Aswan Low Dam
It was designed by the famous British engineer Sir William Willcocks who also concurrently designed and built the Aswan Low Dam, the first Nile reservoir, about up-stream. The Assiut dam was constructed between 1898 and 1903, and in conjunction with the reservoir, provided for the diversion of river water into Egypt's largest irrigation canal, the Ibrahimiya Canal, during the low water season. The dam was estimated to cost £525,000 but by the time of its completion it actually cost £870,000. The main contractor for the project was the British contractor John Aird &amp; Co.. The project's massive size involved 2,400,000 cubic yards of earthwork, 125,000 cubic yards of concrete, 85,000 cubic yards of masonry, 125,000 cubic yards of pitching and more than 4,000 tons of cast iron pipes.