High Dam

It is the dam that was built during the reign of President Gamal Abdel Nasser on the Nile River in Egypt, with the assistance of the Soviet Union in the year 1960 AD. The dam is 3600 meters long, 980 meters wide at its base, 40 meters wide at its top, and 111 meters high. 43 million cubic meters of cement, iron and other construction materials were used in its construction, and the cost of its construction amounted to approximately one billion dollars. A third of it was paid by the Soviet Union, and about 400 experts from the Soviets participated in its construction, as it was officially opened in the year 1971 AD.

Components of the High Dam

• Body: What is meant by its dimensions and measurements.
• Storage Lake: It is a lake located in front of the dam, and it is a pool of water in front of the dam.
• Toshka Overflow Canal: It is the depression that receives surplus water from Lake Nasser.
• Diversion Canal: It is located on the eastern side of the Nile River. It passes water from the front of the dam to the back of it. It consists of a front channel and a back channel.
• Tunnels: They are the six tunnels lined with concrete, which connect the front channel to the back channel of the diversion channel.
• Electricity station: This station is located at the exits of the tunnels, as a station will be built on each branch of the six tunnels.

The importance of building the High Dam

• Regulating the irrigation process.
• Control the floods resulting from the high water level in the Nile River.
• Electricity generation.
• Nile River water storage.
• Protect the floor from drying out.
• Development of the agricultural and industrial sector in Egypt.

The negative effects of the High Dam

• The deportation of some Nubian villages that were flooded due to the construction of the High Dam.
• Increasing the erosion of the bases of river facilities.
• Clear erosion of the shores of the Egyptian Delta.
• Loss of a large amount of Lake Nasser water due to evaporation.
• A military point of weakness in the event that the dam is blown up.

Construction financing

The Central Bank, Britain, and the United States financed the High Dam construction project at an estimated cost of $1.3 billion, distributed as follows:

• 70 million dollars for the first phase.
• 200 million dollars for the second phase.
• 20 million pounds as a grant from the United States of America.
• 5.5 million dollars as a loan from Britain.
• The remaining amount is provided by Egypt.

The “Arab Contractors” company received the undertaking for the construction of the High Dam, and the volume of works entrusted to them did not exceed 12% of the total costs.