Livingstone Falls [1] [2] ( French: Chutes de Livingstone ) is a group of waterfalls , rapids and rapids in the lower reaches of the Congo River in western equatorial Africa , on the border of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Congo . Named after the Scottish explorer of Africa D. Livingston , the waterfalls are a rapids section of the river, 350 km long with a total drop of 270 m. The average water flow in this section is about 42,000 m³ / s, second only to the Amazon in this parameter.
| Livingston Waterfalls | |
|---|---|
| fr. Chutes de livingstone | |
 Inga Falls - the most spectacular of the waterfalls | |
| Specifications | |
| Height | 270 m |
| Width | 300-800 m |
| Consumption | about 42,000 m³ / s |
| Location | |
| River | Congo |
| Country |
|
Content
History
Despite the fact that D. Livingston explored the upper Congo and never visited this section of the river, the waterfalls were named after him G.M. Stanley . Since the overhead lines are a barrier between the navigable sections of the Congo River, the railway was built, which makes it possible to transport goods to the Atlantic coast [3] bypassing the waterfall.
Description
The waterfalls consist of a series of rapids with a total drop of 270 m in the Congo stretch of 350 km, which ends in the port city of Matadi , Lower Congo province ( Democratic Republic of the Congo ). In total, in this section the river forms 32 waterfalls and rapids. [4] Some waterfalls have their own names: Inga Falls are called rapids at the bottom of Livingston Falls; Congo waterfall - part of the Inga waterfall with a total river fall of ~ 96 m. Upstream there is a flood of the Congo river called Lake Malebo .
The Congo River is the second most abundant river in the world, second only to the Amazon in this parameter, the latter being a lowland river in its lower reaches. Thus, if we take this threshold system for a waterfall , Livingston Falls are the largest waterfalls in the world in terms of water consumption per second.
A distinctive feature of this 350 km section of the river is the width of the canal through which the entire flow of water passes. [5] The channel is very narrow, in some places no more than 300 m and mostly not more than 800 m. Given that the water flow usually exceeds 42,000 m³ / s , this is an unusually narrow channel. The depths in this section are 230 m or more - thus the Congo is the deepest river in the world [6] .
Hydroelectric use
In general, the potential contained in Livingston Falls corresponds to more than ~ 113.4 GW or ~ 994 TW · h of electricity per year. [7] For comparison, in 2007 the generation by all stations of the unified energy system of Russia amounted to 997.3 TW · h. [eight]
Initial projects and studies date back to 1937 and were carried out by the Belgian colonial authorities. For decades, the construction of the Inga cascade of hydroelectric power plants has been implemented. The first Inga-1 hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 351 MW was erected in 1972 using the side channel of the Congo River passing through the abandoned Nkokolo Valley. In 1982, the Inga-2 power plant with a capacity of 1,424 MW was launched. For 2009, these hydropower plants are significantly worn out and are used by no more than 20% of their potential. [7] Inga-3 hydroelectric power station with a capacity of 4800 MW is under construction design and preparation stage, the construction of which is scheduled to begin in 2016 [9] .
Grand Inga Project
The main plans for the further development of the Inga cascade are related to the project of the last in the cascade of the Grand Inga hydroelectric station, located 6.5 km from the Inga-3 hydroelectric power station. Given the average water flow rate of 42,000 m³ / s, this section has a potential of 39 GW of electricity. In the event of the completion of the Grand Inga hydroproject, it will be the largest hydroelectric power station in the world in terms of installed capacity and electricity generation per year. According to the current project, it is planned to use one of the rapids of the river in this section. A quasi-flowing hydroelectric station is being considered, for which a small reservoir will be created on one of the river branches. For example, a pressure level of 102 m is possible in the area of the island of Sikila .
If implemented, the Grand-Inga HPP with an installed capacity of 39 GW will have 52 hydraulic turbines of 750 MW each, a dam 150 m high and will use a portion of the flow of 26,400 m³ / s. Thus, Grand Inga can almost double the Three Gorges hydroelectric power station in China .
For 2009, the Grand Inga project was in the pre-project planning stage. An international consortium operating under the auspices of the World Energy Council will be created for the construction of hydropower plants. The cost of the construction will be about $ 80 billion. According to the initial plans, it was assumed that construction would begin in 2014 and could be completed around 2025. However, now the Inga-3 HPP mentioned above is considered as the first stage of implementation [9] , the fate of the entire project as a whole continues to remain uncertain.
Livingston Falls in Literature
One of the waterfalls that make up the cascade is described in Jules Verne ’s novel “The Fifteen Years Captain ”.
Notes
- ↑ Livingston Falls // Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / ed. ed. A.M. Komkov . - 3rd ed., Revised. and add. - M .: Nedra , 1986. - S. 197.
- ↑ Equatorial Africa // Atlas of the World / comp. and preparation. to the ed. PKO "Cartography" in 1999; open Ed .: T.G. Novikova , T.M. Vorobyova . - 3rd ed., Eras., Fr. in 2002 with diaposes. 1999 - M .: Roskartografiya, 2002. - S. 196-197. - ISBN 5-85120-055-3 .
- ↑ Blanchart Charles: Le Rail au Congo Belge (2 tomes). Bruxelles: Blanchart, 1993/1999.
- ↑ Great Soviet Encyclopedia // B.A. Vvedensky II. - Moscow: Freight One named after Molotov, 09/09/1953. - T. 22 . - S. 332—333 .
- ↑ Congo Canyon , Britannica Online Encyclopedia
- ↑ The Congo Project , American Museum of Natural History (AMNH)
- ↑ 1 2 Province of Lower Congo , Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- ↑ See the article “Energy of Russia” .
- ↑ 1 2 DR Congo giant hydro dam work starts 2015
Links
- Congo Canyon , Britannica Online Encyclopedia