21 373 The experience of the preceding year, and numerous works of improvement carried out on the river banks by the light of that experience, considerably lessened the anxiety which the irrigation authorities feel during the critical period of a very high Nile, and there was no serious accident to chronicle.

16. Irrigation Works. The operations in connection with the heightening of the Assouan dam executed daring 1909 consisted in completing the thickening of the dam. A sum of E. 176,000 Yas expended on this account in the course of the year. Further surveying work was undertaken in order to ascertain accuratel}'' the capacity of the new reservoir and mark out the land which will be inundated, and information as to the ownership and value of the property affected is being collected with a view to settling the question of compensation. Upon the subsidiary works of the Esneh barrage £E. 140,000 were spent.

In Middle Egypt the conversion works on the west side of the river were completed and a further 46,880 feddans added to the converted area. By the end of 1911 the entire system will be in full operation.

The East Ghizeh conversion works were also practically concluded in 1909; the pumps started working in August, and the whole area is now under perennial irrigation.

A sum of .£E. 125,000 was spent on dredging, remodelling, clearance and general maintenance of the drainage system in Lower Egypt. Much attention was paid to the strengthening and improvement of the Nile banks, and £E. 117,000 were spent in this connection with the result that the banks are now stronger and in better order than they ever were; it is none the less desirable to add a word of warning as to the necessity of maintaining the precautions now taken against possible breaches, the risks of which, on the occurrence of a specially high Nile are, and always must be, very real.

In Upper Egypt £E. 56,000 were devoted to protection works against the flood, and 44 kilometres of agricultural land were opened up.

17. Rayah Menoufieh Head. The sudden collapse in December last of this important regulator, which, though built some sixty years ago, and at a later date than the Rosetta and Damietta barrages, had always been considered the best and strongest of the older works, came as a complete surprise to the Irrigation Department. In 1888 a lock for navigation was added, but otherwise, with the exception of a few minor repairs, the work has never been touched, a fact which testifies to the confidence in which it was held by successive engineers in charge. Not much more than a year ago the floor was examined and found to be perfectly sound on the surface, whilst in the superstructure, which was of particularly solid and ample dimensions, no crack or other sign of weakness had ever been visible.

In December last the water level in the canal was gradually lowered, as is done every year during the winter closure, until the regulator carried a head of about 3-1 metres, as against its estimated maximum load of 4 metres. The accident occurred very suddenly on the 26th December, the first indication being the bursting out of a spring on the surface of the water down-stream of the regulator. From-the moment the spring was first observed until ihe final destruction of the work, only half-an-hour elapsed, an interval too short to allow of any action being taken to open the gates and so attempt a decrease of the head. The lock, which forms part of the main structure, though built at a later date, remained uninjured.

A commission appointed to examine into the circumstances of the accident came to the conclusion that nobody was to blame for what had occurred, and that those in charge of the work had duly carried out the instructions in force for regulating works. Periodic soundings had been made and recorded, and no trace of scour had been found. All that can be said is that the confidence of the engineers in this structure was mi.splaced, and it would be unwise to assume that the older works in the Delta, of which the drawings and records are often imperfect, can be trusted to carry laige loads Avithout being considerably strengthened.

The commission, after a careful examination of all possible sites, has recommended that a new regulator .should be erected to the west of the original structure, and the cost of the proposed work is estimated at £E. 135,000. In view of the great urgency of completing the construction before the approach of the flood, the commission considered House of Commons Parliamentary Papers Online. Copyright (c) 2006 ProQuest Information and Learning Company. All rights reserved.