Aswan dams in Egypt. Abu Simbel: a legacy saved

Now the level of the river is controlled here, the Nile no longer floods, and an organized system of irrigation of fields operates in the delta, the Egyptians harvest three crops a year. Of course, not everything is so wonderful, the dam caused a lot environmental issues, because it did not let silt down, which since ancient times has been a natural fertilizer for the soil in the delta.

During the construction, a vast reservoir was to be formed, which is now called Lake Nasser, in honor of the second president of Egypt. Several important historical monuments should have been flooded.

The largest monument was . All of them were simply cut into blocks and moved to other places, in total there were 22 such transfers.

The Egyptians are still deciding different problems associated with the dam. The water level in Lake Nasser is still constantly rising, channels are constantly being dug here to divert water from it, otherwise the dam may simply not withstand, even though it was built with a large margin of safety. Soils in the Nile Delta are degrading, there are much fewer fish in the Mediterranean Sea and this is not full list negative consequences of the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric power station.

The next interesting place in Aswan is the botanical garden. Many readers will ask what could be unusual in a botanical garden? The fact is that Aswan is one of the driest places on our planet where people live. The norm of precipitation in Aswan is 500 times less than in central Russia, it rains here once every few years.

It is on the contrast of the desert, the river, and the whole island of greenery that the main impression of the botanical garden in Aswan is based.

IN Botanical Garden tourists are transported on small motor boats or on sailing boats called feluccas, they are easily recognizable by a slanting sail, sometimes there are combinations of a motor and a sail on one boat. Of course, these ships look rather “flimsy”, but, on the other hand, there are no storms or unrest on Lake Nasser or in the Nile itself.

This is a very pleasant place for a walk, there are many trees, flowers and other greenery, birds also walk around the garden, it looks like it is shown in the photo below.

The third place where tourists are taken during the excursion to Aswan is the Nubian village. Nubians have lived in these places since ancient times, perhaps, of the entire population of Egypt, they can be called the most indigenous.

Aswan Dam (Egypt) - description, history, location. The exact address, phone, website. Reviews of tourists, photos and videos.

• Tours for May Worldwide
• Hot tours Worldwide

Previous photo Next photo

The Aswan Dam is the pride of Egypt, which was designed in the 1960s. Soviet engineers. The dam allowed the country to completely switch to year-round irrigation of its lands.

But, on the other hand, the Aswan dam brought with it troubles, in particular, the destruction of ancient monuments located on the path of water. Some monuments were saved, such as the Tower of the Winds. They have been moved to other places.

What to see

The Aswan Dam is accessible not only to specialists, but also to tourists. Anyone can come here for a tour from seven in the morning to five in the evening.

It will be especially interesting here for travelers from Russia. The fact is that the Soviet-Egyptian memorial is located next to the Aswan Dam. He is dedicated Soviet people who helped the Egyptians build the dam. The memorial is a huge lotus-shaped tower. The bas-relief of the building may even seem familiar to Russians, because it is made in the traditions of socialist realism.

There is a small observation deck on the roof of the memorial, which can accommodate about four people at the same time. It offers stunning views of the Aswan Dam and Lake Nasser. Such beauty is truly breathtaking.

On the east side, for tourists who came to see the Aswan Dam, there is a pavilion in which a giant model of this structure is stored - 15 m.

It is noteworthy that the plans are made in Russian and Arabic. You probably guessed why.

Stop in the middle of the dam, here you can feel the full power of the Aswan Dam: 40 m wide and four km long. You can not be afraid to look down, because of the fence it will not be possible to estimate the height of the dam. But you can admire the view of the Kalabsha temple, which is located behind Lake Nasser. From here you can clearly see the huge power plant, whose power is 2000 megawatts, and a network of irrigation canals.

The Aswan Dam is not only a powerful and beautiful structure, but also very dangerous for the whole of Egypt.

The Aswan Dam is not only a powerful and beautiful structure, but also very dangerous for the whole of Egypt. If trouble happens, and the dam begins to rapidly collapse, then most of the country's territory will be washed away into the Mediterranean Sea. That is why the Aswan Dam is carefully guarded, and its visit is possible only as part of organized groups and under the close supervision of the police.

The Egyptians consider the Aswan High Dam to be the epitome of their future. Thanks to her, Egypt got the opportunity to actively develop and become one of the recognized tourist centers.

