Aswan power plant, Egypt. Sayano-Shushenskaya HPP

Aswan Dam

The Aswan Dam is sometimes called the "pyramid of the 20th century" - in terms of its scale, the structure is not inferior to grandiose creation ancient. On the contrary: for the construction of the dam they used 17 times more stone than for the pyramid of Cheops. and participated in the construction different countries peace.

Without a reservoir, the Nile overflowed its banks every year during the summer, overflowing with the flow of east African waters. These floods carried fertile silt and minerals that made the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal for Agriculture.

As the population grew along the banks of the river, the need arose to control the flow of water to protect farmland and cotton fields. In a high-water year, entire fields could be completely washed away, while in a low-water year, famine due to drought was widespread. The purpose of the water project - the construction of a dam and a reservoir - was to prevent floods, provide Egypt with electricity and create a network of irrigation canals for agriculture.

The first dam was built by the British in 1899, finishing in 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcox and involved several eminent engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Aird, whose firm John Aird and Company was the main contractor. The dam was an imposing structure 1,900 meters long and 54 meters high. Initial project, as it was soon found out, was inadequate, and the height of the dam was raised in two stages, in 1907-1912 and 1929-1933.

Its characteristics were as follows: the length was 2.1 km, culverts were made in it in the amount of 179 pieces. On the left side of the dam there was a lock for ferrying ships across the dam, and there was a power plant nearby.

When in 1946 the water rose almost to the level of the dam, it was decided to build a second dam 6 km up the river. Work on its design began in 1952, immediately after the revolution. Initially, the US and UK were supposed to help finance the construction by providing a $270 million loan in exchange for Nasser's involvement in resolving the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, in July 1956, both countries canceled their offer. As possible causes This step is called a secret agreement on the supply of small arms with Czechoslovakia, which was part of the Eastern bloc, and Egypt's recognition of China.

After Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, intending to use tolls from passing ships to subsidize the Upper Dam project, Britain, France and Israel provoked a military conflict by occupying the Canal with troops during the Suez Crisis.

But under pressure from the UN, the US and the USSR, they were forced to withdraw and leave the canal in Egyptian hands. At the height of the Cold War in the struggle for the Third World countries, the Soviet Union in 1958 offered technical assistance in the construction of the dam, with a third of the cost of the project written off due to the loyalty of the Nasser regime to the USSR. The huge dam was designed by the Soviet institute Hydroproject.

Construction began in 1960. The Upper Dam was completed on July 21, 1970, but the reservoir began to fill up already in 1964, when the first stage of the dam was completed. The reservoir endangered many archeological monuments, so a rescue operation was undertaken under the auspices of UNESCO, as a result of which 24 major monuments were moved to safer places or transferred to countries that helped with the work (Temple of Debod in Madrid and Temple of Dendur in New York). ).

Grand opening and the commissioning of the Aswan hydropower complex took place on January 15, 1971 with the participation of the President of the UAR Anwar Sadat, who cut the ribbon in the blue arch on the crest of the dam, and the Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR N. V. Podgorny.

The Aswan Dam solved all the tasks assigned to it: to protect the Egyptians living in the valley from floods and dry seasons, by regulating the water level for many years. Irrigated lands have increased by 30% - 800,000 hectares, old lands now give not one crop, but three. This became possible due to the fact that earlier, when the land was flooded, the inhabitants planted crops there, when the water left the Nile River they harvested, now the water has become constant and you can plant it all the time, without waiting for the river to overflow again. But at the same time, people have lost natural fertilizer - silt brought with the flood of the river, now they use imported fertilizers. In addition, the dam has become the largest source of electricity, giving 2.1 million kW. Many villages had never had light in their houses before. During the construction period, thousands of Egyptians received a construction education, now many of them have become leaders in government agencies and directors of enterprises.

Demonstration in Aswan in connection with the launch of one of the units of the Aswan High Dam. 1968

Water from the Aswan Reservoir irrigates fields reclaimed from the desert

The main characteristics of the hydroelectric complex

The Aswan Upper Dam is 3600m long, 980m wide at the base, 40m wide at the crest and 111m high, it is composed of 43 million m³ of earth materials, that is, it is a gravity earth dam. The maximum water flow through all culverts of the dam is 16,000 m³/s.

