A New Navigation Channel in the Making

Abstract

By the end of the First World War Jules Nisot, hydrographer in charge at the time, noticed a change in the customary fairway. The river appeared working toward a new thalweg. He eventually proposed to “assist” the river in its evolution and dredge a new fairway through the Fetisch Rock Pool. The authorities decided to follow his advice and by 1925 the navigation channel from Malela to Boma boasted a minimum depth of 8 m. This drastic intervention though had its repercussions further downstream. In the late 1920s, the winding Camoëns Bend became dangerously contorted and eventually in 1933 the thalweg broke through into the Mateba Downstream Pass. From 1926 on the riverbed in the entire braided section was surveyed on an annual basis.