Aswan High Dam

E56541

The Aswan High Dam is a massive embankment dam on the Nile River in southern Egypt, built in the 1960s to control flooding, provide hydroelectric power, and improve irrigation, while also causing the creation of Lake Nasser and the displacement of communities and archaeological sites in Nubia.


Statements (48)
Predicate Object
instanceOf embankment dam
hydroelectric dam
alsoKnownAs Sadd el-Ali
associatedRelocationProject Abu Simbel temples relocation
baseWidth 980 metres
builtBy Arab Republic of Egypt
constructionStartDate 1960
continent Africa
coordinates approximately 23.97°N 32.88°E
country Egypt
createsReservoir Lake Nasser
crestWidth 40 metres
designedBy Soviet engineers
height 111 metres
impact changes in Nile delta erosion patterns
displacement of Nubian communities
expansion of irrigated agriculture in Egypt
increased reliability of water supply for Egypt
reduction of annual Nile floods
sediment trapping in Lake Nasser
submergence of Nubian archaeological sites
inaugurationDate 1971
installedCapacity 2100 megawatts
length 3830 metres
locatedInGovernorate Aswan Governorate
locatedInRegion Upper Egypt
locatedNearCity Aswan
locatedOnRiver Nile River
mainForeignPartner Soviet Union
material earth-fill
rock-fill
namedAfter Aswan
nearbyStructure Aswan Low Dam
numberOfTurbines 12
openingDate 1970
partOf Nile River development projects
projectInitiatedBy Gamal Abdel Nasser
purpose flood control
hydroelectric power generation
improved navigation
irrigation
water storage
replacedFunctionOf Aswan Low Dam
reservoirCapacity 132 cubic kilometres
reservoirName Lake Nasser
reservoirSurfaceArea 5250 square kilometres
spillwayType overflow spillway
turbineType Francis turbine


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