BRITISH ENGINEERING FEAT.

Hokitika Guardian, 25 August 1924, Page 1

BRITISH ENGINEERING FEAT.

RACK TO BEAT NILK FLOODS. LONDON, .tune 25. British engineers, who are last completing one of the greatest- constructional feats in history—the building of the world’s biggest dam on the Blue Nile in the Sudan—have triumphed in a six months’ race against the Nile Hoods. Faced with the fact that the annual Hoods, due to reach their highest by mid-July would sweep over their work unless it had reached a sufficient height to stem them, they have superintended the night and day operations of 19,009 men for six indnths before winning a victory that wits in doubt until the last moment.

When the Hoods, come, like a huge tidal wave, they will lap over the top of the dam—called the Sentmr dam, after the town of that name three miles nwiiy—in quantities insufficient to hamper the completion of the work. In the next dry season the dam will he •curried to its full height, and the rest of the gigantic task of irrigating more than 900,000 acres will be hurried to completion. DAM 2 -MILKS LONG.

With the Hoods not far distant there was one point in the river where the sound rock for the foundations had not been 'reached, although the ground had been opened to a de-Oh of 1 (sft. below the design level. Without this solid rock found and built on. it would have been impossible to resist the flood, hut by concentrating all energies on this paint and working feverishly, the men have built the dam to a safe height along it.s length of 9,90!) yards.

It- i". now certain that Messrs S. Rearson and Son. Ltd., of Westminster, who tire conducting the work, will he aide to finish the immense task in the allotted time at an estimated cost of £4.009.000. They began in December 1922. and they must finish by the middle of July next year.

What the work will represent when finished was described to a Daily Mail reporter yesterday by Mr F. T. Ilopkinson, the director in charge of the work. Obtaining many of liis figures by rapid measurements of big plans in front of hint, Mr llopkinson said: The chief object of the dam is to raise the level of the water at this spot to such a height that canals, from which will branch smaller canals, and which in turn will have smaller canals jutting from them like ribs, will irrigate more than 900.000 acres ot territorv which are to-day almost useless. TRAIN ON TOR.

To-day it is possible to grow only tiny crops of cotton here and there on sites about as big as an ordinary private office, where some water happens to accumulate, hut irrigation will enable the finest cotton crops in the world to he grown. Here are some figures of the work: The 9,900 yards long dam will he 190 feet above the lowest foundations, and will make an artificial lake 2 miles wide and 50 miles long.

The parapets of the dam will he 130 feet above Die lowest foundations and iho water at its deepest near the dam will he 10!) feet deep. The dam will weigh 1.009.000 tons and will provide water to the irrigating canals through 89 big sluices.

By the time the work is finished 1.099 miles of canal will have been dug, not counting thousands of miles of smaller canals.

At its widest the biggest canal will he 1.009 feet wide. The f-<n of the dam will act as a bridge for the Sudan railway.

The masonry is constructed entirely of granite brought, from a remm-kahle granite hill 95 miles away. II juts sheer out of the plain to a height ot 5991 t. along a length ol several miles. During the work we have been bringing 2.409 tons of granite a day from it by the Sudan Government Railway. AYe made our cement at the site.