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In which country is the Aswan Dam located?

The Aswan Dam is located on the main stream of the Nile River in Egypt, near Aswan City, about 800km south of the capital Cairo. It is a large-scale comprehensive water conservancy project with irrigation, power generation, flood control, shipping and tourism. , aquatic products and other benefits. Aswan Dam is a huge dam located near Lake Nasser.

The dam site is located in the backwater area of ​​the reservoir 7km upstream of the old Aswan dam, with a water depth of about 30-35m. The width of the valley at the dam site is about 500m, and the side slopes on both banks are steep and gentle, and the width of the valley 100m above the river bottom is about 3600m.

The dam is a rockfill dam with a clay core wall. The maximum dam height is 111m. When the maximum water storage level is 183m, the total storage capacity of the reservoir is 168.9 billion m3, the total installed capacity of the power station is 2.1 million kW, and the designed annual power generation capacity is 10 billion kW·h. The project started on January 9, 1960, the first unit was put into operation on October 15, 1967, all units were installed and put into operation on July 15, 1970, and the project was completed in the same year.

Important Meaning

Construction of the Aswan Dam began in 1960 and was completed in 1970. It ranks 11th in the world’s dams. But its dam area exceeds its dam height, and its length spans 2 miles across the Nile. The pre-engineering was designed by the Soviet Union and the equipment for a power station was provided. The completion of the dam has played a huge role in the social development of Egypt. The Lake Nasser formed on the river section of more than 500 kilometers to the south provides guarantee for Egypt’s rational use of water sources, supplies half of Egypt’s electricity demand, and prevents the Nile River from flowing every year. flood.

The Aswan Dam is located in the mountain pass area 6 kilometers south of Aswan City. It consists of three parts: the main dam, the spillway and the power station. The main dam is 3600 meters long, 980 meters wide at the base, 40 meters wide at the crest, and 111 meters high. The building materials used are about 43 million cubic meters, and its volume is equivalent to 17 times that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu in the western suburbs of Cairo. One of the seven largest dams in the world.

The dam is a comprehensive utilization project integrating flood control, irrigation, shipping, and power generation. In 1964, the Nile River experienced a rare flood in history. Since the first phase of the Aswan High Dam had been completed at that time, it was able to store water and prevent floods. A catastrophe was averted for the Egyptian people. Since then, the Aswan High Dam has succeeded time and time again in defusing the threat of Nile flooding to Egypt.

The new Aswan High Dam has a total length of 3,600 meters, a bottom floor width of 980 meters, a top floor width of 40 meters, a height of 111 meters, and a volume of 43 million cubic meters. It is a large gravity dam with a maximum flow rate of 11,000 cubic meters per second. Lake Nasser (also known as Nasser Reservoir) is the seventh largest reservoir in the world, 550 kilometers long, 35 kilometers wide, with an area of ​​5250 square kilometers and a volume of 132 cubic kilometers.

In terms of industry, the dam has 12 sets of 175 MW generators with a total power of 2,100 MW. It started generating electricity in 1967. In 1998, the power generation accounted for 15% of Egypt’s total power generation. Electricity can be exported to neighboring countries.

In terms of agriculture, the dam has effectively reduced the damage caused by the great floods in 1964 and 1973 and the droughts in 1972-1973 and 1983-1984. When almost all of Africa was suffering from famine, Egypt was basically self-sufficient in food. The reservoir has also developed fishery, but because it is too far away from the consumer market, the income of fishery is not high.

Another special benefit is that Egypt, freed from its unfriendly neighbor Sudan, has the opportunity to control the waters of the Nile River, Egypt’s lifeblood. Because the vast majority of Egyptians now work and live in the Nile Valley, Egypt is still planning to draw another waterway parallel to the Nile from Lake Nasser to expand its economic area.

The Aswan Dam consists of three parts: the main dam, the spillway and the power station. The construction materials used in the dam are about 43 million cubic meters, and its volume is equivalent to 17 times that of the Great Pyramid of Khufu on the western outskirts of Cairo. It can be called one of the seven largest dams in the world.