CACULO CABAÇA HYDROPOWER PROJECT

M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado *, A. Chico†

*
COBA – Engineering and Environmental Consultants
Av. 5 de Outubro, 323, 1649-011 Lisboa, Portugal
e-mail: c.costa / a.amador / a.santo / a.morgado@cobagroup.com, webpage: www.coba.pt
†
GAMEK - Gabinete de Aproveitamento do Médio Kwanza (Angola)
e-mail: augustuchico@gmail.com

Keywords: Caculo Cabaça, Hydropower, Dam, Concrete, Reservoir

Abstract. The Caculo Cabaça Hydropower Project in Angola, with a nominal capacity of
2 172 MW, is the third of seven steps of the cascade development in the middle Kwanza
River, downstream Capanda and Laúca hydropower schemes. The scheme dominates a
112 663 km² watershed, with 587 m³/s average flow.
The scheme includes a dam, two saddle dams, an underground waterway and power plant
and an environmental flow power plant adjacent to the dam.
The Caculo Cabaça dam is a 103 m-high RCC gravity dam with a crest length of 553 m,
impounding a reservoir with a capacity of 436 x 106 m3 and an inundated area of 16.6 km2.
The dam includes a frontal spillway located on the central blocks of the dam, controlled by
five radial gates for a design flood of 10 020 m3/s and a double bottom outlet, for a
maximum discharge of 1 348 m3/s at full supply water level.
The waterway system is designed for a water discharge of 1 100 m3/s. Four concrete-lined
vertical pressure shafts with a diameter of 9 m lead the water from the reservoir to the
underground power plant involving a drop of 190 m. The power plant, is equipped with
four 530 MW Francis turbines coupled to a 590 MVA generator, operating at a nominal
net head of 209 m. The cavern accommodating the power plant has the following
dimensions: 26.5 m-wide, 221 m-long and 68 m-high. Two pressurized tailrace tunnels,
with a length of about 5 200 m and an unlined arch-rectangle cross section, 16 m-wide and
16 m-high, convey the turbined water into the Kwanza River.
The mass oscillation scheme designed for transient pressures consists of two surge
chambers, with a required area of about 1 000 m2 each.
The environmental flow power plant, at the toe of the dam, on the left bank, is equipped
with a 52 MW Francis turbine, for a rated flow of 60 m3/s.
This paper addresses the main aspects of the detailed design layout adopted for the tender
of the Caculo Cabaça Hydropower Project, highlighting some major key components, in
particular those regarding the dam.

†
GAMEK - Gabinete de Aproveitamento do Médio Kwanza (Angola)

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

1 INTRODUCTION
Angola is currently developing several major hydropower projects, under the national
Energy Development Program, to satisfy the increasing demand of electricity in the country
and to foster local, social and economic development.
The Kwanza watershed is one of the major water resources in Angola, with a total
drainage area of 151 250 km2, covering the Maçamba and Malange plateau and the
Provinces of Huambo, Bié, Cuanza Sul, Cuanza Norte, Bengo and Luanda.
The Kwanza River has its source in the Angola plateau, near the city of Huambo, at an
elevation of approximately (1 500), covering a length of 1 000 km to reach the Atlantic
Ocean, about 60 km south of Luanda.
The river basin and river network are
subdivided into three main physiographic units:
Upper, Middle and Lower Kwanza (Figure 1).
The Middle Kwanza, with an area of about
23 000 km2 and a length of 200 km, is located
between the Cangandala bridge and
Cambambe, following an East-West direction.
This river reach is where the main falls and
rapids can be found making it very attractive for
hydropower development.
The average annual precipitation in the
Kwanza basin varies between 1 400 mm in the
center of the basin and 600 mm near the ocean,
with an average of about 1 200 mm for the
whole basin.
Figure 1: The Kwanza River basin

Due to the large hydropower potential of the middle course of the Kwanza River, along with
the large flows and available heads, and the proximity to the main consumption areas, namely
the capital city Luanda, the construction of a cascade development which includes 7 schemes
has long been foreseen (Figure 2).

Figure 2: Existing, under construction and planned hydropower schemes in the Kwanza River

Around 2024, with the existing hydropower schemes of Cambambe and Capanda, together
with the new projects that have been coming into service since 2016 – the Cambambe 1 Power
upgrade (266 MW), Cambambe 2 (714 MW), Laúca (2 069 MW) and Caculo Cabaça
(2 172 MW) the installed capacity will guarantee a continuous supply of electricity to the
region.

