Great Man-Made River

De Great Man-Made River Project (Arabic: النهر الصناعي العظيم, romanized: an-nahr aṣ-ṣināʿiyy al-ʿaẓīm, abbreviated GMRP) be a network of pipes dat dey supply fresh water wey dem obtain am from de Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, a fossil aquifer, across Libya. E be de world ein largest irrigation project. De project dey utilize a pipeline system dat dey pump water from de Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, for southern Libya insyd, to cities wey dey along de populous northern Mediterranean coast of Libya, wey dey include Tripoli den Benghazi. De water dey cover a distance of up to 1,600 kilometers den dey provide 70% of all fresh water wey dem use for Libya insyd. According to de project ein website, e be de largest underground network of pipes (2,820 kilometres (1,750 mi)) den aqueducts for de world insyd. E dey consist of more dan 1,300 wells, most of wey dey ova 500 m deep, den dey supply 6,500,000 m3 of fresh water per day to de cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte den elsewhere for Libya insyd. De late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi describe am as de "Eighth Wonder of de World". History For 1953 insyd, efforts to find oil for southern Libya insyd lead to de discovery of large quantities of potable fossil water underground. Dem conceive de Great Man-Made River Project (GMRP) for de late 1960s insyd den work for de project top begin for 1984 insyd. Dem divide de project ein construction into five phases. De first phase require 85 million m³ of excavation den dem inaugurate am for 28 August 1991 top. De second phase (wey dem dub am First water to Tripoli) dem inaugurate am for 1 September 1996 top. De Great Man-Made River Project Authority own de project den dem fund am by de Gaddafi government. De primary contractor give de first phases be Dong Ah Consortium (a South Korean company) den de present main contractor be Al Nahr Company Ltd. Imported goods wey dem destine am give use for de construction of de GMRP insyd dem make am Korea insyd den Europe (mainly for Italy insyd) den arrive by sea via de entry port of Brega (Gulf of Sidra). Cathodic corrosion protection for de pipeline top dem supply am by an Australian company, AMAC Corrosion Protection, wey base for Melbourne insyd den and deliver via de port of Benghazi. Dem make de rest of de material for Libya insyd. Dem project de total cost of de GMRP at more dan US$25 billion. Libya complete de work to date without de financial support of major countries anaa loans from world banks. Since 1990, UNESCO provide training to engineers den technicians involve plus de project. De fossil aquifer from wey dem already dey supply dis water be de Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System. E accumulate during de last ice age den dem no currently replenish am. If 2007 rates of retrieval no dey increase, de water fi last a thousand years. Oda estimates dey indicate dat dem fi deplete aquifer of water as early as 60 to 100 years. Analysts dey say dat de costs of de $25 billion groundwater extraction system be 10% dem of desalination. For dis project insyd, dem invest one billion euros give de installation of 50,000 artificial palm trees give water condensation. De Spanish engineer Antonio Ibáñez de Alba carry out dis project. For 22 July 2011 top, during de First Libyan Civil War den de foreign military intervention, one of de two plants wey dey make pipes give de project, de Brega Plant, a NATO air strike hit am. At a press conference for 26 July top, NATO claim dat dem already fire rockets from within de plant area, den dat military material, wey dey include multiple rocket launchers, dem store am der according to intelligence findings, wey dey present two photos of an BM-21 MRL as sole evidence give de destruction of de factory. De evidence give a potential breach of UN resolutions already dey insufficient. During de Second Libyan Civil War from 2014 to 2020, de water infrastructure suffer neglect den occasional breakdowns. As of July 2019, dem already dismantle 101 of 479 wells for de western pipeline system top. For 10 April 2020 top, dem seize a station wey dey control water flow to Tripoli den neighboring towns by an unknown armed group. Dem cut de flow of water to ova two million pippoe as a result, den as such dem condemn de attack by de United Nations for humanitarian grounds top. Timeline 3 October 1983: De General Pippoe ein Congress hold an extraordinary session to draft de resolutions of de Basic Pippoe ein Congresses, wey decide to fund den execute de Great Man-Made River Project. 28 August 1984: Muammar Gaddafi lay de foundation stone for Sarir area insyd give de commencement of de construction of de Great Man-Made River Project. 28 August 1986: Muammar Gaddafi inaugurate de Brega plant give de production of de pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes, wey dem consider am de largest pipes make am plus pre-stressed steel wire (dem make de majority of steel wire for Italy insyd by de Redaelli Tecna S.p.A. company plus ein head office for Cologno Monzese-Milan insyd den ein factory for Caivano-Naples insyd). Dem sanso inaugurate de Sarir plant for dis date top. 26 August 1989: Muammar Gaddafi lay de foundation stone give phase two of de Great Man-Made River Project. First water arrival 11 September 1989: to Ajdabiya reservoir. 28 September 1989: to Grand Omar Muktar reservoir. 4 September 1991: to Ghardabiya reservoir. 28 August 1996: to Tripoli. 28 September 2007: to Gharyan. Gallery References Additional sources BBC News: Libya's thirst for 'fossil water' (article dey contain map of pipe network) Project article at Encyclopædia Britannica TEKFEN İNŞAAT official article External links Official website Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System Project Archived 2012-05-04 at the Wayback Machine Joint project of IAEA UNDP and GEF about the Great Manmade River logistics. Great Man-Made River International Water Prize Great Man-Made River website at AlGaddaf.org Archived 2013-03-04 at the Wayback Machine