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Oyo kicks off 70-year-old Eleyele dam project

By Muyiwa Adeyemi, Ibadan 
23 April 2018   |   3:11 am
After 70 years, Oyo State Government has jump-started the practical solution to the perennial flooding in Ibadan with Eleyele Dam rehabilitation.Under the project, the government has awarded the joint venture contract to Messrs CGC-CHWE as contractor while Tractebel Consultants is the consultant firm.

Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.Photo: Twitter/AAAjimobi

After 70 years, Oyo State Government has jump-started the practical solution to the perennial flooding in Ibadan with Eleyele Dam rehabilitation.Under the project, the government has awarded the joint venture contract to Messrs CGC-CHWE as contractor while Tractebel Consultants is the consultant firm.

The scope of work on the rehabilitation included raising of the dam embankment crest from its existing height of 183.6m to 185.4m ask (1.8m of raising), erection of 1.0m high concrete Parapet wall on the embankment to prevent waves from overtopping embankment and increase on the discharge capacity of spillway from 368.9m3/s to 1269m3/s.

Also, there would be increase in the width of the spillway channel to enhance its discharge capacity, rehabilitation of the intake tower in order to fully restore its capacity to supply raw water from the reservoir to the treatment plant, replacement of all hydro-mechanical equipment inside the intake tower, rehabilitation of the scour tunnel for free discharge of water through the scour channel to spillway return channel and improvement in the access road within the water works premises.

Governor Abiola Ajimobi who flagged off the project stated that the benefits accruable from a rehabilitated modernized Eleyele Dam are enormous. Among them is the improved capacity of the dam to help contain flooding in and around Ibadan. “As a result of rapid urban development in Ibadan, the Eleyele Dam is now located upstream of some densely populated and fully developed parts of the city.

“ Yet another derivable benefit is that the capacity of the dam to supply treated water to the city of Ibadan would be greatly boosted. I can foresee a situation whereby the dam, when delivered, would become a major provider of clean water to support the burgeoning industrial revolution that is fast gaining ground in Ibadan particularly and other parts of Oyo State in general.”
 
Represented by the State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Chief Isaac Isola, Governor Ajimobi assured that the rehabilitation project would be completed in two years.

Ajimobi said, “One of the major challenges that first confronted this administration upon our assumption of office in 2011 was the devastating flood event of 26th August, 2011, an unfortunate incident that ravaged many parts of Ibadan, consuming in its wake, hundreds of human lives and several million naira worth of properties.“This Eleyele Dam, which was approaching its 70th anniversary then, was badly hit, leading to an overflow of the dam and degradation of the appurtenant structures.”

The implication of this was that, one of the two fictional values of the Eleyele Dam, which was to help flood control during high flow periods through its reservoir holding capacity, had been compromised.

“Even though the dam had earlier been threatened by two major floods in 1963 and 1980, the impact of the 2011 flood event was massive enough to discourage and derail a government of lily-livered office-holders. But that was not for us. As a government, we saw wisdom in coming up with an integrated, comprehensive and enduring solution to the problem of flooding in the city.

“In his address, the Commissioner for Finance and Budget, Mr Abimbola Adekanmbi disclosed that the contractors and supervising consultants were selected through a carefully and competitively bidding process in line with the policies and procedures of the World Bank. He assured stakeholders that the project, from the expertise and resources available to the IUFMP and the relevant partnering MDAs, will ensure qualitative and qualitative and timely delivery of this rehabilitation work.

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