BAswan Dams are really two: old - Aswan Low Dam, built downstream between 1898 and 1902 and new - Aswan High Dam, build across the Nile River in Aswan, Egypt between 1960 and 1970. Based on the success of the Low Dam, construction of the High Dam became a key objective of the new Government following the Egyptian Revolution of 1952, with its ability to better control flooding, provide increase water storage for irritation and generate hydroelectricity. The High Dam has a significant effect on the economy and culture of Egypt.
The Aswan High Dam is 3,830 m (12,570 ft) long, 980 m (3,220 ft) wide at the base, 40 m (130 ft) wide at the crest and 111 m (364 ft) tall. It contains 43,000,000 cubic meters of material. At maximum 11,000 cubic meters per second (390,000 cu ft/s) of water can pass through the dam. The reservoir, named Lake Nasser, is 550 km (340 ml) long and 35 km (22 ml) at its widest, with the surface area of 5,250 sq km (2,030 sq ml). It holds 132 cub km (1.73x10 on 11 degree (trillions) cu yd of water).We visited Aswan dams by car on the way from the Airport of Aswan to our hotel-cruise ship accosted on Nile River in the Port of Aswan. We stopped on the High Dam for view and taking photos and continued to pass over the Low Dam. Our next stop was The Unfinished Obelisk.
The Unfinished Obelisk of Aswan is the Largest known ancient obelisk. It was ordered by Hatshepsut (15th century BC) possibly to substitute the Lateran Obelisk in Karnack, moved later to Rome. It is 1/3 larger than any ancient Egyptian Obelisk ever erected. If finished it would be measured 42 m (137 ft) and weighted 1,200 tons. The obelisk was carved directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. The Unfinished Obelisk is protected by the Egyptian government as an archeological site and visited by all tourists, visiting this Area. All our photos of the Dams and Obelisk are shown in this album.
