Введение

The most important Egyptian project in the 20th century and the largest embankment dam in the world. Since the era of the Pharaohs, Egypt has relied on the basin irrigation system, but the floods made it build many small weirs until the British came and built what is known as the Aswan Dam or Aswan Reservoir in 1908. When the revolution took place in Egypt, President Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to build a huge project to protect Egypt from floods and to generate electricity. Abdel Nasser requested funding from the World Bank, but it refused. So, in 1956, he decided to nationalize the Suez Canal, i.e., return its ownership to Egypt after it had been in the hands of the British and French. So, a war was waged against him by Britain, France, and Israel, which was the Suez War in 1956. The only country that helped him in the war was the Soviet Union. Therefore, he decided to build the High Dam with the help of the Soviets. The Soviets sent 400 experts from all over the Eastern Bloc at that time (Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, etc.) to build the dam. Egyptian engineers and workers participated with the Soviet experts in the construction of this great edifice from 1960 to 1970. In 1963, Soviet President Nikita Khrushchev and Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito attended and laid the foundation stone, witnessing the diversion of the river with President Gamal Abdel Nasser in a grand celebration. Therefore, President Abdel Nasser decided to establish a symbol of friendship between Egypt and the Soviet Union, known as the symbol of Egyptian-Soviet friendship. The High Dam consists of 12 turbines that were brought from the city of St. Petersburg in Russia. After the completion of the installation of the turbines, the High Dam was inaugurated on January 15, 1971.

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The dam generates electricity for the entire country. •Egypt transitioned from basin irrigation to permanent irrigation, allowing lands to be cultivated two or three times a year instead of once. •Numerous factories and large projects were established, taking advantage of the dam’s electricity. •Egypt is now protected from the dangers of floods. Factories were established to produce fertilizers to compensate for the natural silt brought by the flood, which is a natural fertilizer. •The largest artificial lake in the world was created, stretching 500 kilometers from the dam to the border with Sudan, ensuring a water supply even in years with low Nile River flow.

Drawbacks of the Aswan High Dam

•When the river’s course was diverted, many temples, such as Philae, Kalabsha, and Abu Simbel, were submerged behind the dam and had to be relocated by UNESCO. •The annual flood brought fertile silt that acted as a natural fertilizer for the lands. Although fertilizer factories were built, no artificial fertilizer can fully replace the natural silt. •The silt carried by the flood no longer passes through the dam, leading to sediment deposits at the bottom of Lake Nasser. •Crocodiles used to migrate through the river before the dam’s construction. Now, they are trapped in Lake Nasser and prey on fish there.

Specifications of the Aswan High Dam

The High Dam was designed with the following specifications: Base Elevation: 85 meters, Crest Elevation: 196 meters, Crest Length: 3830 meters, Base Width: 980 meters, Crest Width: 40 meters

Power Station

The power station is located at the outlets of the tunnels. These tunnels connect the lake to the dam and there are 6 of them. Each tunnel branches into two branches, with a turbine installed on each to generate electricity. Number of Turbines: 12 Capacity of Each Turbine: 175 megawatts Total Capacity of the Station: 2100 megawatts Annual Electrical Energy Production: 10 billion kilowatt-hours

High Dam Turbines

Nasser Lake

Previously known as the Lake of the High Dam, it has a length of 500 kilometers, a width of 10 kilometers, and a storage capacity of 162 billion cubic meters. The highest elevation in the lake is 178 meters, and for this reason, the Toshka spillway was built to accommodate water that rises above the lake’s level. Due to the death of President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1970, i.e., before the inauguration of the High Dam, the lake was named after him.

The Symbol of Friendship

As a result of the Soviet Union’s assistance to Egypt in building the High Dam, President Gamal Abdel Nasser decided to erect a symbol of friendship between the two countries. The design was entrusted to the Russian engineer Yuri Omletr Shinko. The architectural style of the symbol combines ancient Egyptian civilization and that of the Soviet Union. Therefore, the engineer chose the lotus flower as a symbol of Upper Egypt and the five-pointed star as the emblem of the Soviet Union. Interestingly, it is considered taller than the Cairo Tower, even though its height is only 72 meters, while the tower’s height reaches approximately 187 meters. This illustrates the elevated level of the land on which the symbol was built. The lake surrounding the symbol represents water wealth. The lotus flowers in the lake have engravings depicting Egyptian life and an image of a Nubian woman with a Nubian dish, symbolizing the prosperity of agriculture after the construction of the High Dam

The flag is a symbol of Egypt and the five-pointed star

The flag is a symbol of Egypt and the five-pointed star is the symbol of the Soviet Union and above it is a picture of President Sadat who inaugurated the dam after its completion

Symbol of the Soviet Union

The symbol of friendship is made up of five lotus leaves and between them the five-circle the symbol of the Soviet Union