Aswan Old Dam South Spillway
السد القديم - المفيض الجنوبي · South Spillway Aswan Low Dam · Aswan Low South
British-Egyptian Modern with Pharaonic quarry context·British-Egyptian engineers (Willcocks, Benetti) on Pharaonic Nile·🇪🇬 Aswan Governorate, Aswan, Old Aswan Dam east-south flank, downstream of Philae, Egypt
About
About Aswan Old Dam South Spillway
South gravity spillway abutment 350 m south of the 1950-m Aswan Low Dam (1898–1902, raised 1907–1933, largest masonry dam on completion), regulating outflow to the old First Cataract channel south toward Philae and the Aswan granite quarries. The 140-m spillway with 58 buttress sluices (later fitted 1907) and adjacent masonry canal head for the Ibrahimiya Canal Nilesometer branch preserves the British-engineered flood counter-regulation system that made the 1902 dam the hydraulic laboratory for the later Aswan High. Curved plan follows natural granite outcrop; still stands between Old and High Dam reservoir (Lake Aswan).
Why it mattersSouth hydraulic tail of the world's first giant masonry Nile barrage, prototype for modern Nile perennial irrigation and High Dam.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Sedimentation impact on Philae temples
- 02Structural lessons for High Dam
Theories
- 01British imperial hydraulic science at theocratic Nile
- 02Pharaonic quarry reuse narrative
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- 1898–1902 (raised 1907–1933) British-Egyptian Public Works (First Cataract barrage programme)
- Period
- British-Egyptian Modern with Pharaonic quarry context
- Culture
- British-Egyptian engineers (Willcocks, Benetti) on Pharaonic Nile
- Builders
- Egyptian Ministry of Public Works (British design) on Nile granite
- Purpose
- Nile flood regulation and basin-to-perennial irrigation conversion at First Cataract
- Rediscovered
- 1902 inauguration by Duke of Connaught; 1907 first heightening; 1964 superseded by High Dam reservoir
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
1898
Foundation on First Cataract granite
1902-12-10
Inauguration as largest masonry dam worldwide
1907
First 5 m heightening and sluice fitting
On the ground
Structures & features
24.0300° N · 32.8670° E · 118 m · 2 mapped features
South Spillway — 58-Sluice Buttress Wall
hydraulic140-m granite buttress wall with 58 radial sluice gates on Cataract outcrop
24.0310° N · 32.8680° ESouth Spillway — Ibrahimiya Canal Head Regulator
hydraulicMasonry canal head with Nilesometer scale and granite lintel at south flank
24.0290° N · 32.8660° E
Gallery