DELTA BARRAGES

A special type of dam on the Nile.

Delta Barrages are designed to regulate the upstream level but not the flow of water in the two distributary branches of the Nile, so that when the river is low, water can still flow into irrigation canals.

Construction of the original Rosetta and Damietta Barrages, 70 miles north of Cairo, Egypt, proposed by Linant de Bellefonds Pasha, a Belgian engineer in the employ of Muhammad Ali Pasha, viceroy of Egypt, was started in 1833 and completed in 1843. This ultimately permitted conversion of over 754,000 acres of the Nile delta from basin irrigation to perennial irrigation, lengthening the growing season and dramatically increasing agricultural output. Muhammad Ali originally proposed using stones from the nearby Giza pyramids as building material for the barrages, but was dissuaded by Linant, who argued that it would be too costly. Poorly constructed, the barrages were rebuilt during the British occupation. Additional barrages were subsequently constructed at Idfina (1915) and Zifta (1943) in the delta. Three major barrages were later built on the main Nile between Cairo and Aswan.

Bibliography

Hurst, Harold E. The Nile: A General Account of the River and the Utilization of Its Waters. London: Constable, 1952.

Nyrop, Richard F., ed. Egypt: A Country Study, 4th edition. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1983.

Waterbury, John. Egypt: Burdens of the Past, Options for the Future. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1978.

david waldner
updated by gregory b. baecher