B. Khan

Where is the Aswan Dam?

The map on the next slide shows the location of the Aswan High Dam Project in Egypt, which was completed in 1970. The dam is built on the River Nile and provides:

Hydro-Electric Power (HEP) Irrigation water for surrounding farmland Water supply to the population Flood control.

Aswan Dam

  Motivation for Construction of the

Aswan High Dam •Provides large amount of stored water to release for irrigation during all months of the year. •Provides stored water for irrigation during drought years (example of mid '80s drought in Ethiopia and Sudan). •Electricity generation without burning fossil fuels. •Elimination of large floods permits infrastructure construction. •Dams are very dramatic and enhance the power of central governments (and their political leaders).

British and Soviet engineers constructing the enormous Aswan High Dam, Aswan,

Egypt

Benefits and Problems of the Dam

•The dam has a generating capacity of 2,100 megawatts of electricity.

••The formation of Lake Nasser inundated many villages along the Nile in both Egypt and Sudan, forcing thousands of people to relocate.

• •Farmland along the Nile is becoming less fertile and productive because it no longer receives the fertilizing silt from the river's floodwaters.

•Farmers have attempted to use chemical fertilizers instead, but these are not as effective.

Fast Facts:

•About 95 % of Egypt's population lives within 19 km of the Nile River.

•Since the dam was completed in 1970, the fertility of Egypt's farmland has gradually decreased. Today, more than half of Egypt's soil is rated medium to poor.

•Enough rock was used in the construction of the Aswan High Dam to build 17 Great Pyramids at Giza, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Aswan High Dam holding back Lake Nasser on left, Aswan, Egypt

The Aswan Dam

One of the Hydroelectric Generators at the Aswan High Dam.

When the Aswan Dam was built, the entire Temple of Abu Simel was shifted, so it wouldn’t be flooded and destroyed

when Lake Nasser filled up.

West Channel Masonry Looking

East (from westernmost area

of the dam)April 30, 1901

From the West Bank Looking EastOctober 1, 1901

The Original Aswan Dam

Bibliographyhttp://www.umich.edu/~kelseydb/Exhibits/AncientNubia/PhotoIntro.html

University of Michigan

http://www.touregypt.net/highdam.htm

Government of Egypt – Tourism http://geography.about.com/library/weekly/aa012698.htm?once=true&

about.com library – Aswan High Dam http://www.kesgrave.suffolk.sch.uk/Curric/geog/aswandam.html

The Geography Portal