Zifta weir

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Zifta
weir Zefta Barrage
Location: Nile Delta
Tributaries: Damietta arm
Drain: Damietta arm
Larger cities on the shore: Zifta
Zifta weir (Egypt Nile Delta)
Zifta weir
Coordinates 30 ° 44 ′ 38 "  N , 31 ° 14 ′ 26"  E Coordinates: 30 ° 44 ′ 38 "  N , 31 ° 14 ′ 26"  E
Data on the structure
Lock type: Gravity dam
Construction time: 1901-1902
Crown length: 357 m + 2 lock structures

The Zifta weir ( Arabic قناطر زفتى Qanāṭir Ziftā , English Zefta Barrage ) is a dam over the Damietta arm of the Nile in the Nile Delta near Zifta in Egypt .

The Zifta weir was built in 1901 and 1902, at the same time as the Aswan dam and the Asyut dam, which were also completed in 1902 and located around 1000 km upstream . The three structures were part of a large-scale project to convert the irrigation methods on the Nile from seasonal irrigation in flood basins to year-round irrigation through canals. The Zifta weir was used to channel the water from the Nile that was held back and stored by the Aswan Dam during the period of low water in order to better drain the fields of the provinces of al-Gharbiyya , ad-Daqahliyya and Dumyat (Damiette) downstream in the northern part of the delta water. It complemented the 86.5 km upstream, below Cairo , Delta Barrages .

description

The Zifta weir is three kilometers below the Zifta railway bridge. The gravity dam has a straight plan, its dam crest is 357 m long. A lock, which was built at the same time as the weir, adjoins the dam crest on the western bank. Another lock built on the eastern bank has now been replaced by a modern lock system with a 16 m wide and 130 m long chamber. A two-lane road runs along the top of the dam.

The weir has 50 bottom outlet gates , each 5 m wide and framed by 2 m thick pillars and served by two large portal cranes on the top of the dam. However, every tenth pillar is 5 m thick, so that there is a long row with groups of ten gates each. The foundation slab of the wall is made of concrete, the pillars are made of stone blocks with a core made of rubble masonry .

history

During his rule over Egypt from 1805 to 1848, Muhammad Ali Pascha ordered the construction of the Delta Barrages , which were not completed until after his death, but with which the year-round irrigation through canals was initiated, resulting in several harvests and, for the first time, the cultivation of cotton became possible. After the later rehabilitation of the Delta Barrages proved successful, the British began to introduce year-round canal irrigation on a large scale.

The Zifta weir was planned by Major Robert Hanbury Brown, who had already made a name for himself in the rehabilitation of the Delta Barrages. The weir was put into operation in early 1903.

1949–1953 the Zifta weir was rebuilt in order to be able to raise the water level to 4.5 m.

In 2010, a feasibility study was put out to tender to replace the Zifta weir with a new system that meets the increased requirements for irrigation of the agricultural areas, which have grown considerably over the past hundred years.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ^ William Willcocks, James Ireland Craig: Egyptian Irrigation. Volume I , 3rd edition. Spon, London / New York 1913, p. 387 f.
  2. ^ William Willcocks, James Ireland Craig: Egyptian Irrigation . Volume II. 3rd edition. Spon, London / New York 1913. pp. 664 f
  3. Mamdouh Shahin: Hydrology of the Nile Basin. Elsevier, Amsterdam 1985, ISBN 0-444-42433-4 , p. 447 excerpts on Google Books
  4. ^ Feasibility Study for the Reconstruction / Rehabilitation of Zefta Barrage . Call for tenders from the Ministry of Water Resources & Irrigation from November 2, 2010