The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1901-04-24
GREAT WATER WORKS IN EGYPT.
Description of the Immense As
sOunu Dam Across the Nile

Consul General at Cairo, has submitted to
the State Department an exhaustive re-
port on the improvements made on the
River Nile. in which he pays especial at
tention to the great Assouan Dam Mr.
Long ChaTacterizes this dam as a memo
rial Of the British sojouru in Egypt.
which in holiness of design and thorough
ness Of execution viii rank with any
thing ever constructed
Referring to the present state Of the
work on the dam. Mr.. Long says:
All the Eow-Ievel sIuices have been
practically completed. These will let the
water through even when the Nile is low.
and viii be shut or opened, according as
water is required There are altogether
$50 sluices and $50 IOw-IeveI sIuiCes- The
lowest level water ever reaches at Assou-
an is 27S.S9 feet above the Mediterranean.
BY means of the dam, the water will be
held up TO 24T6 feet above the same level
The very lowest sluices are 60 in number,
and they have been made recently. An
idea Of the immensely of the labor in
volyed in their construction may be OBJ
tanned from the fact that the foundation
OF the deep sluices goes - feet below the
ordinary rock surface. Each sluice is fit
ted with steel gates adjustable at viii,
- - ~ endure the fttNtl ~ 81 AtA fAAtt
out The fouadation was the most diff
cult portion tof the whole work; seven
eighths of it is now complete. One gap
has been left TO relieve the western chan
mel, but all the foundations have been
built in this gap. The most important
work now in hand is the construction of
the dam across the western channel, ne
last of the five deep channels of the river
which cross the line of the dam and carry
the supply OF the Nile in winter and sum-
mer- Temporary dams for the work have
already been constructed, and the excavz-
lions for the foundations are in progress.
\ temporary dam of earth has recently
been made on the south OF the west chan
mel Another temporary dam on the north
will soon be made. and then the pumps
VIII be set to work t. get the intervening
water out. All the foundation masonry
viii be in and should be above water be-
fore the beginning of the Nile food this
year When this has been accomplished,
the difficult part of constructing the great
dam viii be over. 1t is now expected
that the foundations Of the west channel
viii be completed by the middle of next
May
BESIDES the vast labor Immediately en-
tailed by the dam. another great work
directly connected Herewith is being IN
dertaken at the first cataract As the
dam will close the Nile to navigation. a
canal Of about $50 feet in length is being
constructed. There will be four locks.
each 1913 yards broad and So yards in
length, the first gate to be about 21.S
yards behind the centre of the dam and
the others north of it. The recess for the
first lock gate has just been started. and
no Of
in progress. The gates will be of steel
Whe=s nut they VIII stand across the
opening Of the canal, and when open they
will slide into q recess prepared for their
reception in the western wall The foun-
dations for the second and third locks are
similarly in progress. The east wall of
the first lock and the west wall Of the
second have already been built to the
height of something more than 81 yards
The foundation of the first lock is 9S1
yards level, the others being. respectively
at %. 93-7, and 99.4 yards level The canal
Will permit sailing vessels TO pass all the
year round: heretofore they could only
get through the cataract during high
Nile The mail steamers and any stern
wheeler now on the Nile will also be en-
abIed TO pass
The cost of this canal will be approx
mately 81, 30 600, and would require 100000
to sI25, go in lock dues per aunum. if it is
ever to be a paying investment But
there is very little prospect Of any i'm
mediate increase in trade; in fact, the re-
verse is probably the case. Formerly.
there was fair amount of carrying trade
from the north. bringing supplies to the
armies in the Sudan and seed and grain
has also been brought from the countries
now depopuIated and ruined by the Nah
dis and KhaIifa's followers This com
merce Is now. gone, and the only carrying
trade of any Importance in the future will
be from the south to the north, as the
southern districts become more cultivat-
ed The area. in any event, must neceS-
sariIy be limited Although d great vol
ume of trade passes ShelIaI now, the con-
struction of a railway from Assouan to
No station is only a matter of time, and
the trade from the north of the dam viii
be limited TO the district be-
tween AsSouan and Wady-HaIfa. which
will not be tapped by the railway The
Of this canal is. in fact, due
TO what may BE- styled moral considera-
tons The Egyptian Government does
not wish to bar the navigation of the old
est water way in the world and to cat
off the villages between ShelIaI and the
second cataract IibIu al COMMUNICATIONS
with the outer world; for when the canal
is finished. the line to ShellaI viii no
longer be used 1t is proposed, when the
dam is finished, to transship goods by the
canal at HaIfa, at Assouan- At the pres
eut time. about $50 native boats start from
SheIIaI to Wady-Halfa every week.
The two chief works that will be IN
dcrtaken during the next five months are
to get the west-chanuel foundation in and
to complete to their finished levels those
parts of the dam whose foundations are
already laid. In 1892 the work Will be
practically confined to finishing up. The
great enterprise has gone too far for
even a high Nile to hinder the completion
of the dam
No precise details can be given as to
the cost of the work The original esti-
mate for the construction of the two res
ervOirs at AssOuan and Assiout was So
$50 ono The excess over this estimate
viii be great although it cannot be &C
cUrately gaUged at present owing to the
greatly increased depths which had to be
exCavated before sufficiently sound gran
tie which TO found the dam was reach
ed. The whole work will be finished at
least Il year before the time specified in
the contract, which was five years. This !
viii save one low Nile, and this early
conviction of the dam will therefore be
Of great utility and benefit to Egypt Such
is the present status and condition of the !
work which viii mark an epoch in Egyp-
tan history.
a more curious tumble of the ancient
and modern would be difficult to find than |
in this enterprise The best mechanical
appliances of the twentieth century are /