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The present paper describes the main aspects of the detailed design layout adopted for the
tender of the Caculo Cabaça hydropower project (HPP) [1], highlighting some major key
components, in particular those concerning the dam.

2 OVERVIEW OF THE CACULO CABAÇA HYDROPOWER PROJECT

The Caculo Cabaça Hydropower Project in Angola, with 2172 MW nominal capacity, is the
third scheme of the cascade development in the middle section of the Kwanza River. It is
located 19 km downstream of the Lauca HPP, 70 km upstream of the Cambambe HPP and
260 km southeast of the city of Luanda.
The scheme dominates a 112 663 km² watershed, with an average flow of 587 m³/s.
The Caculo Cabaça scheme includes a dam, two saddle dams, an underground waterway
and power plant as well as an environmental flow power plant adjacent to the dam (Figure 3).

Figure 3: Aerial overview of the Caculo Cabaça Hydropower Project

The Caculo Cabaça dam consists of a 103 m-high RCC gravity dam with a crest length of
553 m at elevation (633), founded on a gneiss rock mass outcropping in the river bed at
elevation (530). With full supply water level (FSWL) at elevation (630), the dam impounds a
reservoir with a capacity of 436 hm3and maximum inundated area of 16.6 km2. The upstream
face is vertical and the downstream slope is 0.85h/1v.

Figure 4: Caculo Cabaça dam overview

In the central blocks, aligned with the main river bed, the dam accommodates a frontal
overflow spillway with a 10 020 m3/s design flood. The spillway is divided into five bays, has
its crest at elevation (612.5) and is controlled by 12.4(w)x19.3(h) m2 radial gates. The flow is
guided along the downstream surface of the dam onto a flip-bucket that directs the water into
an excavated plunge pool (30 m-deep and 200 m-long) at the toe of the dam.

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

Figure 5: Spillway cross section

In the two blocks contiguous with the spillway, on the right side is located the double bottom
outlet, with a maximum discharge flow of 1 348 m3/s at FSWL, each one equipped, from
upstream to downstream with, a 6 m x 7.5 m fixed-wheel safety gate, a steel liner with a
diameter of 6 m and a 5 m x 5.1 m radial gate for flow regulation. The waterway system of the
environmental flow power plant is located on the block adjacent to the spillway on the left side,
which includes an independent submerged intake tower 25 m high and an inlet sill at elevation
(566) protected by trash racks. The steel liner with a diameter of 4 m crosses the dam body at
elevation (540). The environmental waterway is controlled by a 3.2 m x 4 m fixed-wheel safety
gate for the emergency shutdown.

Figure 6: Bottom outlet cross section Figure 7: Water intake of the environmental flow power
plant
Additional characteristics of the dam and main aspects of its design layout are presented in
section 3.
Two saddle dams on the left bank are required to close the reservoir at full supply and
maximum water levels. Their maximum height is 36 m and the total crest length is 717 m. It
was decided to adopt a RCC gravity profile for both saddle dams, in order to take advantage of
the existing facilities at the construction site and thus avoiding the execution of different types
of works, which would have been necessary in case a rockfill dam solution had been selected.
The dam construction will be carried out under the protection of the upstream and
downstream rockfill cofferdams with clayey core and the following dimensions: heights of
24 m and 14 m and crest lengths of 229 m and 154 m, respectively. A symmetrical cross section
with upstream and downstream slopes of 1.5h:1v was adopted and a 15 m-wide crest, to allow
vehicle circulation. The river will be diverted through two tunnels, inserted in the right bank,
surrounding the area limited by the cofferdams, with lengths of about 350 m and 410 m and a
horseshoe cross section with a maximum width and height of 14.4 m (Figure 8). In the tunnels

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

inlet is a 30 m-long reinforced concrete structure which accommodates 6 stoplogs and a

fixed-wheel gate.

