About The Aswan high dam

Building World Landmarks - Aswan High Dam - the high aswan dam

Aswan High Dam is one of the largest embankment dams of the world, which is one of the greatest engineering miracles of this world.

Earlier Aswan had a dam known as Aswan Old Dam built on Nile River in 1899. Construction lasted up to 1902 the project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers.

When in 1946 that dam was overflowed it was decided to construct a new dam rather than of raising the height of the old dam.

A second dam would be built 6 km upriver (about 4 miles). Proper planning began in 1952

Aswan High Dam is known as Saad el Aali in Arabic

It located in the middle of the Egyptian Desert, Which located near to Aswan city, one of the main cities of Egypt; Aswan High Dam is 11, 811 ft long, 3215 ft thick at base and 364 ft tall.

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 43 million m³ of material. At maximum, 11,000 m³ of water can pass through the dam every second.

Silenced Rivers: The Ecology and Politics of Large Dams: Enlarged and Updated Edition - aswan high dam

Aswan High Dam contains eighteen times more material than the Great Pyramid of Cheops.

It is constructed in 1960's, The High Dam, with the first stage finished in 1964, it was completed on July 21, 1970.

Temple at Philae, Unesco World Heritage Site, Moved When the Aswan High Dam was Built, Nubia, Egypt Photographic Poster Print by Robert Harding - aswan high dam

Temple of Re-Herakhte for Ramses II, was Moved When Aswan High Dam was Built, Abu Simbel, Egypt Photographic Poster Print-aswan high dam

Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal to finance the dam project by using the revenues of the Suez Canal to help pay for construction, some of the cost of the dam was paid for as a gift.

Egyptian Russian Monument Courtesy of Julie Sherwood

The Soviets provided technicians and heavy machinery, The enormous rock and clay dam was designed by the Russian Zuk Hydroproject Institute.

Before the dams were built, the River Nile flooded each year during late summer, as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water and natural nutrients and minerals that annually enriched the fertile soil along the floodplain and delta; this made the Nile valley ideal for farming since ancient times. Because floods vary, in high-water years, the whole crop might be wiped out, while in low-water years widespread drought and famine occasionally occurred. Aswan High Dam was built to control the annual flood of the Nile River.