Ibrahimiya Canal
Encyclopedia
Egyptian Public Works
The Egyptian Department of Public Works was established in the early Nineteenth Century, and concentrates mainly on public works relating to irrigation and hydraulic engineering. These irrigation projects have constituted the bulk of work performed by this entity in Egypt...
. It was built during the reign of Ismail Pasha when he was Khedive
Khedive
The term Khedive is a title largely equivalent to the English word viceroy. It was first used, without official recognition, by Muhammad Ali Pasha , the Wāli of Egypt and Sudan, and vassal of the Ottoman Empire...
of Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
. It was commissioned by Bahgat Pasha, minister of public works, who designed it primarily to provide perennial irrigation to the Khedivial sugar estates in Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt
Middle Egypt is the section of land between Lower Egypt and Upper Egypt, stretching upstream from Asyut in the south to Memphis in the north. At the time, Ancient Egypt was divided into Lower and Upper Egypt, though Middle Egypt was technically a subdivision of Upper Egypt. It was not until the...
. It supplied perennial irrigation to 580000 acres (2,347.2 km²) and flood irrigation to another 420000 acres (1,699.7 km²). The discharge of the canal varied between 30 and 80 cubic metres per second in summer and between 500 and 900 cubic metres per second in flood. Having its head on the left bank of the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, opposite Assiut, it runs northwards for 60 kilometres and then divides in Dirout into two main branches; one branch is the Bahr Yousef Canal, while the other is the Ibrahimiyah Canal proper.
This 350 kilometer long canal, which is undoubtedly one of the largest artificial canals in the world, used to take off from the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
without any weirs or inlet works on the river (the water of the river entered it freely). Sir William Willcocks
William Willcocks
Sir William Willcocks KCMG was a British civil engineer. He is remembered as a renowned irrigation engineer, having proposed the first Aswan Dam and undertaken major projects of irrigation in South Africa and Turkey.A graduate of the Thomason College of Civil Engineering, Roorkee 1872 batch...
, the famous British civil engineer, would construct the Assiut Barrage
Assiut Barrage
The Assiut Barrage is a dam on the Nile in the city of Assiut in Upper Egypt . It was designed by the famous British engineer Sir William Willcocks who also designed and built the Aswan Dam...
later in 1901 to provide means for better control of its discharge.
Although locks were constructed through its southern third, Ibrahimya Canal is not navigable after Deirut as it was designed for irrigation purposes only. The Ibrahimiya, except at few locations where it follows portions of ancient canals, flows parallel to the Nile
Nile
The Nile is a major north-flowing river in North Africa, generally regarded as the longest river in the world. It is long. It runs through the ten countries of Sudan, South Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Egypt.The Nile has two major...
, and does not have between itself and the river a distance of more than 4 to 5 kilometres.
Deirut Distribution Works
At its 60th kilometer at Deirut, Ibrahimiya Canal begins distribution of its water. At this point, the canal widens into a kind of basin, along which six works of distribution are constructed. They are:- Inlet of the Sahelieh Canal composed of two arches, 3 metres wide each.
- Inlet of the Deiroutieh Canal, composed of three arches, 3 metres wide each.
- Inlet of Bahr Youssef (the main irrigation canal for Fayuom), composed of five arches, 3 metres wide each. Bahr Yousef usually gets one third of the entire water of the Ibrahimiya Canal. It irrigates west of MinyaMinya, EgyptMinya is the capital of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city...
, Beni SuefBeni Suef- Overview :Beni Suef is an important agricultural center, which grew from a small village at the turn of the century and now hosts a population of over 200,000. It was famous for its linen manufacturing in the Middle Ages, and continues to be heavily involved in cotton-spinning and carpet-making....
and Fayoum provinces. - Distribution work for Ibrahimiyah itself, composed of seven arches, 3 metres each and a lock 8.5 metres wide for navigation.
- A reservoir to carry back to the Nile the surplus water of the canal. This works consists of five openings, 3-metre wide each and a 8.5 metre wide lock for navigation.
- An inlet of two arches, 3-meter wide each, for filling several basins on the left bank of Bahr Youssef canal, and at a level too high to be filled with Bahr Youssef itself.
After Ibrahimiya leaves Deirut, a series of distribution works control water discharges along its route. They are :
- Hafez Regulator: at kilometre 90 in Mallawy. The original regulator was abandoned and a new one was constructed in 1989 as part of the US funded Irrigation Improvements Project (IIP). Upstream of this regulator, on the left side is the intake for the Serry Canal, a major offshoot from Ibrahimiya, irrigating more than 140000 acres (566.6 km²) west of Minya.
- Minya Regulator: at kilometre 120, in MinyaMinya, EgyptMinya is the capital of Minya Governorate in Upper Egypt. It is located approximately south of Cairo on the western bank of the Nile River, which flows north through the city...
. The old regulator (which is still used as a bridge) consists of three arches, 3 metres wide each. A new regulator 2 kilometers downstream of this old one was constructed in 1993 also as a part of the IIP project. - Matay Regulator: at kilometre 160. It also consists of three arches, 3 meters wide each.
- Maghagha Regulator: at kilometre 188. Another structure with three arches, 3 metre wide each. It also has a weir.
- Al Sharahnah Regulator: at kilometre 210. A 3-arch regulator and a siphon allowing drainage water to cross underneath the Ibrahimiya canal are found in this point.
After it leaves Al Sharahnah, the canal continues for about 140 kilometers but by the time it reaches Al Ayat in Giza, it is no longer a major canal, but rather a small irrigation canal with a width of 5 metres at the bottom.