Figure 8: Caculo Cabaça diversion tunnels on the Figure 9: Water intake structure in the reservoir and
right bank and cofferdams switchyard (behind)
The waterway system, located in the left bank, is totally underground and designed for a
water discharge of 1 100 m3/s.
The water intake structure, located 2.4 km upstream of the dam’s left abutment, conveys the
flow directly to four reinforced concrete lined vertical pressure shafts, with diameters of 9 m,
involving a drop of 190 m (Figures 9 and 10).
Four steel lined headrace tunnels, 60 m-long
with diameters of 6.5 m, lead to the underground
power plant. The cavern accommodating the
power plant is 26.5 m-wide and 221 m-long. The
cavern’s height varies between 68 m in the
turbine-generator unit’s area and 28 m in the
equipment assembly hall.
The underground power plant is equipped
with four Francis vertical axis turbines including
cylindrical valves with a nominal capacity of
530 MW, coupled to a 590 MVA generator,
operating at a nominal net head of 209 m. The
connection to the transformers located on the
surface, is made through 21 kV isolated busbars
installed in two shafts with diameters of 9 m and
heights of 243 m (Figure 10). The switchyard is
located beside the transformers on a platform
(Figure 9).
Figure 10: Underground waterway system and
power plant
The average annual energy
generation is around 8 120 GWh.
The power plant is equipped with
two double girder overhead cranes
with 550 t maximum capacity, for
equipment assembly, disassembly and
maintenance purposes (Figure 11).

Figure 11: Longitudinal section of the underground power plant

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

Figure 12: Location of the underground main power plant and waterway system

Downstream of the power plant two pressurized tailrace tunnels, of about 5 200 m long and
up sloping at 0.4%, convey the turbined water into the Kwanza River (Figure 12). The cross
section of the unlined tailrace tunnels is an arch-rectangle, 16 m-wide and 16 m-high. At the
end of the tailrace tunnels, a U-shaped reinforced concrete canal, with about 70 x 50 m2
dimensions in plan and height of 24 m, which accommodates 2 stoplogs, allows dewatering the
tunnels.
The mass oscillation scheme designed for transient pressures and to ensure stability of the
hydraulic circuit consists of two surge chambers connected by four vertical shafts, 5.6 m in
diameter, to the turbine outlet tunnels, located 79 m downstream of the power plant, with a
required area of about 1 000 m2 each, 64 m-high, topped off by a semi cylindrical dome with a
diameter of 24 m (Figure 10).
In order to take advantage from the environmental flow of 60 m3/s that must be maintained
in the river reach between the dam and the outlet structure of the main waterway system, a
small power plant will be constructed. This environmental flow power plant, located on the left
bank at the toe of the dam, adjacent to the spillway, is partially buried (Figures 4 and 7). In the
turbine-generator unit area, it has dimensions in plan of 24 x 27.7 m2 by 50 m-high, extending
15 m approximately in the equipment assembly hall, where the height is reduced to16 m. The
power plant is equipped with a Francis vertical axis turbine with 52 MW nominal capacity and
94,6 m net head, coupled to a 57 MVA generator, connected to a transformer through busbars.
The Caculo Cabaça hydropower
project includes a total of about
19 km of access roads, generally
with a transversal profile featuring a
platform with a total width of 9.0 m.
The access to the main power
plant includes a bridge over the
Kwanza River, 230 m-long and
about 20 m-high and a 1.5 km-long
access tunnel, with a 9.5 m-wide
and 8.75 m-high arch rectangular
cross section (Figure 13).
Figure 13: Overview of the bridge over the Kwanza River

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3 MAIN ASPECTS OF THE DAM LAYOUT AND DESIGN

The Kwanza River valley has an asymmetrical trapezoidal shape in the dam section,
featuring a thalweg with an approximate width of 140 m. The right bank slopes have a steeper
mean inclination of 1.2h/1.0v, while the left bank slope is much smoother, about 2.0h/1.0v.

Photo 1: Caculo Cabaça dam site

As mentioned before, the Caculo Cabaça dam, with a straight axis, is an RCC gravity dam
with upstream conventional concrete face and a maximum height of 103 m above the lower
foundation level in the river bed, where the gneiss rock mass outcrops at elevation (530). The
crest, at elevation (633), is 9 m-wide and has a total length of 553 m.
The dam profile is defined by a triangle with vertex located on the upstream surface, at
elevation (632), with the downstream face sloping 0.85h:1.0v and a vertical upstream face.
Above this triangle, a 9 m-wide rectangle is overlapped to materialize the crest. The dam is
divided into 33 blocks, separated by 32 contraction joints, defined by vertical planes
perpendicular to the dam’s axis, which are 17 m apart.
The dam is provided with several galleries, allowing for the foundation treatment and the
monitoring system installation, as shown in Figure 14.