The Toshka Canal connects the reservoir with Lake Toshka. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, has a length of 550 km and a maximum width of 35 km; its surface area is 5250 km², and the total volume is 132 km³.

Lake Nasser is the world's largest reservoir, stretching for five hundred kilometers, the depth of which in some places reaches one hundred and eighty meters. Due to its gigantic size, the lake looks more like an inland sea, all the more interesting because it is an inland sea of ​​Africa.

The capacity of twelve generators (each 175 MW) is 2.1 GW of electricity. When by 1967 the generation of hydroelectric power stations reached the design level, it provided about half of all the energy generated in Egypt.

After the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex, Negative consequences floods in 1964 and 1973, and droughts in 1972-1973 and 1983-1984. A significant number of fish farms have formed around Lake Nasser.

Ecological problems

In addition to the benefits, however, the damming of the Nile caused many environmental issues. Vast areas of lower Nubia were flooded, displacing more than 90,000 people. Lake Nasser flooded valuable archaeological sites. The fertile silt, which was annually washed into the Nile floodplains during floods, now lingers above the dam. Now the silt is gradually raising the level of Lake Nasser. In addition, there have been changes in the ecosystem of the Mediterranean - the fish catch on the coast has decreased, as nutrients have ceased to flow from the Nile.

There is some erosion of farmland down the river. Erosion of the coastline, due to a lack of new flood sediments, will eventually cause the loss of the fisheries in the lakes, which are currently Egypt's largest source of fish. The lowering of the Nile Delta will lead to an influx sea ​​water in its northern part, where there are now rice plantations. The delta itself, no longer fertilized by the Nile silt, has lost its former fertility. The red brick industry, which uses delta clay, has also been affected. In the eastern Mediterranean, there is significant erosion of the coastlines due to the lack of sand, which was previously brought by the Nile.

The need to use artificial fertilizers supplied by international corporations is also debatable because, unlike river silt, they cause chemical pollution. Insufficient irrigation control has resulted in some farmlands being destroyed by flooding and increased salinity. This problem is exacerbated by the weakened flow of the river, due to which salt water invades further into the delta.

Mediterranean fisheries were also affected by the construction of the dam, as the marine ecosystem was heavily dependent on the rich flow of phosphates and silicates from the Nile. Mediterranean catches have dropped by almost half since the dam was built. Cases of schistosomiasis have become more frequent, as a large amount of algae in Lake Nasser contributes to the reproduction of snails - carriers of this disease.

Due to the Aswan Dam, the salinity of the Mediterranean Sea has increased, a salty stream from the Mediterranean Sea to Atlantic Ocean can be traced for thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic.

In the late 1990s, Lake Nasser began to expand to the west and flood the Toshka lowland. To prevent this phenomenon, the Toshka Canal was built, allowing part of the Nile waters to be diverted to the western regions of the country.

Aswan dam - view from space

Aswan dam - view from space

The Aswan Dam is the largest hydraulic system of structures in Egypt, located on the Nile River near the city of Aswan (the first threshold of the Nile). She successfully solved the problem of floods and allowed to establish control over the river.

Construction of the Aswan Dam

The first dam on the Nile River was built in 1902, thirty years later it was built on, but still it could not cope with the river waters, which made it necessary to build a new dam. The project was developed in Germany, the Soviet Union took part in the installation work. A contract was signed between Egypt and the USSR for the construction of the Aswan dam and hydroelectric power station, Moscow allocated a loan to Cairo in the amount of 400 million rubles, and also supplied raw materials, equipment and workers.

The process of building the dam was complex and time-consuming. To carry out the work, it took such an amount of sand, clay, stones and concrete that seventeen pyramids of Cheops could easily be built from all this. In addition, the surrounding area had to be cleared, for which the houses of more than sixty thousand Egyptians were demolished. Many natural and historical monuments. The island of Philae completely disappeared, the temples from it were cut into pieces, and then they were collected on another island.

