Aswan
is a city on the first cataract of the
Nile in Egypt. Two dams straddle the river
at this point: the newer Aswan High Dam,
and the older Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam.
Normally, the River Nile floods in the
summer every year as waters from East
Africa flow down the river. These floods
brought nutrients and minerals that made
the soil around the Nile fertile and ideal
for farming. As the population along the
river grew, there came a need to control
the flood waters to protect farmland and
cotton fields. In a high-water year, the
whole crop may be entirely wiped out,
while in a low-water year there was widespread
drought and famine. A closeup view of
the Soviet-Egyptian friendship monumentThe
British began construction of the first
dam in 1899 and it was completed in 1902.
The project was designed by Sir William
Willcocks and involved several eminent
engineers including Sir Benjamin Baker
and Sir John Aird, whose firm, John Aird
& Company, was the main contractor.
A
gravity dam, it was 1,900 m long and 54
m high. The initial design was soon found
to be inadequate and the height of the
dam was raised in two phases, 1907–1912
and 1929–1933. When the dam almost
overflowed in 1946 it was decided that
rather than raise the dam a third time,
a second dam would be built 6 km up-river.
Proper planning began in 1952, just after
the Nasser revolution, and at first the
US and Britain were to help finance construction
with a loan of USD $270 million. Both
nations canceled the offer in July 1956
for reasons not entirely known. A secret
Egyptian arms agreement with the USSR
and Egyptian recognition of the People's
Republic of China are cited as possible
reasons. As a response, Nasser nationalized
the British and French-owned Suez Canal,
intending to use tolls to subsidize the
High Dam project. In retaliation, Israel,
Britain, and France attacked Egypt and
occupied the Suez Canal precipitating
the Suez Crisis.
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