How to get there

From Aswan to the dam about 12 km to the south. You can drive to the sights on your own, by taxi or use the services of professional guides.

A taxi ride will cost you 30-35 EGP. Entrance to the Aswan Dam is also paid - 30 EGP.

Aswan itself from Cairo, where most Russian tourists arrive, can be reached by bus or train.

If you are relaxing in Hurghada, then the Aswan Dam can be reached directly from this resort. A seven-hour trip will cost you 70 EGP.

Prices on the page are for November 2018.

On January 15, 1971, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat officially opened a dam across the Nile called. Work on its construction was carried out during the reign of President Abdel Nasser and lasted more than eleven years before the opening. Some geometric indicators of the Aswan Dam are as follows: the length of the dam is 3.8 kilometers, the height is 3 meters, the width at the base is 975 meters, and closer to the upper edge, the width is already up to 40 meters.

The resource costs for the construction of the Aswan Dam are simply unimaginable. For this unique structure, such an amount of stone, clay, sand and concrete was used that would be enough to build 17 pyramids of Cheops.

Built on top of the dam Triumphal Arch under which a four-dimensional road passes. Also on the western edge are four huge pointed monoliths.

One of the most important achievements of the Aswan Dam is that with its help it became possible to control the annual flood of the Nile. Since ancient times, the life of local residents directly depended on the Nile, or rather, its floods. In most cases, the Nile did not reach the households of the local residents with its waters, but sometimes the Nile flooded so much that it completely destroyed all crops, which meant a hungry year for the local population. The construction of the dam solved this problem, and made it possible to fully use vast territories.

But with the pros of the dam came the cons. The dam had a significant impact on ecological situation in this region, namely due to the increase in salt levels, soil changes in the adjacent territories, and as a result, significant changes in climate change in this region.

Go downstream another 60 kilometers and you will see the century-old Aswan Dam, which was completed in 1902. At that time, it was the greatest dam of its time, called El Sadd - as the Arabs called it.

Also amazing fact Sudan is the loss of 60,000 local residents in the process of construction. As a result of construction work locals were simply forced to change their place of residence and leave these lands. A huge number of priceless architectural structures were lost under the streams of the newly made reservoir. Only thanks to the action of UNESCO, some of the most valuable ancient monuments were saved. For example, the island of Philae was sunk under water, but despite this, the priceless temples were dismantled into numbered parts and moved to another place, located higher above sea level. Among those saved, there is a central temple dedicated to the goddess Isis, some parts that date back to the first, second century BC. Also, 3 other temples moved to Kalabsha, to the eastern edge of the dam. But still the most grandiose was the salvation of the monuments in Abu Simbel, located at a distance of 282 km south of Aswan.

The winter resort called "Sam Aswan" is blessed by nature with an ideal climate, with temperatures of 20 degrees during the skiing season. And in warm seasons, the temperature here can reach 50 degrees Celsius.

Experienced people can say with confidence that the dates in Asauna are the most delicious in all of Egypt. Also here are interesting places for walks, for example, the mausoleum of the Aga Khan, who died in 1957. It is also worth taking a look at the remains of the Coptic Monastery, the ancient ruins of Elephantine Island, located on the Nile, the ancient Muslim cemetery, with its amazing burials, and other equally significant monuments of antiquity.

1) I dreamed of seeing the Aswan Dam (السد العالي‎) since grades 10-11, when I read about it in the lessons of World History from Nikita Zagladin's textbook. Fortunately, studying at Cairo University made it possible to get there with fellow students from RUDN University and Kazan University. For me, the fact that it is to the south of the dam that crocodiles begin to live, which did not survive to the north of it for 960 km downstream of the Nile to the confluence of the Mediterranean Sea.

2) The Nile originates at the lake. Victoria in the south African continent. Flowing north to the Mediterranean Sea, the river divides it into western and eastern parts, crossing Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan and ending in Egypt on its way. Each of these states has its own interests in the use of its water resources. 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. The average annual flow of the Nile in the region of Sudan and Egypt is estimated at 84 billion cubic meters. The average annual flow of the river is subject to significant fluctuations. The decrease in runoff in some years reaches 45 billion cubic meters, which leads to droughts, a rise to 150 billion cubic meters. causes floods. 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 this water project was to prevent floods, provide Egypt with electricity and create a network of irrigation canals for agriculture.