Movement of architectural monuments

The transfer of famous rock temples in Abu Simbel caused great difficulty. Both temples were carved out of a rock mass, and the facade of one of them was guarded by giant statues of the pharaoh, reaching twenty meters in height. To protect the statues from water, a large glass house was built - visitors were lowered down in special vessels. As a result, the temples and statues were carved out of the mountain, sawn into blocks, and reassembled elsewhere.

The grand opening of the Aswan Dam took place in January 1971 with the participation of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Peculiarities

The dam is an earthen dam with a stone granite filling, the core is formed by clay and cement. The base of the dam is wide - 975 meters, narrows to forty meters towards the upper edge. Canals and six tunnels are arranged on the right bank - they supply water to the hydroelectric power station. Similarity is established at the beginning triumphal arch through which cars can pass. A four-lane road runs along the top of the dam. At the other end of the dam, monoliths are installed, forming a circle and symbolizing the sacred lotus flower.

The Aswan Dam in Egypt has created a huge artificial reservoir, which was named after the Egyptian President, Nasser. Today it is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world, with an area of ​​5244 square kilometers. The water from it is used to irrigate agricultural land.

Aswan Dam for Tourists

The Aswan Dam as an attraction is included in most tourist routes in Egypt. Many call it the pyramid of the twentieth century. An excursion to the Aswan High Dam involves a trip along the Nile on a five-star ship. You can also choose a separate sightseeing and educational tour lasting three hours. Tourists can climb to the top of the dam, along which the road passes, and see the monument to the builders of the dam. The program includes a visit architectural structure in the form of a lotus flower. At the end - a walk along the Nile on felucca boats.

• Twelve generators with a total capacity of 2,100 MW have been installed at the Aswan HPP.
• During the construction of the dam, 24 archaeological sites were moved to safe places.
• On one of the banks, a "nilometer" has been preserved - a device that allows you to measure the water level in the Nile. It is a well with many numbered steps descending to the river.
• The dam project was developed in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye. On the territory of the Pravoberezhny quarry in Zaporozhye, a reduced operating copy of the Aswan Dam (scale 1:50) was also created. The experimental layout has survived to this day.

In 1971, a dam was erected for the first time, which established control over great river Nile. The dam is a grandiose and bold project, not without reason it is also called the “new miracle of Egypt”.

The Aswan dam, on the one hand, brought the desired benefits, but, on the other hand, led to serious difficulties. Climate change has taken place in southern Egypt, it rains much more often.

Aswan is the southernmost city in mainland Egypt. Located on the banks of the Nile, about a thousand kilometers from the river delta, this city in ancient times was a large shopping mall, the intersection of caravan routes. A variety of goods from the central region (primarily ivory) were brought here, which were then transported down the Nile towards the port cities of the sea. Aswan has about 275,000 inhabitants.

The climate of Aswan was once dry and hot, but after the construction of the Aswan Dam and the formation of a huge city near the city, the local air grew to a tropical level (although average temperature remained the same - in the summer, in the afternoon, it reaches 45 degrees). Now exotic flowers and trees grow in the once deserted Aswan.

History of the Aswan Dam

In 1902, the first dam was opened, installed by engineers a little south of Aswan. It was built on in 1933. But this Aswan dam could not cope with the waters of the Nile, so it became necessary to build a new dam.

On January 15, 1971, the second dam across the Nile south of Aswan was officially opened by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat. The work had begun eleven years earlier, under President Abdel Nasser.

The dam plan was developed in , and the installation was carried out with the assistance of Soviet Union. USSR and signed a contract for the construction of the Aswan Dam and a hydroelectric power station on the Nile in 1958. Moscow provided 400 million rubles, supplied equipment, raw materials and specialists.

The construction of the dam was a very laborious and costly process. So many stones, sand, clay and concrete went into the construction of the dam that 17 pyramids of Cheops could easily be built from this material. More than 450 people died during the work.

In order for the dam to be installed, the surrounding area had to be cleared. For this, the houses of more than 60,000 inhabitants were demolished, who, as a result, were forced to move to new houses.