Figure 14: Caculo Cabaça dam layout

Along the river bed and the left bank blocks, a drainage gallery is placed near the foundation,
parallel to the upstream face. Three visit galleries uniformly distributed along the height of the
dam are also foreseen. In the right bank, due to the steep slope of the dam´s foundation surface,
instead of adopting a drainage gallery along the foundation, the drainage and visit galleries are
extended into the rock mass, from where the cut-off and drainage curtains in the right bank will
be carried out. Transversal galleries are foreseen at the ends of the visit galleries near the banks
and at the end of the drainage gallery in the left bank side to allow the ventilation and the access
to the dam downstream face. In the plumb line sections, transversal galleries are also foreseen
for the installation of foundation extensometers near the downstream dam’s toe and for
allowing an eventual foundation drainage reinforcement.
Taking into account the experience gathered with the RCC dams of the upstream schemes
and given the Caculo Cabaça dam dimensions, which involves placing about 1 450 000 m3 of
concrete, a similar RCC solution was also chosen, since it was deemed the most suitable from

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

both technical and economic points of view, taking into account the reduction in construction
time avoiding placing the dam construction on the civil works’ critical path. In fact, the RCC
solution showed to be economically advantageous when compared to conventional concrete
solutions, mainly due to the reduction of the construction time, leading to a decrease in the
duration of the respective construction site facilities mobilization.
The dam’s layout (Figures 4 and 14), namely the location of the appurtenant structures and
the layout of the galleries was designed aiming at reducing the constraints to the RCC
continuous placement, with the objective of maximizing the RCC technology’s
competitiveness. Thus, the conventional concrete application, due to structural and
constructive reasons, was limited to specific areas, namely the inlet and outlet structures and
the steel liners’ surrounding concrete of the bottom outlet, the environmental flow’s hydraulic
circuit structure, as well as the pillars, the sill and downstream surface of the spillway.
The adopted construction strategy foresees that the RCC placement will begin on the right
bank and on the spillway blocks, after the execution of the conventional concrete of the bottom
outlet structures approximately up to the elevation (560). Simultaneously, the conventional
concrete for the water intake of the environmental flow power plant and the left bank drainage
gallery will be placed, allowing that after reaching the elevation of the spillway’s sill base the
RCC placement can proceed on the left bank, with minimum constraints.
In which concerns the RCC type selection, bearing in mind that there is no fly ash production
in Angola, an RCC type with a reduced binder dosage was selected for the Caculo Cabaça dam,
with about 100 kg/m3 on average, mainly composed of cement.
In this solution the dam’s watertightness is ensured
by a vibrated conventional concrete layer on the
upstream face, 1 m-thick, placed simultaneously with
the RCC. It is foreseen to place the RCC in layers of
30 cm-thick, adopting 2,4 m-high steps in the
downstream face. To limit the water seepage from the
foundation into the dam body, a vibrated
conventional concrete layer with the same thickness
is foreseen at the dam-rock mass contact. The
downstream face is also provided with a vibrated
conventional concrete layer, with a thickness of
0.6 m, to ensure a higher quality finishing. The
galleries’ structure also includes vibrated
conventional concrete, 0.6 m-thick, which is
extended, from the upstream side, until the
Figure 15: Caculo Cabaça dam’s typical convention concrete layer on the upstream face of the
cross section dam (Figure 15).

4 APPURTENANT STRUCTURES DESIGN

4.1 Spillway
The overflow spillway is located on six central blocks of the dam. The chute on the
downstream dam face has a smooth surface, given by a conventional concrete layer placed
on top of the RCC structure, that allows conveyance of the high velocity flow without the
risk of erosion. The spillway chute ends in a flip bucket that directs the high-velocity flow
well away from the dam.
The spillway is designed to release a peak flow of 10 020 m3/s at FSWL which
corresponds to a return period of more than 10 000 years and equal to the discharge capacity

