532 THE NILE KESERVOIR DAM AT ASSUAN. 



has been planned. As earl}^ as the time of Mohammed Ali this plan 

 was under consideration, but it was not until Mr. W. Willcocks was 

 appointed director-general of reservoirs that the storage of water on 

 the Nile was thoroughly considered. 



In 1S90 Mr. Willcocks presented a report on the subject to the 

 Egyptian Government, in 1894 issued a second report, and in 1895 a 

 final report, with plans and estimates. The central feature of this 

 system of flood control provides for a dam across the Nile at the head 

 of the lirst cataract, or 5 miles aboxe the town of Assufin. In 1898, a 

 short time after Mr. Willcocks had left the service of the Egyptian 

 Government, contracts were signed by Sir John Aird & Co. for the 

 construction within five years of the Assuan dam, upon the plans pre- 

 pared by Mr, Willcocks. Sir Benjamin Baker acted as consulting 

 engineer, and Mr. Maurice Fitzmorris was appointed resident engineer. 



The dam as completed during the present sununer conforms almost 

 throughout to the plans of Mr. Willcocks. His original plans pro- 

 vided for the construction of a dam following the line of soundest 

 rock across the stream, with 0<» undersluices having an area of 21,500 

 square feet, or sufficient to carry oti' the maxinmm floods of the river. 

 In the plan of 1891, 100 undersluices were provided of the same 

 capacity. In the final design there are 140 undersluices, each 23 by Oi 

 feet, and 40 at a higher level, Hi by Oi feet, giving a sluiceway of 

 24,000 square feet. 



The question of the height of the dam involved a vexatious pro])lem; 

 the island of Phihe, which lies just above the cataract, contains 

 some of the l)est preserved tompU\s and buildings of ancient Egypt. 

 Mr. Willcocks' plan of a dam, ^ 00 feet a})ove the zero of the Assutln 

 gage, with a capacity of 85,000,000,000 cubic feet of water, would 

 submerge these temples to a depth of 2G feet for a portion of each 

 year. In his book upon the dam, Mr. Willcocks says: "The Inter- 

 national Commis.sion held widely divergent views about Phihe temple. 

 M. Boule refused to have anything to do with a project which in 

 any way deranged the temple. Signor Torricelli said that \\v had 

 been asked his opinion about the dam, and about the dam he would 

 give his opinion, regardless of templets and antiquities, which were 

 outside his province. Sir Benjamin liakcr proposed raising the whole 

 temi)le. like a great Chicago hotel, cle:in above tlie high level of the 

 resei'voir. Savants and antiquaries, and many who weie neither 

 savants norantitpiaries, butto whoni IMiihe offered an easy opportunity 

 of obtaining notoriety, all joined in the fray. Eventually, in a moment 

 of great weakness, the Pvgyptian (Jovernment, buoyed up by a suc- 

 cession of good summers, accepted the lowering of the level of the 

 reservoir, so that only a part of Phihe temple should l)e drowned. 

 The new reservoir level was to-be 26 feet below that hitherto proposed, 

 and the capacity of the reservoir was to })e reduced from 85,000,000,000 