A lot of historical and natural monuments were flooded. Only the most valuable ones were demolished. It was in control. The beautiful island of Philae, for example, disappeared forever, but the temples from it were dismantled into numbered pieces, and then again, like a mosaic, assembled on another, located at a higher altitude.

The most difficult and expensive part of the action was the rescue of the famous rock temples in Abu Simbel, which are located 282 kilometers south of Aswan. Both temples, built around 1260 BC for Ramses II, were cut out of the rock mass, the facade of the largest temple is guarded by giant statues of the pharaoh - 20 meters in height. First, a huge glass house was built to protect the statues from rising water, and visitors were lowered down in glass vessels. But in the end, the temples and statues were carved out of the mountain, sawn into transportable blocks, and put together again at another location nearby. This complex work took 4 years.

Features of the structure of the Aswan Dam

The dam is an earthen dam with a granite stone fill and a core of clay and cement. The height of the dam is II meters, the length is 3.8 kilometers. At the base, it is 975 meters wide and narrows to 40 meters towards the upper edge. On the right bank, channels and 6 tunnels were cut into the rock, supplying water to the hydroelectric power station. At the beginning there is something like a triumphal arch through which cars can enter. At the very top of the dam is a four-lane road. At the very rear end of the dam, there are monoliths placed in a circle and symbolizing the sacred lotus flower. The dam created a giant artificial reservoir, which was named Nasser, after the Egyptian president. This is one of the largest artificial lakes in the world. It covers an area of ​​5244 square kilometers and extends 510 kilometers south through Nubia to Sudan. Water from Lake Nasser is used to irrigate the land. Now you can get high yields every year. The purpose of the dam was to control the water level in the Nile. For many centuries, people suffered from severe floods of the river, followed by flooding of fields, the destruction of a very valuable crop. Of course, with the installation of the dam, such spills are no longer recorded, the water level is controlled, and besides, the dam supplies electricity to the factories and cities of the country (passing through the dam, the water rotates the turbines that generate half of Egypt's electricity), but new problems have appeared. For example, the installation of a dam led to changes in the soil around due to the increased salt content in the water and a change in this place.

In the United Arab Republic of Egypt, water is critical to the development of agriculture, with the Nile River being the country's only source of water supply and subject to significant fluctuations.

To control the waters of the Nile, several low-pressure dams were previously built on the river, however, significant volumes of Nile water, up to 32 billion m3 per year, continued to be discharged into the Mediterranean Sea. In this regard, the idea arose of building a high-rise dam on the Nile to accumulate water, accumulate excess water in high water years and use them in years with low flow.

In accordance with the international Agreement, the development of the Aswan High Dam project was entrusted to the Hydroproject Institute.

Malyshev Nikolai Aleksandrovich was appointed the chief engineer of the project - deputy head and chief engineer of the institute, doctor technical sciences, Corresponding Member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, Hero of Socialist Labor, Laureate of the State Prize.

The project involved the construction of a rockfill dam on the Nile, 7 km south of the site of the old Aswan Dam, built in 1905. The dam has a total length of 3,600 meters, of which 520 meters are in the channel part of the river. The width of the dam is 980m along the base and 40m along the crest. The height of the dam is 111m. The body of the dam consists of a clay core, horizontal clay ponur, sand prisms, and rock fill. At the base of the core, its continuation is a vertical injection curtain, which fixes the alluvium in the base of the dam to a depth of 180 m to the bedrock, in fact, representing the second underground impervious dam.

The flow of the Nile is diverted to a new conduit 1950 m long, consisting of two open channels - inlet and outlet, interconnected by six tunnels, each 250 m long, of circular section with a diameter of 17.0 m with reinforced concrete lining 1.0 m thick, passed in the rocky pillar under the right junction dams.

Each tunnel, bifurcating, brings water to the building of the hydroelectric power station, which houses 12 turbines with a capacity of 175 thousand kW, and to the bottom spillways, to discharge flood waters. The generation of electricity at hydroelectric power stations is 10 billion kWh in an average year in terms of water content, which was twice the generation of all power plants in the country at that time. Above the entrance head of each tunnel, a 60 m high water intake is provided, equipped with flat wheeled emergency repair and sliding repair gates. Winches are used as a drive mechanism.

