Aswan Dam and Wikipedia talk:Version 1.0 Editorial Team/Soap opera articles by quality log: Difference between pages

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[[Image:Lake Nasser ___location.png|right|thumb|220px|Map of Egypt showing the ___location of [[Aswan]] and [[Lake Nasser]]]]

[[Aswan]] is a city on the first [[cataract]] of the [[Nile]] in [[Egypt]].

Two [[dam]]s straddle the river at this point: the newer '''Aswan High Dam''', and the older '''Aswan Dam''' or '''Aswan Low Dam'''.

Normallly, the River Nile floods in the summer every year as waters from [[East Africa]] flow down the river. These floods brought nutrients and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for farming. As the population along the river grew, there came a need to control the flood waters to protect farmland and cotton fields. In a high-water year, the whole crop may be entirely wiped out, while in a low-water year there was widespread drought and famine.

== Construction history ==

<div style="float:right; margin-left:5px; margin-right:5px; width:220px; text-align:center">

[[Image:Egypt.Aswan.AswanLowDam.01.jpg|none|220px|thumb|Aswan Low Dam]]

[[image:AswanHighDam_Egypt.jpg|none|220px|thumb|Aswan High Dam]]

[[Image:Aswan High Dam.jpg|thumb|220px|none|Aswan High Dam (NASA satellite photo)]]

[[Image:High Dam Burg, Aswan, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg|none|220px|thumb|A view from the vantage point in the middle of High Dam towards the "Lotus Flower" tower]]

[[Image:High Dam Burg Memorial Wall, Aswan, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg|none|220px|thumb|A wall commemorating the completion of Aswan High Dam]]

[[Image:High Dam Burg Closeup, Aswan, Egypt, Oct 2004.jpg|thumb|136px|none|A closeup view of the [[Soviet-Egyptian friendship monument]]]]

</div>

The British began construction of the first dam in 1899 and it was completed in 1902. The project was designed by Sir [[William Willcocks]] and involved several eminent engineers including Sir [[Benjamin Baker]] and Sir [[John Aird (engineer)|John Aird]], whose firm, John Aird & Company, was the main contractor. A gravity dam, it was 1,900 m long and 54 m high. The initial design was soon found to be inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two phases, 1907&ndash;1912 and 1929&ndash;1933.

When the dam almost overflowed in 1946 it was decided that rather than raise the dam a third time, a second dam would be built 6 km up-river.

Proper planning began in 1952, just after the [[Nasser]] revolution, and at first the US and Britain were to help finance construction with a loan of [[USD]] $270 million. Both nations canceled the offer in July 1956 for reasons not entirely known. A secret Egyptian arms agreement with the [[USSR]] and Egyptian recognition of the [[People's Republic of China]] are cited as possible reasons. As a response, Nasser nationalized the British and French-owned [[Suez Canal]], intending to use tolls to subsidize the High Dam project. In retaliation, Israel, Britain, and France attacked Egypt and occupied the Suez Canal precipitating the [[Suez Crisis]]. The [[United Nations]], US and USSR forced the invaders to withdraw and the canal was left in Egyptian hands. The Egyptian government intended to continue the project alone and use the revenues of the [[Suez Canal]] to help pay for construction. But in the [[Cold War]] struggle for influence in Africa the [[Soviet Union]] stepped in 1958, and possibly a third of the cost of the dam was paid for as a gift. They also provided technicians and heavy machinery. The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Russian Zuk [[Hydroproject Institute]].

Construction began in 1960. The High Dam, ''El Saad al Aali'', was completed on [[July 21]], [[1970]], with the first stage finished in [[1964]]. The reservoir began filling in 1964 while the dam was still under construction and first reached capacity in 1976. The reservoir raised concerns from archaeologists and a rescue operation was begun in 1960 under [[UNESCO]]. Sites were surveyed and excavated and 24 major monuments were moved to safer locations (see [[Abu Simbel]]) or granted to countries that helped with the works (such as the [[Principe Pío|Debod temple]] in Madrid).

== Benefits ==

The Aswan High Dam is 3,600 m in length, 980 m wide at the base, 40 m wide at the crest and 111 m tall. It contains [[1 E7 m³|43 million m³]] of material. At maximum, 11,000 m³ of water can pass through the dam every second. There are further emergency spillways for an extra 5000 m³ per second and the Toshka Canal links the reservoir to the Toshka Depression. The reservoir, named [[Lake Nasser]], is 480 km long and 16 km at its widest with a surface area of 6,000 km² and holds 150 to 165 km&sup3;. It flooded much of lower [[Nubia]] and over 90,000 people were displaced. With hydroelectric output of 2.1 gigawatts, the dam holds twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts. Power generation began in 1967. When the dam first reached peak output it produced around half of Egypt's entire electricity production (about 15% by 1998) and allowed for the connection of most Egyptian villages to electricity for the first time. The effects of dangerous floods in 1964 and 1973 and of threatening droughts in 1972&ndash;73 and 1983&ndash;84 were mitigated. A new fishing industry has been created around Lake Nasser, though it is struggling due to its distance from any significant markets.

== Environmental issues ==

In addition to the benefits, however, damming the Nile caused a number of environmental issues. The [[silt]] which made the Nile region fertile is instead held at the dam, leading to (expected) silting of the reservoir, which will eventually (an estimated 500 years) render Lake Nasser useless for water storage volume.

There is some [[erosion]] of farmland down-river. Erosion of coastline barriers, due to lack of new sediments from floods, will eventually cause loss of the brackish water lake fishery that is currently the largest source of fish for Egypt, and the subsidence of the [[Nile Delta]] will lead to inundation of northern portion of the [[River delta|delta]] with seawater, in areas which are now used for rice crops. The delta itself, no longer renewed by Nile silt has lost much of its fertility. The red-brick construction industry, which used delta mud, is also severely affected. There is significant erosion of coastlines (due to lack of sand, which was once brought by the Nile) all along the eastern Mediterranean.

The need to use artificial [[fertilizer]]s supplied by international corporations is controversial too, causing chemical pollution which the traditional river silt did not. Indifferent irrigation control has also caused some farmland to be damaged by waterlogging and increased [[salinity]], a problem complicated by the reduced flow of the river, which allows salt water further into the [[River delta|delta]]. Mediterranean fish stocks are also impacted by the dam. The eastern basin of the Mediterranean is low in fertility, and traditionally the marine ecosystem depended on the rich flow of phosphate and silicates from the Nile outflow. Mediterranean catches decreased by almost half after the dam was constructed, but appear to be recovering. The dam has been implicated in a rise in cases of [[schistosomiasis]] (bilharzia), due to the thick plant life that has grown up in Lake Nasser, which hosts the snails who carry the disease.

== External links ==

*[http://www-ocean.tamu.edu/Quarterdeck/QD3.1/Elsayed/elsayed.html Sayed El-Sayed and Gert L. van Dijken 'The southeastern Mediterranean ecosystem revisited: Thirty years after the construction of the Aswan High Dam.']

*[http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=23.969940,32.876244&spn=0.111165,0.158512&t=k&hl=en Satellite views of Aswan on Google]

[[Category:Egypt]]

[[Category:Nubia]]

[[Category:Dams]]

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