EGYPTIAN IRRIGATION.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13859, 23 March 1907, Page 9

EGYPTIAN IRRIGATION.

THE ASSOUAN DAM. Pitz3 AsasciiUion—By Telegraph—Copyright. CAIRO, March 21. Willi a view to the irrigation of an urea, one anil a-half times greater than the present, it is proposed to add to the height of the Assouan dam (Kgv))t), at a cost of one million and a-half. It is feared the temples, of l'hilaj will be completely submerged. March 22. (Received March 22, at 10.14 p.m.) The Egyptian Government has adopted the proposal to heighten the .-issouan dam. The work will occupy about six years, and it is estimated thac.il will increase the annual value of the cotton crop by iour mil'tiuns. From Cairo, February 20, 1898, it was announced Ihat the Khedive-in-Oonncil had approved a contract with Messrs John Air<! ami Co. which settled the nmchdehatcd question of the new Kile reservoir. Tho work to be done consisted of a barrage at Assjout, about; 250 uliles above Cairo, and a. dam at Assouan, to he completed in live years from July 1, 1898; and the contractors agreed to accept payment hv annual instalment,s of £160,000, beginning on the completion of 1 he; dams, and extending over 30 years—about £4,800,000 in deferred payments. Sir Benjamin Baker is the chief engineer of the scheme, and the general idea is best' described in a lecture ho delivered before the Prince and Princess of Wales at; the Royal Institution on Juno 12, 1902. He said Ihe Assiout. barrage, wliieli was completed in tho spring, was 2750 ft. long (of stone), and included 111 arched openings of 16ffc 4iii span, capable of being closed by steel sluicc-gat.es 16ft in height. The piers and arches were founded upon a. platform of masonry 87ft wide and 10ft thi?k, protected up and down by a continuous and impermeable lino of east-iron grooved and tongned sheet piling, which extended into tho sand-bed of tho river lo it depth of 23ft below the upper 6urfaec of tho floor. The height-of the roadway above the floor was 51ft, and the length of the piers up and down 6tream 51ft. 'l'lie river-bed wits protected against erosion for a width of 67ft up stream and for a similar width down stream. The Assouan dam was pierced with 180 openings, mostly 20ft high by 6ft 6in wide, and a discharge of water amounting to 15,000 tons per second could he controlled. The total length of the dam was one mile and a-quartcr, tlio in ax i - Bium height from tho foundation being about 130 ft. tho difference of tho level of tho water above and below 67ft, and the total weight of masonry over a million tons. Navigation was provided for by a "ladder" of four looks, cailt 2&oft by 32ft. Tho reservoir as a whole would contain over 1000 million tons—more than enough water for one year's full domestic supply for the United Kingdom, The completion of the Assouan dam was announced on July 31, 1902, and on August 8 14 boatsall belonging to the War Office—passed through the locks. Thus tlio great, enterprise was practically brought lo it close 11' months earlier than contract time, though the formal opening by the Duke of C'onBaught was deferred io December 10. A Bluo Book (Egypt No. 2, 1901) contains a report by Sir W. Garstin, Under-socrctary for Public Works, on irrigation projects on "ijie Upper Nile. Lord Cromer submitted the proposals in .sympathetic terms; and while it was pointed out that it must bo remembered thai; Lake Tsana is in Abyssinia, ho added that careful and deliberate study of each item will be required. The following are tho proposals in order of importance:—

1. Tho construction of a reservoir in Lake Tsana to store sufficient, water for the needs both of Egypt and (he Soudan, and at tho sanio time improve tho navigation of the Bluo Nile during the summer months. 2. To supplement the above by utilising the Upoer Nilo water, at present wasted in tho swamps, either by embanking tho Bahr-01-Gobel or by using tho Bahr-cl-Zeraf as an additional channel for tho summer supply. 3. Tho construction of a. storage reservoir at Lake Albert Nyanza. sufficiently large to supply the wonts of Egypt and those portions of the Soudan which lie north of Khartoum. In June, 1902, it, was announced that tho Emperor Alenclik had given permission Tor the exploration of the regions round Lake Tsana. Phil® is a small island of the Nile, which contains some remarkable monuments of tho ancient Egyptians, among which arc several temples, an avenue of majestic, columns, several obelisks, a monolithic temple, etc. There are eight temples altogether, built at different, times and dedicated to different religions. The most ancient, is a temple crccted by Nectanebus I. tho last of tho native Pharaohs, about 378-350 B.C. There is also a temple to Isis, built bv Ptolemy 11, Ptolemy 111, and Energctes, 247-222 B.C. Others are of the tjimes of tho Ptolemies and Ciesars.