In the left-bank junction of the dam, there is a catastrophic spillway for water discharge in case of exceeding the maximum allowable water level in the reservoir. The artificial reservoir created by the dam is one of the largest in the world. Its length is 500 km and the average width is 10 km. The total volume of the reservoir is 157 billion m3, of which 30 billion m3 is allocated for filling with sediments (for about 500 years), 37 billion m3 is a reserve for the accumulation of high floods and 10 billion m3 for water losses from filtration and evaporation.

The presented project has passed all the examinations, incl. the examination of the International Committee and was approved in the future was put into practice. January 9, 1960 is considered the start date for the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

50 years ago, on May 15, 1964, in a solemn ceremony in the presence of the President of the UAR, the Heads of Governments of the USSR, Iraq and Algeria, the blocking of the Nile River was completed. Thus, the first stage of construction was completed, including a dam 47.0 m high, with a partial implementation of the injection curtain, horizontal sections of six tunnels, six sections of the hydroelectric power station and six water intakes, erected not to full height with the placement of the drive mechanism - operational winches of the emergency repair gates. and repair on a temporary reinforced concrete overpass. This decision made it possible to regulate, if necessary, the omission of construction costs and continue the construction of the water intake to the design levels. The chief engineer of the project Malyshev N.A. was present at the solemn events. and Soviet specialists - participants in the construction.

During the blocking of the river, the preliminary constraint of the channel was carried out by filling the stone bank of the dam of the first stage in a pioneer way from both banks, as well as under water by self-unloading barges. By the time of completion of work on blocking the river, within the boundaries of the backfilled dam of sorted stone, alluvium under water was made by means of hydromechanization from previously harvested sand.

The work on the final stage of closing the breach was carried out on May 13-15, 1964. During 62 hours of continuous work, 74,500 m3 of stone were thrown into the breach, including 44,760 m3 from the right bank, 21,710 m3 from the left bank, and 8980 from self-unloading barges. m. The highest intensity of dumping was: 1980 m3/h (including from barges 500 m3/h).

Simultaneously with the blocking of the channel, work was carried out to flood the canal and wash out the dams. The canal was previously flooded by pumping a small amount of water into it by specially installed pumping stations. To speed up the process of initial erosion of the lintels, trenches were made in them and small explosive charges were laid for subsequent detonation.

At 12 noon 35min May 14 was blown up by an explosion of the upper jumper. After 20 minutes, intensive erosion of the soil began. After 30 min. the water in the pit reached the calculated level, at the same time the downstream cofferdam was blown up. A few minutes later, the pit was completely flooded, the water levels leveled off and the flow of the river was directed through the culverts located on the right bank.

During the construction period, about 50 hydroprojectors were involved in the hydroproject PIU at the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex and the Construction Department, seven of which (L.S. Alliluev, B.I. Godunov, V.I. Zhigunov, A.G. Mukhamedov, A P. Pavlov, I. N. Rozhkov and V. Ya. Shaitanov) are still working. The list of Hydroproject employees - participants in the design and construction is attached.

The UN Social Commission named the Aswan Hydroelectric Complex an outstanding engineering structure of the 20th century.

B.I. Godunov, head of the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex

List of Hydroproject employees who worked in the Hydroproject PIU on the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex:

Alenin O.G.	Zorin L.M.	Martsinovsky N.P.	Pakhanov V.V.
Alliluev L.S.	Ivanov V.I.	Makeev E.P.	Pershanin E.A.
Baranov V.I.	Kolchev B.V.	Mitrushkin N.V.	Prokopovich I.A.
Buzin S.V.	Korotovskikh M.E.	Mishin Yu.K.	Rozhkov I.N.
Vaniev V.I.	Krapivin A.S.	Morozov P.N.	Romanov S.I.
Volobuev A.G.	Krasilnikov G.A.	Mukhamedov A.G.	Semenkov V.M.
Godunov B.I.	Kuznetsov L.A.