Delta Barrage

منشأة القناطر, Italy

The Delta Barrage is a barrage-type dam constructed intermittently from 1833 to 1862. Its purpose was to improve irrigation and navigation along the main Rosetta and Damietta branches of the Nile downstream of the point where they divide north of Cairo, Egypt. At its first operation however, the str

ucture's foundations were found to be of such poor quality that its main irrigation purpose had to be largely abandoned for safety reasons. The barrages have been much maligned as only a romantic river crossing. Despite its ignoble beginnings, initial testing and later repairs were undertaken in the 1880s following the British occupation of Egypt. These repairs and their continued maintenance would largely provide the barrages' original intent. The overall effects were largely unexpected and startling. In addition to a great reduction in costs of lifting water to irrigate fields, and labor savings needed to unclog the canals from deposited silt, the cotton crop was doubled, and the costs needed to raise crops in general was cut in half. These combined factors would stimulate demand for agricultural land which saw a doubling in price and an immediate demand which could not be satisfied. In...

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