{"id":33310,"date":"2026-02-25T10:31:23","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T08:31:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mwri.gov.eg\/?page_id=33310"},"modified":"2026-03-01T11:24:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-01T09:24:23","slug":"high-dam","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mwri.gov.eg\/?page_id=33310&lang=en","title":{"rendered":"The High Dam and Aswan Reservoir"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The High Dam and Aswan Reservoir<\/span><\/h1>\n<\/div><\/div>[\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_height=”yes” columns_placement=”top” equal_height=”yes” css=”.vc_custom_1581334974978{margin-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”6673″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_shadow_border”][vc_column_text css=””]<\/p>\n

The High Dam is considered the greatest and largest engineering project of the 20th century in terms of architecture and engineering, surpassing other giant global projects in this regard. The High Dam was built to protect Egypt from high floods that used to overflow the country, submerging vast areas or wasting into the Mediterranean\u00a0Sea.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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: Importance of building the High Dam<\/span><\/h3>\n

The Egyptians have recognized the importance of the Nile since ancient times. Annual storage projects were established, such as the Aswan Reservoir and the Jebel Aulia Reservoir on the Nile, to control the river’s variable inflow. Barrages were also built on the Nile to regulate irrigation across different river basins.
\nHowever, annual storage was only a partial solution for controlling and mastering the Nile, as the river’s inflow varies greatly from one year to another-it can reach about 151 billion cubic meters or drop to 42 billion cubic meters annually.
\nThis significant variation from year to year makes reliance on annual storage extremely risky, as it could expose agricultural lands to fallow periods in years of low inflow.
\nTherefore, the idea emerged to construct a massive dam on the Nile to store water in high-inflow years for use in low-inflow years. Thus, the High Dam became the first continuous storage project at the basin countries level to be implemented within Egypt’s borders.<\/span><\/h4>\n

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Steps in implementing the project\u00a0:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 The Egyptian engineer of Greek origin, Adrian Daninos, presented to the leadership of the 1952 Revolution a project to build a massive dam at Aswan to impound the Nile flood, store its water, and generate electricity from it.
\n\u2022 Studies began on October 18, 1952, based on a decision by the Revolutionary Command Council, carried out by the Ministry of Public Works (currently the Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources), the Army Corps of Engineers, and a selected group of university professors. The consensus was that the project could meet Egypt’s water needs.
\n\u2022 In early 1954, two German engineering companies submitted a design for the project. An international committee reviewed this design and approved it in December 1954, along with the establishment of specifications and implementation conditions.
\n\u2022 Egypt requested financing for the project from the World Bank. After thorough studies, the World Bank approved the project’s technical and economic feasibility.
\n\u2022 In December 1955, the World Bank offered assistance equivalent to a quarter of the dam’s construction costs.
\n\u2022 The World Bank withdrew its offer on July 19, 1956, due to colonial pressures.
\n\u2022 On December 27, 1958, an agreement was signed between Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) and Egypt to loan Egypt 400 million rubles to implement the first phase of the dam.
\n\u2022 In May 1959, Soviet experts reviewed the dam designs and suggested some minor modifications, the most important of which was changing the location of the power station and using a special technique for washing and compacting sand when used in building the dam body.
\n\u2022 In December 1959, an agreement was signed for the distribution of the dam reservoir water between Egypt and Sudan.
\n\u2022 Work on implementing the first phase of the dam began on January 9, 1960, including excavating the diversion channel and tunnels, lining them with reinforced concrete, pouring the foundations of the power station, and building the dam up to the 130-meter level.
\n\u2022 On August 27, 1960, the second agreement was signed with Russia (formerly the Soviet Union) to loan Egypt an additional 500 million rubles to finance the second phase of the dam.
\n\u2022 In mid-May 1964, the river water was diverted into the diversion channel and tunnels, the Nile’s main course was closed, and water storage in the lake began.
\n\u2022 In the second phase, construction of the dam body continued to its completion, the power station was finished, turbines were installed and operated, transformer stations and power transmission lines were established.
\n\u2022 The first spark was launched from the High Dam power station in October 1967.
\n\u2022 Full water storage in front of the High Dam began in 1968.
\n\u2022 In mid-July 1970, the project structure was completed.
\n\u2022 On January 15, 1971, the official inauguration celebration of the High Dam took place.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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General description of the project:<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The High Dam is a rock-fill dam with a crest length of 3,830 meters, of which 520 meters are between the Nile’s banks, and the rest extends as wings on both sides of the river. The dam’s height is 111 meters above the Nile riverbed level, and its crest width is 40 meters.
\nThe power station is located on the eastern bank of the Nile, intercepting the diversion channel’s course. Water flows from it to the turbines through six tunnels equipped with gates to control the water, in addition to trash racks.
\nThe power station generates electrical energy reaching up to 10 billion kilowatt-hours annually.
\nThe water impounded in front of the dam forms a huge artificial lake 500 kilometers long with an average width of 12 kilometers, covering the entire Egyptian Nubia and part of Sudanese Nubia.
\n<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

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\u2022 The High Dam was designed to have a maximum water level impounded in front of it of 183 meters, with the lake’s storage capacity at this level reaching 169 billion cubic meters, divided as follows:
\n\u2022 31.6 billion cubic meters: dead storage capacity allocated for siltation.
\n\u2022 89.7 billion cubic meters: storage capacity that guarantees an average annual discharge equivalent to 84 billion cubic meters, distributed between Egypt and Sudan (55.5 billion cubic meters for Egypt and 28.5 billion cubic meters for Sudan).
\n\u2022 47.7 billion cubic meters: storage capacity allocated for flood protection.
\n\u2022 A spillway was implemented to discharge lake water if its level exceeds the maximum prescribed storage level of 183 meters. This spillway is located 2 kilometers west of the dam in an area with a natural depression sloping toward the Nile’s course, allowing a discharge of 200 million cubic meters per day.
\n\u2022 The Toshka spillway was constructed at the end of 1981 to protect the country from the dangers of high floods and the potential erosion and destruction of hydraulic structures on the river that could result from releasing large discharges into the river course. When the water level in front of the High Dam exceeds 178 meters, water is discharged through the Toshka spillway into a depression located in the Western Desert about 250 kilometers south of the High Dam, known as the Toshka Depression.<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

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Cost of the project:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

The total cost of the High Dam project amounted to approximately 450 million Egyptian pounds, while the cost of constructing the Toshka spillway was about 42 million pounds.<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

The role of the High Dam in protecting Egypt:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 The High Dam protected Egypt from the disasters of drought and famine resulting from successive low-inflow floods from 1979 to 1987, where nearly 70 billion cubic meters were withdrawn from the High Dam Lake storage to compensate for the annual deficit in the natural Nile inflow.
\n\u2022 The High Dam protected Egypt from the dangers of high floods that occurred from 1998 to 2002. Without the High Dam, agriculture and people would have been devastated, and the state would have incurred enormous expenses to combat these floods and remove their destructive effects.<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n

The role of the High Dam in agricultural and industrial development:<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n

\u2022 Reclamation of lands and expansion of the cultivated area.
\n\u2022 Conversion from basin irrigation to perennial irrigation and increased agricultural production.
\n\u2022 Expansion of rice cultivation.
\n\u2022 Generation of electrical energy used to operate factories and illuminate cities and villages.
\n\u2022 Ensuring the full and regular operation of the Aswan Reservoir by providing a constant water level throughout the year.
\n\u2022 Increasing fish wealth through the High Dam Lake.
\n\u2022 Improving river navigation throughout the year.<\/strong><\/span><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n

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