Wonders of World Engineering

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ONE of the biggest feats engineering in Africa in recent years was the building of the Benguela Railway, from the port of Lobito across Angola to the Belgian Congo and Northern Rhodesia. The railway was built with British material and British capital. At Nova Lisboa are huge railway repair shops, for which power is derived from the hydro-electric plant at the Cuando River Falls a few miles away.






















WORKMEN are shown (bottom) preparing a trench for the pipe line which carries the water to the electric generators. The men are drilling holes to take charges of gelignite which will blast the rock and earth. In the trench a concrete bed was prepared (top) to take the pipe line. Sections of the pipe line are lowered into the trench and riveted together, as shown on the left-hand side.

























[From part 13, published 25 May 1937]



You can read more on “An African Power Scheme”, “The Birchenough Bridge” and “Romance of African Copper” on this website.

Electricity in the Heart of Africa