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

of Capanda and Laúca spillways. In case of failure of one gate (4 bays available), the
10 000-year flood (7 145 m3/s), will pass through the spillway at FSWL. The maximum
reservoir water level is (632) obtained for the PMF, of 14 000 m3/s‡.
The spillway crest is divided in five equal spans, 12.4 m-wide divided by elliptical piers
of 4.6 m thickness that support the gates trunnions and the service bridge beams. The crest
shape is WES type based on a design head of 17.5 m and with an upstream face sloping of
1h:1v. The piers are prestressed in the longitudinal and transverse directions to resist the
loads transmitted by the gates.
The spillway is controlled by five radial gates, each 12.4 m wide and 19.3 m high with a
sill at elevation (611.7) which are operated by two articulated simple effect hydraulic cylinders.
For inspection and maintenance purposes each gate opening can be closed by a stoplog
composed of 10 elements, 12.4 m x 2.5 m (w x h), that are handled independently by the
dam gantry crane running along the service bridge.
The high clear water velocities expected (U> 30m/s) led to the use of aeration devices
to prevent cavitation erosion damage in the spillway surfaces. The aerator is composed by
a deflector (5º) and a step (h=1.0 m) located in the spillway bottom approximately at
elevation (590) and an air supply system (six air towers) that permits the artificially
introduction of air in the nappe. The entrained air shall provide sufficient air concentration
near the bottom (C>7%) to protect the spillway surfaces from cavitation damage.
The flip bucket at the end of the spillway chute deflects the flow downstream, thereby
transferring the energy to a position where impact, turbulence and resulting erosion will
not jeopardize safety of the dam. The flip bucket is 80.4 m wide and presents a radius of
25 m and a trajectory angle at the end of the flip bucket of 25º. The jet impact area is located
more than 100 m away from the dam toe. The impact of the jet and the interaction of the
turbulent flow and the boundary at the impact area account for the major portion of energy
dissipation. The predicted ultimate rock scour depth is around 30 m in the impact area.
The present solution will be verified by hydraulic model studies during the construction
design, attention will be given to evaluation of bed scour caused by the impact of the water
jet on the downstream valley.

4.2 Bottom outlet

The bottom outlet is placed on two dam blocks next to the right side of the spillway. The
main functions of this water release facility are: allow a complete or partial drawdown of
the reservoir; controlled initial filling of the reservoir, contribute to the release of the PMF
and flow regulation downstream, in case of unavailability of the main powerhouse and/or
environmental flow power plant.
The maximum discharge capacity is 1 348 m3/s at FSWL. The sizing of the outlet works
meets the requirements for evacuating the reservoir if emergency conditions occur or for
inspection, maintenance and repair of the dam and appurtenant works that are normally
submerged and comply with reservoir initial filling rates. The criteria used for the
emergency drawdown of the reservoir was to lower the reservoir level to less than 75% of
the hydraulic height at FSWL in any period of the year and in case of scheduled
maintenance and inspection was to lower the reservoir level to less than 25% of the
hydraulic height in less than 100 days in the dry season.
Each outlet work is equipped with an emergency vertical lift gate located near the
conduit entrance and a service radial gate at the conduit outlet (control section).

‡
The release of the PMF considers the spillway, bottom outlet and 50% capacity of the power generation
system.

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Immediately downstream of each emergency gate, two air vents, with 1.35 m of internal
diameter supply the air demand during gate openings.
The intake structure has a rectangular cross section, 14.3 m high and 15 m wide and sill
at elevation (545), equipped with a simple trash strut of reinforced concrete with clear
horizontal and vertical openings less than two thirds the emergency gate width.
Downstream the entrance curves guide the flow with minimum disturbance until it is
contracted to the dimensions of the emergency gate passage.
The emergency gates, 6.0 m wide by 7.5 m high, are operated by simple effect hydraulic
cylinders installed on the dam’s crest. Each emergency gate operates inside a conventional
concrete tower with a cross section of 7.5 m x 10.5 m, structurally linked to the upstream
dam face.
The service gates at the exit portal, 5.0 m wide by 5.1 m high, are operated by articulated
hydraulic cylinders. A 10 percent area constriction at the exit portal is provided by
gradually depressing the conduit roof, to develop the desired back pressure and prevent
cavitation damage. At the exit portal the conduit is curved vertically upward to direct the
flow away from the dam toe.

