Aswan High Dam: A Marvel of Engineering and Environmental Impact

The Aswan High Dam in Egypt stands as a remarkable achievement in modern engineering and a symbol of the country’s ambition for progress. This iconic structure has played a pivotal role in shaping Egypt’s economy, enhancing agricultural productivity, and improving national infrastructure.

Aswan High Dam

As Herodotus once noted, Egypt is a gift from the Nile. For centuries, the Nile’s annual floods brought both abundance and scarcity, shaping the lives of generations. The construction of the Aswan High Dam allowed Egypt to control the river’s flow, turning this natural gift into a steady source of water, energy, and prosperity.

Aswan High Dam in Focus

The Purpose of Building Aswan High Dam

The High Dam’s Purpose

• Stopping Floods and Droughts: The Nile River, where the Dam is, used to flood a lot some years and barely had any water in other years. The Dam helps control that.
• Generate Electricity: The Dam uses the river’s water to generate electricity, which helps power homes and businesses in Egypt.
• Helping Farms: With the Dam holding back water, farmers can water their crops more easily. This means more food for everyone.

But, While the Aswan High Dam has been instrumental in Egypt’s growth, it hasn’t come without challenges:

• Lake Nasser Issues: Aswan High Dam made a big lake called Lake Nasser. But this big lake loses much water because of the hot sun. Also, the good mud that used to make the soil fertile gets stuck behind the Dam. So, farmers now need more man-made fertilizers.
• Health Problems: The still water of Lake Nasser has some snails that can make people sick.
• Historical Loss: Building the Dam caused many old places to go underwater. Even though some important sites were moved, a lot of history needed to be recovered.

What is the history of the Aswan High Dam?  

Aswan Dam’s Rich History

“Institute Hydroproject of Russia, in collaboration with various engineers from Egypt, designed the Aswan High rock-fill dam.”

Between 1907 and 1912, the Aswan Low Dam was raised to 45 meters, creating a reservoir capable of storing 2,420 million cubic meters of water. Later, from 1928 to 1934, it was further elevated to 47 meters, increasing the storage capacity to 5 billion cubic meters. Despite these improvements, the dam could not fully control the Nile’s annual floods, which led to the proposal of a higher, more ambitious project in 1952. Initial funding attempts from the US, UK, and the World Bank failed, but in 1958, the Soviet Union agreed to provide the necessary support. Construction of the Aswan High Dam officially began in 1960, marking a new era in Egypt’s water management and infrastructure development.

Aswan First Dam

The Aswan Dam, also known as the Old Dam, was constructed from Aswan granite between 1898 and 1902. For decades, it was the largest dam in the world and hailed as a remarkable engineering achievement. Stretching 2,000 meters in length, with a base thickness of 30 meters and a top thickness of 10 meters, it rises 40 meters above the Nile River and stores 1,090 million cubic meters of water.

Historical Aswan First Dam

How many gates does the Dam include? 

The Old Dam features 180 gates, which were opened each June during the flood season and gradually closed as the waters receded in the summer.

gates of Aswan High Dam

What is the modern Aswan High Dam?

Throughout history, pharaohs and farmers attempted to control the Nile through canals, enclosures, and reservoirs, but with limited success. After the 1952 revolution, plans for a new dam in Aswan to store vast amounts of water and provide electricity gained momentum.

The new Aswan Dam

the New Dam

Engineers from around the world collaborated on the project to ensure Egypt a stable water supply, protection from floods, and resilience against droughts. West German companies designed the dam, while Soviet engineers executed the construction.

The modern Aswan High Dam, also known as the “Saad Al-Ali” Dam, began construction on January 9, 1971, under President Sadat. Over 30,000 workers labored day and night for 10 years to complete the structure. Measuring more than 3,600 meters in length, with a base thickness of 980 meters, a top thickness of 40 meters, and a height of 111 meters, the dam stands as a symbol of modern Egyptian engineering.

Equipped with 12 turbines, each producing 120,000 horsepower, the dam required 17 million cubic meters of rock and 42 million cubic meters of other construction materials. Upon completion, the dam created the massive Lake Nasser, named in honor of Egypt’s first president, which remains one of the largest man-made lakes in the world.

 

How did Lake Nasser, formed by the Dam, affect the region?

Scenic Lake Nasser

The lake formed behind the Aswan High Dam, stretching over 500 kilometers, has become the largest artificial lake in the world. It holds 157 billion cubic meters of water, with depths exceeding 180 meters in certain areas. During the dam’s construction, a lotus-shaped monument was erected to celebrate Soviet-Egyptian friendship.

No discussion of dam building in Egypt is complete without mentioning Nubia. Over 100,000 residents from Upper Egypt and Nubia were relocated to new homes to make way for the rising waters. In a remarkably short period, scientists, archaeologists, photographers, and historians from around the world worked to document the cultural and historical heritage of the region before it was submerged.

Thanks to these international efforts, many iconic monuments of Nubia, including the Abu Simbel Temples and other pharaonic temples, were successfully preserved. However, despite these heroic preservation efforts, some treasures of the past were inevitably lost beneath the waters of Lake Nasser.

There are two dams in Aswan.

Aswan dams

When Egypt outgrew the original dam completed in 1902, known as the Low Dam, the larger Aswan High Dam was constructed 6 km upstream, taking over a decade to complete and finishing in 1970. This monumental engineering achievement allowed Egypt to control the Nile’s annual floods, generate massive amounts of electricity, and create Lake Nasser, one of the largest artificial lakes in the world.

The Aswan High Dam revolutionized Egypt’s infrastructure by doubling its electrical supply and providing the majority of the country’s water resources. However, its construction was not without controversy, as approximately 90,000 Nubian residents had to be relocated, and ancient archaeological sites were carefully dismantled and rebuilt on higher ground to protect them from flooding. Today, visitors can explore the dam and enjoy a Lake Nasser cruise to witness these extraordinary rebuilt sites, marveling at both modern engineering and ancient history.

conclusion

Aswan High Dam, a feat of engineering in Egypt, successfully tamed the unpredictable Nile, bolstering agriculture and supplying electricity. Nevertheless, it brought about challenges such as water loss and submerged heritage sites. It remains a symbol of Egypt’s progress, highlighting the intricate balance between development and preservation.