The High Dam

The High Dam is considered the greatest and largest engineering project of the twentieth century. The High Dam was built on the Nile River in Aswan Governorate, southern Egypt. It is 3,600 meters long at its peak. It is 980 meters at its base, while its height is 111 meters above the river bed level, and its width is 40 meters and takes the form of two wings on both sides of the river.  Owned and operated by the General Authority for Aswan High Dam and Aswan Reservoir. 

Construction of the High Dam

The High Dam was built with the help of the Soviet Union and was established during the era of the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser. It is considered the largest Egyptian hydroelectric project in the modern era. The number of its employees reached 34 thousand workers, and it took 10 years to build at a cost of about 415 million Egyptian pounds. The High Dam was officially opened in 1971.

The role of the High Dam in development

The High Dam created a major qualitative shift in development in Egypt, as it transferred agriculture from seasonal to permanent agriculture and protected it from flood damage.
The High Dam also contributed to organizing irrigation operations and achieving the agricultural renaissance as well as the industrial renaissance by generating the electricity necessary for that renaissance.

Specifications of Aswan High Dam

It is a rubble dam on the Nile River in the city of Aswan, southern Egypt. The volume of the dam’s body is 43 million cubic meters of iron, cement and other materials, and a water flow of up to 11 thousand cubic meters of water can pass through it per second.

Storage projects by the High Dam

Annual water storage projects were established, such as the Aswan Reservoir and the Jebel Awliya Reservoir on the Nile, to control the river’s variable revenues. Barrages were also erected to regulate irrigation along the river’s course .

The amount of water stored by the High Dam

The total storage capacity is 162 billion cubic meters, as the maximum width of the lake is 35 square kilometers.

Benefits of the High Dam

1) Storing drinking water and directing it to residential communities.

2) Protecting populated areas and agricultural lands from floods.

3) Preserving wasted water in the Mediterranean Sea and exploiting it optimally.

4) Promoting development by generating the necessary electricity for any
A cultural and industrial renaissance and its use in illuminating various ways of life.

5) Land reclamation and increasing the agricultural area.