4.3 Environmental flow waterway system

The river diversion for Caculo Cabaça power plant, implies the maintenance of an
environmental flow regime in the Kwanza River reach between the dam and tailrace of the
power waterway. The environmental flow considered is 60 m3/s, about 10% of the mean
annual flow, which is identical to the value adopted upstream at Laúca HPP. Considering
the dam’s height, the execution of a hydropower plant to turbine these flows was found
interesting.
The water intake structure is a submerged free-standing tower, 25 m high and located
26.5 m upstream from the dam axis. The water intake is provided with a metal trash rack
to protect the turbine.
The headrace steel lined conduit with an internal diameter of 4.0 m has a total length of
83 m before reaching the environmental power plant. A fixed-wheel safety gate, 3.2 m wide
and 4 m high, is placed near the upstream dam face designed to be closed against the
maximum turbine flow in case of power failure, and able to be opened partially, under
maximum head, to allow the conduit to be filled. Upstream a stoplog is provided for
maintenance and inspection purposes of the safety gate. The gate leaf elements are handled
together by a gantry crane through suspension bars. The gates well is inside a conventional
concrete tower with a cross section of 7.5 m x 7.5 m, structurally connected to the upstream
dam’s face.

5 GEOLOGICAL AND GEOTECHNICAL SETTING AND DAM FOUNDATION

DESIGN

5.1 General considerations

The Caculo Cabaça HPP is located in the Kwanza Horst, one of the great tectonic
elements of Angola’s Geological Chart. The horst materializes an elevation of the
basement, about 300 km-long by 25 to 50 km-wide, limited to the North and South by deep
faults. This is a stable intraplate continental zone, bordered by two, very distant,
slow-moving boundary borders - the Atlantic Dorsal to the west, about 1800 km away, and
the East African Rift System (EARS) to the east, over 800 km away.
From a lithological point of view, the region mainly consists of gneisses, with few
migmatites and amphibolite intercalations of the Base Complex, dating from the Lower

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Proterozoic. Regional faults were identified, associated to systems of subvertical fractures

whose directions vary between N10°-40°W and N50°-80°E. In general, the Kwanza River
Valley and its tributaries were excavated in these least resistance areas.

5.2 Dam site geological setting

The valley is wide and asymmetrical at the dam section - the right bank slopes 35° from the
river until intermediate levels, and 50° upwards, against a more gentle 20-25˚ on the opposite
margin. Both slopes, although lined with arboreal vegetation, show good quality outcrops.
The river bed is relatively narrow, showing a rocky nature, the flow occurs preferentially on
the left bank where its profile is estimated to be deeper, probably due to the presence of a
geological fault with enough expression to have conditioned the straight line alignment of the
river in this section.
On the right margin, the break in the geomorphology of the slope, reveals a weaker
geotechnical zone, associated with a substantial cataclastic band, reaching 150 m-wide at the
dam’s axis. The rest of the dam’s foundation area will rest predominantly on medium grain
gneiss. This formation, dating from the Upper Archean to Lower Proterozoic, exhibits signs of
intense tectonism, well evident in the folds and planes of schistosity that were found during
geological mapping.

5.3 Dam site geotechnical conditions

Data collected from geotechnical investigation works, namely boreholes, seismic refraction
profiles and electrical resistivity methods, revealed a rock mass consisting predominantly of
compact crystalline rocks that show good geomechanical conditions.
Boreholes on both banks found sound rock at small depths, ranging from 1 to 6 m. The
generally closed fractures, as well as the values obtained in the water absorption tests, provide
for reduced permeabilities, except in specific situations, associated with faults or lithological
contact zones. Both the weathering degree and joint spacing, even is the cataclastic band,
improve in depth.
The seismic prospection corroborates boreholes indicating that, in both margins,
unweathered rock generally occurs at depths ranging from 2 to 8 m. The only exception to this
are the right bank lower levels, where low velocities were obtained until depths of 22 m, which
coincides with the cataclastic zone. Electrical prospection identified fundamentally subvertical
anomalies, generally compatible with the direction of the faults and contacts evidenced in the
geological mapping. It is also worth noting that one of the resistivity sections presented a
significant conductive anomaly in the lower reaches of the right bank, which is now known to
be associated with a cataclastic zone.

5.4 Dam site geotechnical zoning

The geological and geotechnical characteristics of the formations, along with the
consideration on dam type and the corresponding requirement on the foundation, allowed for
the definition of several geotechnical zones, considering fundamentally the physical,
mechanical and hydraulic characteristics of the rock mass, namely the velocity of seismic
waves propagation, weathering degree and joint spacing.
Three geotechnical zones, designated by ZG1, ZG2 and ZG3, were defined, the first one
being the best quality rock mass. Table 1 shows the parameters and respective ranges
considered for each of these zones. Given that there are still geotechnical investigation works
undergoing on site as well as laboratory tests, this zoning will be updated to encompass all the
new acquired data.