3) Engineers to help.
A feature of the hydroelectric power station is the design of spillways with water outlet not under the water level of the downstream channel, but into the atmosphere with jet discharge at a distance of 120-150 meters from the hydroelectric power station building. The flow of water thrown out by 12 spillways reaches 5000 m³ per second. The energy of the flow is extinguished by raising the jet 30 m above the water level of the tailpipe, followed by a fall into a channel about 20 m deep. For the first time in world practice, such a solution was applied during the construction of the Kuibyshevskaya HPP.
The high-rise Aswan dam consists of 3 sections. The right-bank and left-bank sections of the dam, 30 m high, have a rocky base, the channel section, 550 m long, 111 m high, has a sandy base. The thickness of the sands at the base is 130 meters. The dam was built in an existing reservoir with a depth of 35 meters without the installation of jumpers and drainage of the foundation. The dam has a flattened profile and is built from local materials. The core and ponur of the dam are made of the so-called Aswan clays.

4)

5)

6)

7) The day of the official opening of construction - January 9, 1960. On this day, the President of Egypt, pressing the red button on the remote control of the explosive device, exploded the rock in the pit of future structures. On May 15, 1964, the Nile was blocked. On this day, the construction site was visited by Nikita Sergeevich Khrushchev, President of Algeria Ferhat Abbas and President of Iraq Abdul Salam Aref. 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.

8) 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 history of this grandiose hydroelectric complex began in the Ukrainian city of Zaporozhye. Soviet contractors of the Egyptian project built a miniature of the future Aswan Dam (50 times less) at the Pravoberezhny quarry. For two years, the company "Dneprostroy" carried out all the necessary work, after which the necessary tests were carried out and the scientists chose a successful hydrotechnical option. More than 50 years have passed since that time, however, even now we can see the experimental construction of a dam on the territory of the Pravoberezhny quarry in Zaporozhye.

9) 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. At the time of the launch of the last unit in 1967, the hydroelectric complex produced more than half of all electricity in the country. 15% in 1988.

10)

11) Russian students in Aswan before a forced march to the Aswan Dam.

12) How did the day start then? Having visited the island of Philae, we all realized that the Aswan Dam is 11 km away. At first they wanted to walk, then a taxi driver picked us up and took us to the beginning of the hydroelectric complex. In the picture - the old English dam and further - the Nile River.

13) Hydroelectric power plant of the Great Dam.

14) So, Firuza.

15) "Smirnova Margarita Yurievna". Rita, if you read the text, you will immediately understand where all this comes from.

16) Arslan.

17) In 1966, the Egyptian government allocated money for international competition for the project of the Monument of Friendship between the Arab and Soviet peoples, the so-called. "Flower of Aswan", installed in 1975. Five petals of a flower rise up to 75 meters, and at a height of 46 meters they are united by a ring of an observation deck, where up to 6 people can be at the same time and where you can climb with an elevator.

Construction history

The British began construction of the first dam 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 was soon found out, was inadequate, and the height of the dam was raised in two stages, 1907-1912 and 1929-1933.

Construction began in 1960. The Upper Dam was completed on July 21, 1970, however, the reservoir began to fill up as early as 1964, when the first phase of the dam was completed. The reservoir endangered many archaeological sites, 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). ).

The main characteristics of the hydroelectric complex

Panorama

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

The Toshka Canal links the reservoir with Lake Toshka. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, is 550 km long and 35 km at its maximum width; its surface area is 5250 km², and the total volume is 132 km³.

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, the negative consequences of the floods of 1964 and 1973, as well as the droughts of 1972-1973 and 1983-1984, were prevented. A significant number of fish farms have formed around Lake Nasser.

Ecological problems

In addition to the benefits, however, the damming of the Nile has caused many environmental problems. Vast areas of lower Nubia were flooded, displacing over 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 Mediterranean ecosystem - the catch of fish 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 farmland 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.

The Aswan Dam tends to increase the salinity of the Mediterranean, and thus affecting the flow from the Mediterranean to Atlantic Ocean(see Strait of Gibraltar). This flow can be traced for thousands of kilometers in the Atlantic. Some people think [ Who?] that such influence of the dam accelerates the processes that will lead to the next ice age.

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.

Links

• southeast mediterranean restored ecosystem