The Aswan High Dam at Aswan in Southern Egypt, which has trapped all the crocodiles in the Rive Nile into Lake Nasser.
Aswan Dam refers to two dams, both located near Aswan, Egypt. Most commonly today the name refers to the High Dam, which is the newer of the two dams at Aswan. Construction on the High Dam was completed in 1970, and has had immeasurable impacts on the Egyptian economy and culture. The earlier Old Aswan Dam or Aswan Low Dam was completed in 1902. The aim of both of these projects was to regulate river flooding, to provide storage of water for agriculture, and later, to generate electricity. The new Aswan High Dam is further 4 kilometres upriver from the older dam. Before the dams were built, the River Nile flooded each year during summer, as water flowed down the valley from its East African drainage basin. These floods brought high water, plus natural nutrients and minerals that continuously enriched the fertile soil along the river and made the Nile valley ideal for farming, as it had since ancient times. As Egypt's population grew and conditions changed, there came a need to control the flood waters to both protect and support farmland and economically important cotton fields. In high-water years, the whole crop might be wiped out, while in low-water years widespread drought and famine occasionally occurred. With the reservoir storage provided by these dams, the floods could be lessened, and the water could be stored for later floods and droughts caused devastating effect on the population in the Nile Delta. The dam mitigated the effects of these dangerous floods such as in 1964 and 1973 and the effects the droughts in 1972-73 and the drought of 1983-84 that devastated East Africa and Somalia. The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts, producing a hydroelectric output of gigawatts. Power generation began in 1967. When the dam first reached peak output it produced around half of Egypt's entire electricity production (about 15% by 1998) and allowed most Egyptian villages to use electricity for the first time
Size: 4750px × 3563px
Location: Aswan High Dam, Aswan, Egypt
Photo credit: © Brenda Kean / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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