Nag Hamadi Barrage
1931 'The Nag Hamadi Barrage, below Luxor, which was opened on December 19 last, by H.M. King
Fuad of Egypt, is the latest of a series of works,
which have been built across the River Nile to provide greater facilities for irrigation in Upper Egypt
and a better water supply in that country generally.
As shown in the accompanying map (Fig. 3) these
works already comprise the Assuan dam, 590 miles
above Cairo, the original design of which was completed in 1902. though it was heightened and
strengthened in 1912, and is now undergoing further
extension. Next comes the Esneh Barrage, 490 miles
from Cairo, which was completed in 1909, followed
by the Assiut Barrage, 250 miles from Cairo, which
was finished in 1902. Still lower down the river
are the Delta Barrage, 15 miles below Cairo at
Calioub and the Zifta Barrage, completed in 1903,
which is on the Damietta branch of the Nile, between
the Delta Barrage and the Mediterranean. In
addition, there is the Sennar Dam on the Blue Nile
in the Soudan. This is about 170 miles south of
Khartoum, and was completed in 1925. As will
be seen, the Nag Hamadi Barrage lies about halfway between the Esneh and Assiut Barrages, and is
about 307 miles above Cairo. Its completion will
enable a large area of land, which until now has
often been insufficiently irrigated, even during the
flood season, to receive its full quota of red, or
silty, water in all years, thus increasing its fertility
and improving its utility for agricultural purposes.
Messrs. Coode, Wilson, Mitchell and Vaughan-Lee, of 9, Victoria-street, London, S.W.l, were
appointed consulting engineers for the barrage by
the Egyptian Minister of Public Works in August,
1925, and the contract for its construction was
awarded to Messrs. Sir John Jackson, Limited, 53,
Victoria-street, London, S.W., in April, 1927, after
tenders had been received from two French, two
Italian, two German, one Egyptian, and one other
British firm. ....'[1]