On this day… Nasser diverts the Nile watercourse
On this day… Nasser diverts the Nile watercourse
5 billion cubic meters of water, which was saved by the Aswan Dam, after its heightening for the third time in 1934, was not enough to curb Egyptian thought to take advantage of every drop of Egypt's share of the waters of the great Nile, the secret of its civilization, and the only lifeline, whose waters were flooding the lands Al-Mahrousa, while its desert longs for a drink of water. After the end of the monarchy era and the establishment of the Egyptian Republic and Gamal Abdel Nasser assuming the rule of Egypt, the High Dam was one of the most important projects he wanted to build to take advantage of the Nile flood waters in generating electricity and the beginning of Egypt's industrial revolution.
To build the dam, it was necessary to divert the Nile watercourse by blowing up the eastern mountain of the High Dam site. A difficult task began with the construction of a temporary sand dam in front of Lake Nasser, and another sand dam behind the dam to separate the Nile waters from the work site.
The diversion of Nile watercourse began at two o'clock in the afternoon on May 15, 1964, in a huge celebration attended by the late President Gamal Abdel Nasser with Nikita Khrushchev, President of the Soviet Union, Abdullah Al-Sallal, President of the State of Yemen, Iraqi President Abdul Salam Aref, and King Mohammed V of Morocco. Sudanese President Ibrahim Abboud, as they all pressed the button to detonate the sand dam, to close the course permanently and divert the water to the front channel of the High Dam with a length of 1950 meters through six main tunnels of 282 meters in length and 15 meters in diameter for one tunnel, thus changing the Nile watercourse, and it ends The first phase of the construction of the High Dam, which began on January 9, 1960, until May 15, 1964.
