Historical Review
The great Egyptian civilization was closely tied to the Nile River
throughout its long history. An everlasting task for the Egyptians has been
to enhance its performance to maximize the benefit out of its water. This
gave rise to an astonishingly flourishing development of sciences related to
hydraulics, irrigation, hydrology, groundwater along the banks of the Nile
since the early history.
The first school for irrigation engineering in Egypt in recent times was
established at Kanater in 1858. The school was then transferred to Cairo in
1867 to form a joint institute together with the school of architecture. In
1886, a new institute under the name of the Irrigation Department was
established with five year study program before graduation. The institute
then moved to Giza in 1902.
The old Hydraulics Laboratory was established in 1923 under the
supervision of a group of eminent British engineers. The Civil Engineering
Department of Cairo University was established in 1926 and included six
divisions; Irrigation, Sanitary, Bridges, Harbors, Surveying and Railways.
In 1956, the Civil Engineering Department was divided, study-wise, into
three major Departments; Structural Engineering, Irrigation & Hydraulics and
Public Works.
Main Programs
The Department of Irrigation and
Hydraulics is responsible of the following program
- Fluid Mechanics
- Hydraulics
- Irrigation and Drainage
- Hydrology and Water Resources
- Harbor and Coastal Engineering.
Irrigation and Hydraulic Engineering Department
(1994)
At the graduate level, the department of Irrigation and Hydraulics
offers three Diplomas, a Master of Science and Doctorate of Philosophy
degrees. The three diplomas are in the following areas:
- Irrigation and Drainage Engineering
- Water Resources Engineering
- Coastal and Harbor Engineering.
Over the past 15 years, the Department of Irrigation and Hydraulics has
granted more than 90 M.Sc. degrees and 20 Ph.D. degrees.
The Irrigation and Hydraulics Laboratory
The Irrigation and Hydraulics Laboratory occupies the ground floor of the
Irrigation and Hydraulics department of Cairo University. The laboratory has
a well designed and unique U shape layout with three connected sections with
total area of some 2400 squares meters. This space combined with two
balconies overlooking the main floor qualify the laboratory to be the
largest educational laboratory in Egypt.
Since 1994 ongoing efforts are being devoted to the renovation,
replacement, and enhancement of the existing infrastructure and equipment.
The laboratory is expected to meet the following goals:
- To provide a sound environment for performing undergraduate
laboratory experiments and training in the fields of fluid mechanics,
hydraulics, irrigation, environmental and hydrological studies
- To provide well equipped facilities required for post graduate
research with particular emphasis on topics related to the River Nile,
irrigation systems, conjunctive use of Egyptian water resources, open
channel and closed conduit flows, water quality monitoring and analysis,
and also the environmental impacts of industrial processes.
- To help enhance consulting services provided to outside customers--
private and public, national and regional -- through performing physical
and mathematical modeling for existing and proposed hydraulic structures,
sediment estimation, flood routing, pipe networks, ... etc. In addition to
the routine work associated with pump tests, the laboratory conducts
calibration tests for pipes, valves, measuring devices, sprinklers ...
etc.
Achievements
Staff members of the Department of Irrigation and Hydraulics have carried
out a multitude of research studies and engineering works. Some have
participated in steering and/or evaluation committees for variety of
projects. The following list shows several examples of studies and projects
conducted over the past fifteen years:
- Hydrological studies for the water balance of the Upper Nile
Catchments.
- Forecasting of the inflow to Lake Nasser and developing operation
rules for the High Dam of Aswan.
- Cost allocation models for irrigation water in Upper and Middle
Egypt.
- Design methodology for the Egyptian canals after the construction of
the Aswan High Dam.
- Development of the River Nile navigational capacity.
- Preliminary studies for the estimation and utilization of the
sediments in Lake Nasser.
- Studies for Essna Barrage and seismic analysis for the High Aswan
Dam.
- Groundwater studies for the North African aquifer, East of Oinat
mountain aquifer, Nile Delta aquifer, Nile Valley aquifer ... etc.
- Study of the effect of groundwater table in Cairo and Giza on ancient
Egyptian monuments.
- Protection of several cities and villages in Upper and Middle Egypt
against flash floods.
- Protection of the 15th of May and Shorouqe cities against floods.
- Protection of the Railway section between the cities of Qena and Abu-Tartour
against floods and sand waves.
- Evaporation and salinity studies of the proposed Qattara Depression
Project.
- Feasibility study of solar ponds in Egypt.
- Design of tile drainage systems in areas subject to artesian
conditions in the Nile Delta.
- Modeling water and salt movement in the soil profile related to
irrigation and drainage practices within an overall agricultural hydrology
frame work.
- Design of a large number of groundwater wells utilized in desert
reclamation.
- Design of several drip irrigation schemes.
- Study of the gains and losses from the several reaches of the River
Nile in Egypt.
- Rehabilitation of several channels and associate irrigation and
navigation works.
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