9 January: The Aswan Dam

This day in 1960 saw construction start on Egypt's Aswan Dam. 10 facts about the Aswan Dam:

1. It's the 14th tallest dam in the world at a height of 111m (364 ft). It's 3,830 m (12,570 ft) long and at its base, 980m (3,220 ft) wide.
2. One reason it was built was to prevent flooding of the Nile. As far back as the 11th century people were concerned about that problem. Fatimid Caliph Al Hakim Bi-Amr Allah commissioned an engineer called Ibn al-Haytham to build a dam to regulate the flooding. He came and did some surveys, eventually deciding that building a dam on the Nile simply wasn't practical.
3. Eight centuries later technology had advanced sufficiently to make such a project feasible and the British started building a dam in 1899. However, they didn't build it high enough and had to raise the height of it twice. This was the Aswan Low Dam.
4. The decision was made in 1946 that there needed to be another dam about four miles up river, the Aswan High Dam. Construction didn't start until January 9th 1960 and was completed in 1970.
5. Wrangling over who was going to fund the building of the dam almost caused World War Three. In 1952, King Farouk of Egypt was overthrown and Gamal Abdel Nasser became president. He thought the dam was a viable idea. America offered to pay for it, but there were strings attached. There was an arms deal along with it, but the weapons must only be used in defence and the USA would supervise all training in their use. Nasser wasn't happy with that, and announced an arms deal with Czechoslovakia in 1955. The US saw this as Nasser playing the US and Soviet Union against each other and withdrew funding for the dam. Nasser's response to that was to nationalise the Suez Canal, which upset Israel, Britain, and France, causing the Suez Crisis. In 1958, the USSR agreed to fund the dam's construction.
6. Before they could build the dam, however, about 100,000 people who lived in the area which would be flooded had to be re-located. This area was known as Nubia, and, while the people were all moved, the towns they lived in, their churches and tombs, were all submerged and lost forever.
7. Also in the area were a number of ancient monuments and temples, including the Temples at Philae and Abu Simbel and the tomb of Nefertari. UNESCO stepped in to re-locate these important buildings to a new site 180 metres away. They had to cut the rock temples into 30 ton sections and move them on steel rails, and re-assemble them in their new locations. The archaeological projects to save the monuments, however, did mean there is more knowledge about the history of Nubia than there is about any other site in Egypt which have remained intact.
8. Another reason for building the dam was to generate Electricity. The dam powers twelve generators each rated at 175 megawatts (235,000 hp), with a total of 2.1 gigawatts (2,800,000 hp). It started producing power in 1967 and at its peak was producing half of Egypt's electricity. It also meant some villages in Egypt had electricity for the first time.
9. There have been disadvantages, though. The flooding of the Nile in ancient times was what brought silt to the arable land along the Nile every year, keeping it fertile. While there's no longer as much loss of life associated with flooding, the silt to fertilise the soil now gets stuck behind the dam. The dam has been blamed for coastline erosion, soil salinity, and health problems, and there have even been calls to tear it down. For the moment, at least, its advantages are still seen as outweighing the problems.
10. Another advantage the dam brought was increased tourism as it became much easier to navigate the Nile.

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Secrets and Skies

Jack Ward, President of Innovia, owes his life twice over to the enigmatic superhero, dubbed Power Blaster by the press. No-one knows who Power Blaster is or where he comes from - and he wants it to stay that way.

Scientist Desi Troyes has developed a nuclear bomb to counter the ever present threat of an asteroid hitting the planet. When Ward signs the order giving the go ahead for a nuclear test on the remote Bird Island, he has no inkling of Troyes' real agenda, and that he has signed the death warrants of millions of people.

Although the island should have been evacuated, there are people still there: some from the distant continent of Classica; protesters opposed to the bomb test; and Innovians who will not, or cannot, use their communication devices.

Power Blaster knows he must stop the bomb from hitting the island. He also knows it may be the last thing he ever does.

Meanwhile in Innovia, Ward and his staff gather to watch the broadcast of the test. Nobody, not even Troyes himself, has any idea what is about to happen.

Part One of The Raiders Trilogy.

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