Aswan Dam and the History of the Taming of the Nile. Aswan Dam, built with the assistance of the ussr in egypt

Aswan Dam- the largest hydraulic system of structures in Egypt, located on the Nile River near the city of Aswan (the first rapids 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 is why it became necessary to build a new dam. The project was developed in Germany, took part in the installation work Soviet Union... A contract was signed between Egypt and the USSR for the construction of the Aswan Dam and a 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 dam erection process was complex and time consuming. To carry out the work, it took such an amount of sand, clay, stones and concrete that it was easy to build seventeen pyramids of Cheops 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 torn apart, and then they were reassembled on another island.

Moving architectural monuments

The transfer of the famous rock temples to 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, temples and statues were carved out of the mountain, sawn into blocks and re-assembled in another place.

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; towards the upper edge it narrows to forty meters. On the right bank there are canals and six tunnels - they bring water to the hydroelectric power station. At the beginning, the similarity is established triumphal arch through which cars can pass. There is a four-lane road at the top of the dam. Monoliths are installed at the other end of the dam, forming a circle and symbolizing sacred flower lotus.

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

Aswan Dam for tourists

Aswan Dam as an attraction is included in the majority tourist routes across Egypt. Many people call it the pyramid of the twentieth century. An excursion to the Aswan Dam involves a walk along the Nile on a five-star ship. You can also choose a separate sightseeing tour lasting three hours. Tourists can climb to the top of the dam, along which the road passes, and inspect the monument to the dam builders. The program includes a visit to an architectural structure in the shape of a lotus flower. In conclusion - a walk along the Nile on feluccas.

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

The old dam made it possible to regulate the flow of the Nile, but it could not fulfill the main task - to save Egypt from droughts and floods. And so in the 1960s. 6 km to the south of it, the high-rise Aswan Dam was built.

The dam, built with the assistance of Soviet specialists, was named by the International Association of Civil Engineers as one of the ten outstanding structures of the 20th century. The Egyptians themselves call it the pyramid of the XX century. But a different time gave rise to other scales. The body of the dam could fit 17 pyramids of Cheops. Its length is almost 4 km, width along the bottom is 1 km, height is 111 m. Behind the dam stretches for 500 km, an artificial lake Nasser (Aswan reservoir) sandwiched on both sides by rocks.

The Aswan hydropower complex was fully commissioned on January 15, 1971. Since then, the Egyptian fellahi peasants have known no droughts or floods. The dam became a crane that shut off the capricious Nile. Cultivated areas have expanded significantly, many old lands receive water all year round and give three crops instead of one. The power of the dam's hydroelectric power station is 2.1 million kW.
Hundreds of villages received electricity for the first time. Fish are raised in the reservoir. For 11 years of construction, many thousands of specialists have been trained.

Experts believe that the dam is practically eternal. It is built of local granite, sprinkled with sand and gravel. the main problem- silting up of the reservoir. The dam traps the silt brought in by the water. Scientists have calculated that silt will completely displace water in no sooner than 500 years. But technologies for cleaning the reservoir are already being developed.

Construction history

The British began construction of the first dam in 1899, completing it in 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcox and involved several distinguished engineers, including Sir Benjamin Baker and Sir John Erd, whose firm, John Erd and Company, was the main contractor. The dam was an imposing structure 1,900 m long and 54 m high. The initial design, it was soon found out, was inadequate and the height of the dam was raised in two stages, 1907-1912 and 1929-1933.

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. Design work began in 1952, immediately after the revolution. Initially, the US and UK were supposed to help finance the construction by providing a loan of $ 270 million in exchange for Nasser's participation in the resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict. However, in July 1956, both countries canceled their proposal. As possible reasons this step is called a secret supply agreement small arms with Czechoslovakia, which was part of the eastern bloc, and Egypt's recognition of the PRC.

After Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal, intending to use duties on passing ships to subsidize the Upper Dam project, Britain, France and Israel provoked military conflict by occupying the canal during the Suez crisis. But under pressure from the UN, the USA and the USSR, they were forced to leave and leave the channel in Egyptian hands. In the midst of cold war In the struggle for the third world countries, the Soviet Union in 1958 offered technical assistance in the construction of the dam, and a third of the project cost was 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, however, the reservoir began to fill already in 1964, when the first stage of the dam construction 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 main monuments were moved to safer places or transferred to countries that helped with the work (Debod Temple in Madrid and Dendur Temple in New York ).
The high-rise dam was built with Soviet loans. Egypt paid for it in full back in the 1970s.

