where Lake Nazca is located is like a highland, which becomes the watershed between the Little Rhine and the Rufiji River.

  So we only need to open a hole in the northeast of Lake Nazca, and then dig a channel to bring water from this highland into the Little Rhine Plain to solve this problem. "

Everyone looked at the place where Vaskov gestured with his fingers. The effect displayed on the sand table there was a whole plain, but in fact, Vaskov found that although it was a plain, there were certain terrain differences after field inspection. .

  Konstantin: "In other words, the terrain here does not hinder the excavation of the canal?"

Vaskov: "It's like this. Compared with Austria, the terrain drop here is nothing at all. It only needs to dig one or two meters deeper in the channel from Lake Nazka in the south to the Little Rhine Plain to ensure the canal's safety. In normal operation, a distance is about three kilometers, and the amount of work will not increase too much.”

  Konstantin: "Then deepen it."

   Anyway, the natives dug the canal, so Constantine didn't feel bad about using it.

Vaskov continued: "The above is the southern line project of the Central Canal, which mainly connects the Rufiji River with the Little Rhine River. As for the northern line project, it connects the Little Rhine River and the Wami River. Now there are two plans. Your Majesty is still needed. to decide."

  Konstantin: "Let's talk about it first."

Vaskov: "The first plan is to build a channel along the coast at the bottom of the two rivers, so that the purpose of connecting the Little Rhine and Wami can be achieved, but in this case, it will be parallel to the shipping route, and the distance between the two It is too close (refer to the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal), which is a bit difficult to build."

  Konstantin: "What about the second plan?"

Vaskov: "The second option is to dig a northwest-southeast canal in the interior near Morogoro, and use the terrain drop to connect the Little Rhine and the Wami River, but this route will follow the Ulu Gulu Mountains The plain area on the east side of the project is built, and the length is almost twice that of the first plan, which requires a large amount of engineering and higher technical requirements."

  Konstantin asked: "Can the requirements be met technically?"

In this regard, Vaskov is full of confidence: "Your Majesty, I have a wealth of experience in Austria. I believe you know the terrain of Austria. The terrain conditions there are far more complicated than those in the eastern coastal plain of East Africa. Building a canal in this area , just like building a canal in Hungary, there is not much difficulty and challenge, but from the perspective of economic interests, I am more inclined to option one, after all, the east is more developed, and the length of the canal is shorter, and the construction cost is also lower.”

Constantine: "This matter should not focus on the current situation. Although the cities in the east are relatively mature at present, with the development of East Africa, the inland development speed is also very fast. As for the two solutions, each has its own advantages and disadvantages. Can we Build two canals at the same time?"

   Vaskov: "It is theoretically possible, but in this way, the cost of building the canal will be high, and a lot of manpower will be required to fill it."

  The translation of Vaskov’s words is to prepare for the death of a large number of manpower due to the doubling of the project.

"Hehehe!" Constantine sneered: "Don't worry about this matter. I have prepared a lot of manpower for the canal construction, but it will take time for them to get here. We can first build the canal section with the lowest difficulty and the least amount of work. Construction is complete."

Vaskov didn't care about this. There must be no shortage of slaves in East Africa. He said: "The least difficult is the first plan to communicate between the Wami River and the Little Rhine. As for the least amount of work, the Little Rhine connects Rufe. The canal of the Gee River, if you consider it comprehensively, the canal from the Rufiji River to the Little Rhine River best meets your requirements."

  Konstantin: "Then build the canal from the Rufiji River to the Little Rhine first, and then consider the canal from the Wami River to the Little Rhine when the manpower is ready."

  The Central Canal project has a total length of about 180 kilometers and is divided into three sections, which are equivalent to the length of the Suez Canal, connecting the Little Rhine, the Wami River and the Rufiji River.

Among them, the canal from the Wami River to the lower reaches of the Little Rhine is called Canal No. 1, the canal from the Wami River to the upper reaches of the Little Rhine is called Canal No. 2, and the canal from the middle reaches of the Rufiji River to Lake Nazka and the upper reaches of the Little Rhine is called Canal No. 3. canal.

  Among the three canals, the last two canals flow to the Little Rhine. After completion, in addition to improving shipping conditions, they can also provide irrigation water for areas along the line, further enhancing the development potential of the Three Rivers Basin.

  (end of this chapter)