Harnessing The Shire River

Series

Series Name

Rhodesian Spotlight

Issue

Issue No.

45

Length of issue (in feet)

769

Stories in this Issue:

1. 1Harnessing The Shire River
2. 2Tales of the Tall Timber
3. 3Flashes from far and near

Story

Story No. within this Issue

1 / 3

Summary

Rhodesian Spotlight synopsis: The building of a NoS across the Shire River which raises it to the same level as Lake Nyasa, is the first constructional step in the Shire Valley project.
Rhodesian Spotlight Commentary - The first objective in the Shire Valley project is to stabilise the level of Lake Nyasa. From its Southern tip the Shire River pours out with varying seasonal violence, to join the Zambezi 370 miles away. On that journey the Shire plunges over the famous Murchison Falls.
At Liwonde a NoS or embankment was built across the Shire with the aid of calbes and submarine nets. And to help withstand the pressure, the hulk of an old anti-slavery boat was sunch alongside the NoS. This temporary dam has taken 4 1/2 months to build and tousands of tons of rock have been moved into it. The pressure naturally rose as the gap grew smaller, and when completed it raised the river level 4 feet to equal that of Lake Nyasa. The NoS will also act as a coffer dam for the building of the permanent dam at Natopo lower down, where a Hydro Electric Power Station will be added later. The closure was successfully completed - the first major step in the vast scheme which will have a profound effect on Nyasaland’s progress.

Keywords

Buildings and structures; Ships and boats; Energy resources

Written sources

Movietone boxfile no.1   Used for synopsis

Credits:

Production Co.

Central African Film Unit

Length of story (in feet)

122

This series is held by:

Film Archive

Name

British Film Institute (BFI)

Email

For BFI National Archive enquiries:
nonfictioncurators@bfi.org.uk
For commercial/footage reuse enquiries:
footage.films@bfi.org.uk

Web

http://collections-search.bfi.org.uk/web

Phone

020 7255 1444

Fax

020 7580 7503

Address

21 Stephen Street
London W1T 1LN

Notes

The BFI National Archive also preserves the original nitrate film copies of British Movietone News, British Paramount News, Empire News Bulletin, Gaumont British News, Gaumont Graphic, Gaumont Sound News and Universal News (the World War II years are covered by the Imperial War Museum).

Series held

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