01 / 1999

Nile River Barrage at Naga Hammadi in Upper Egypt

European consortium engaged to provide complete engineering services for construction of a new barrage of crucial importance to development of the Nile Valley supply infrastructure

With a investment volume of EUR 297 million, a new barrage on the Nile River at Naga Hammadi in Upper Egypt has been planned. The barrage will not only meet the needs of agricultural irrigation but will also include a hydroelectric power plant integrated in the barrage. Under the leadership of Lahmeyer International, a consortium of European engineering firms together with Egyptian partners was awarded a contract to provide complete engineering services for the project. Upon its completion seven years hence, the project will be a central feature in the infrastructure of the Nile Valley. Clients for the project are the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Water Supply of the central government in Cairo. The project's principle financiers are the Kreditanstalt fuer Wiederaufbau (German Bank for Reconstruction and Development) in Frankfurt am Main and the European Investment Bank (EIB) in Luxembourg. Subsequent to the commencement of design work at the beginning of 1999, construction is scheduled to start in 2001 with the barrage coming into operation by the end of 2006.

The spectrum of engineering services for this large project ranges from the preparation of the tender design and contract documents for the five construction and supply lots through tender evaluation and contract negotiations to construction planning, as well as supervision of construction, installation and commissioning. Further components of the engineering contract include supporting the government ministries in preparatory activities in the project area, implementation of the comprehensive environmental programme, and planning the agricultural use of the areas to be irrigated from the barrage.

The old Naga Hammadi Barrage, the middle one of three such structures constructed between 1900 and 1930 along the Nile River in Upper Egypt, being located 130 km north of the city of Luxor and 360 km downstream of the Aswan Dam which was completed in 1963. The reservoir feeds an agricultural irrigation system, thus securing year-round cropping of 320,000 hectares.

Doubts about the structural integrity of the 70-year-old weir and its remaining life were raised in a study completed in 1997 by the present engineering consortium. This study also addressed technical and economic aspects of alternatives for meeting future irrigation requirements and, additionally, generating hydroelectric power. The most economic solution proved to be construction of a new barrage incorporating a hydropower plant for which geologically favourable foundation conditions were identified some 3 km downstream of the existing barrage. This study of alternatives entailed a variety of complex and technically challenging tasks, including three dimensional mathematical modelling of groundwater flows, physical hydraulic model tests, optimization calculations, comparison of flood protection concepts, and a comprehensive environmental impact assessment for the project.

The new barrage will be a 320-m-long concrete structure to be erected in a single construction pit spanning the entire width of the river. Foundation levels lie up to 25 m below the water level. During construction, the Nile River will be diverted past the construction pit through an 1100-m-long canal.
Groundwater seepage into the huge construction pit will be cut off by a 60-m-deep concrete diaphragm wall enclosing the pit. The hydropower plant with four Kaplan turbines and an installed capacity of 64 MW will annually produce 470 GWh of environmentally-friendly energy. Upon completion, the new Naga Hammadi Barrage will secure the future of the irrigation system and the subsistence of more than 2 million people engaged in agriculture in Upper Egypt.

Lahmeyer International currently plays a leading role in major infrastructure development in Egypt.
In addition to Naga Hammadi, the firm is engaged in planning the world's largest pump station, Toshka in the Nasser Reservoir. The pump station is at the centre of the Egyptian Government's ambitious plans to irrigate large areas of desert in the New Valley west of the Nile Valley. Completion of the Toshka pump station and the 200-km-long downstream canal network leading to an oasis is scheduled for 2002.

Lahmeyer International (LI), an independent consulting engineering company offers a wide scope of planning, designing and consulting services for technical and economic projects.Consulting Engineers for Energy Water Environment Transportation
Lahmeyer International GmbH, Friedberger Straße 173, D-61118 Bad Vilbel, Germany.
Telephone: +49 (6101) 55-0, Telefax: +49 (6101) 55-2222, E-Mail: li@lif.de.