Cracks in the concrete of the auxiliary dam of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

Professor of Water Management and Sustainable Development at the German University of Aachen, Hani Sweilem, warned of cracks in the concrete facade of the Serj Dam, which is the auxiliary or complementary dam for the Ethiopian "Renaissance Dam" project.

Swilam relied on a comparison between two images of the dam, between 2020 and 2022, via the Google Maps application, to reach his conclusion about the presence of cracks in the dam.

Sweilem said, "The cracks appeared in the concrete facade of the dam without the arrival of water, but only the effect of weather conditions, especially with heavy rain, adding:" This does not seem like a stable dam to reserve 50 billion cubic meters.

Swilam explained to the Egyptian newspaper "Al-Shorouk" that the storage capacity of the Renaissance Dam (the main) is only 18.5 billion cubic meters, while the Sarg Dam raises the storage capacity of the project to 74 billion cubic meters (an increase of approximately 55.5 billion cubic meters).

He stressed that he neither denies nor confirms the hypothesis of the collapse of the Sarg Dam, but he calls on Ethiopia and the Italian company executing the project to immediately issue a press release presenting the technical studies that prove the safety of this dam, and to provide an immediate justification and explanation for these cracks.

Sweilem also called on the international community and human rights organizations to intervene to ensure an immediate freeze to stop construction and filling works to prevent potential risks.

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