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Zone Weathering Joint Absorption Recovery RQD Vl

Degree Spacing (Lugeon (%) (%) (km/s)
Units)
ZG1 W1 – W2 F1 – F3 <1 > 90 > 70 > 2.5
ZG2 W2 – W4 F2 – F4 < 10 > 50 > 50 1 – 2.5
ZG3 W4 – W5 F3 – F3 >10 < 50 < 50 <1
Table 1: Caculo Cabaça dam preliminary foundation rock mass geotechnical zoning

5.5 Dam foundation surface and treatment

The dam’s foundation surface was defined in order to guarantee adequate resistance and
deformability conditions to the estimated bearing pressures, taking into account the
geotechnical conditions of the foundation rock mass, the valley’s morphology, the type of dam
(RCC gravity profile), its dimensions and respective structural constraints.
The information available at detailed design stage showed that the rock mass presents
suitable geotechnical conditions for the foundation of a concrete gravity dam at moderate
depths (of about 8-10 m), in geotechnical zone ZG1. Nevertheless, more substantial
excavations will be needed on the right bank’s lower levels associated with the above
mentioned cataclastic band.
Despite the foreseen excavations, it was deemed necessary to promote the dam’s foundation
treatment in order to improve its operational behaviour, resorting to cut-off and drainage
curtains. On the left bank and along the river bed area, the single row cut-off curtain will be
carried out from the drainage gallery (DG). On the right bank, the grout curtain will be executed
from the visit galleries VG1, VG2 and VG3 (Figure 15). Taking into account the planned
excavations for the foundation of the dam, it is estimated, based on the preliminary data
currently available, that the cut-off curtain will extend about 50-60 m below the foundation
level.
A drainage curtain was also envisaged to control residual seepage below the foundation,
after the waterproofing treatment, which will also promote a substantial reduction of uplift
pressures at the base of the dam. These holes will also be executed from the galleries built into
the dam and into the rock mass (Figure 15).

a) Right bank b) River bed and left bank

Figure 15: Caculo Cabaça dam preliminary foundation treatment.

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 M. Cristina Costa, A. Amador, A. Santo, A. Morgado, A. Chico

Consolidation treatments to improve the deformability and strength conditions of the rock
mass in specific alignments that exhibit poor geotechnical conditions, such as faults or shear
zones, will also be implemented.
The foundation treatment shall be reviewed and adapted in the light of the information
collected in the meantime by the ongoing geotechnical investigation program.

6 CONCLUSIONS
The detailed design layout adopted for the tender of the Caculo Cabaça hydropower
project was governed by the prevailing topographic, hydrological, geotechnical and
environmental conditions on site. The proposed layout for Caculo Cabaça project offers a
reliable setup integrated in the cascade development of Kwanza River with an optimized
installed capacity and aiming to achieve reduced investment costs and construction time.
Given the dimensions of the Caculo Cabaça dam, which involves placing about
1 450 000 m3 of concrete, and the experience gathered with the RCC dams of the upstream
schemes, namely Laúca and Capanda dams, an RCC solution was selected since it showed
to be economically more advantageous when compared to conventional concrete solutions,
mainly due to the reduction in the construction time, leading to a decrease in the duration
of the respective construction site facilities mobilization.
The RCC type selection was adapted to the reality of the Angolan market, where there
is no fly ash production. Thus, an RCC type with a reduced binder dosage was chosen for
the Caculo Cabaça dam, using approximately 100 kg/m3 on average, mainly composed of
cement, being the profile’s watertightness ensured by a vibrated conventional concrete
layer on the upstream face, with a thickness of 1 m, placed simultaneously with the RCC.
The Caculo Cabaça hydropower project was awarded for construction on an EPC
contract. The construction works started in August 2017 and the beginning of its
commercial operation is planned for mid-2024. When in operation, the Caculo Cabaça
hydropower scheme will be, in terms of installed capacity, the biggest hydropower scheme
in Angola, playing a central role in the power system of the region.

REFERENCES
[1] COBA, Detailed Design for Tender of the Caculo Cabaça Hydropower Project, Portugal
(2015).

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