On the left bank of the river, at the western base of the dam, a majestic monument dedicated to Egyptian-Soviet friendship has been erected. Five lotus petals soared upwards to 75 m. The monument was erected according to the project of architects Y. Omelchenko and P. Pavlov, the bas-reliefs were made by the sculptor N. Vechkanov. On the central petal, inside the lotus, the words of the President of Egypt Gamal Abdel Nasser (1918-1970) are engraved: "Over the long years of joint work, the Arab-Soviet friendship has been forged and hardened, which is not inferior in its strength to the highest Aswan Dam." At a height of 46 m, the lotus petals are connected by a viewing platform, but access to it is closed.

In the United Arab Republic of Egypt, water is a critical factor for development Agriculture and the only source of water supply for the country is the Nile River, which is subject to significant fluctuations.

To manage 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 surpluses 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.

The chief engineer of the project was Nikolai Aleksandrovich Malyshev, Deputy Head and Chief Engineer of the Institute, Doctor of Technical Sciences, Corresponding Member of the USSR Academy of Sciences, Hero of Socialist Labor, State Prize Laureate.

The project involved the construction of a rock-fill dam on the Nile, 7 km south of the alignment of the old Aswan Dam, built in 1905. The dam has a total length of 3600 meters, of which 520 meters falls on the riverbed. The width of the dam is 980m at the base and 40m along the ridge. The height of the dam is 111m. The body of the dam consists of a clay core, horizontal clay depressions, sand prisms, and rockfill. At the base of the core, it is continued by a vertical injection curtain, which fixes the alluvium at the base of the dam to a depth of 180 m to the bedrock, which actually represents the second underground anti-seepage dam.

The Nile is diverted into a new aqueduct 1950 m long, consisting of two open channels- inlet and outlet, interconnected by six tunnels, each 250 m long, circular section 17.0 m in diameter with reinforced concrete lining 1.0 m thick, passed in a rock pillar under the right abutment of the dam.

Each tunnel, bifurcating, brings water to the building of the hydroelectric power station, where 12 turbines with a capacity of 175 thousand kW are located, and to the bottom spillways, for the discharge of flood waters. The generation of electricity at hydroelectric power plants is 10 billion kWh in an average year in terms of water content, which is 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 driving mechanism.

In the left bank abutment of the dam, there is a catastrophic spillway for discharging water in case of exceeding the maximum permissible 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 its 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 submitted project has passed all examinations, incl. the expertise of the International Committee and was approved later was implemented in practice. January 9, 1960 is considered the date of commencement of work on the construction of the Aswan High Dam.

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

In the course of blocking the river, the preliminary constriction of the channel was carried out by filling the stone banquet of the first stage of the first stage in a pioneering way from both banks, as well as under the water by self-unloading barges. By the time of completion of the river blocking works, within the limits of the dumped dam made of sorted stone, the water was washed under water by means of hydromechanization from the previously harvested sand.

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

Simultaneously with the blocking of the channel, work was carried out to inundate the channel and wash out the bridges. 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 the initial erosion of the bridges, trenches were made in them and small charges of explosives were laid for subsequent detonation.

At 12 noon 35min. On May 14, an explosion detonated a horse bridge. In 20 minutes, intensive soil erosion began. After 30 min. the water in the pit reached the design level, at the same time the downstream dam was blown up. In a few minutes, the pit was completely flooded, the water levels leveled off and the flow of the river was directed through culverts located on the right bank.

During the construction period, about 50 hydro-project workers were involved in the Hydroproject PIU for the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex and the Construction Department, seven of whom (L.S.Alliluyev, B.I. Godunov, V.I. Zhigunov, A.G. Mukhamedov, A. P. Pavlov, I. N. Rozhkov and V. Ya. Shaitanov) work to this day. The list of Hydroproject employees - participants in design and construction is attached.

The Aswan hydroelectric complex was named an outstanding engineering structure of the 20th century by the UN Social Commission.

Head of the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex B.I. Godunov

The list of Gidroproekt employees who worked in the Hydroproject PIU on the construction of the Aswan hydroelectric complex:

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

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

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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 in the path of water. Some monuments were saved, for example the Tower of the Winds. They have been moved to other locations.

What to see

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

It will be especially interesting for travelers from Russia. The fact is that the Soviet-Egyptian memorial is located next to the Aswan Dam. It is dedicated to the Soviet people who helped the Egyptians build the dam. The memorial is a huge lotus-shaped tower. The bas-relief of the building may seem to Russians as something familiar and familiar, 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 a 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 look at the Aswan Dam, there is a pavilion that contains a giant model of this structure - 15 m.

It is noteworthy that the plans were made in Russian and Arabic. You can probably guess why.

Stop in the middle of the dam, here you can feel the full power of the Aswan Dam: 40 meters wide and four kilometers long. Do 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, the power of which is 2,000 megawatts, and the 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 disaster strikes, and the dam begins to collapse rapidly, 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 police officers.

The Egyptians regard the Aswan Dam as the embodiment 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 south. You can get to the attraction on your own, by taxi or use the services of professional guides.

A taxi ride will cost you 30-35 EGP. The 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.