Canals: Suez Canal - Report Example

Canals: Suez Canal Student’s Name Institutional Affiliation A canal may be an artificial waterway or modified river meant for the navigation of ships boats and other water transport systems. There are different canals, for instance inland canals and offshore canals. Inland canals constructions are within city centres and surrounded by buildings, others used for ships bath, and navigations refers to offshore canals. Construction of offshore canals is usually along or within the ocean or sea. They form ports used for ship docking. Canals are majorly of two different types: Those used for ship navigation and those used for water supply for industrial purposes, domestic purposes or for irrigation (Angelakis, 2012). Dimensions of a canal depend on its intended purpose. For instance, navigation canals must be wide enough with a standard depth to accommodate any transport vessel. Determination of canal’s dimension depends on the size of the lock. On the other hand, water supply canals usually take a sloping nature to allow free flow of water downstream through gravity (Boyer, 2011). Construction of a canal is such a complex venture, which does not only require skills of experts but also proper financial allocation for its completion. There are many procedures followed in the design and construction of Canals. The first process involves the survey of the area to determine the conditions necessary for its construction. Most Cartographers and environmentalists usually do a survey on the type of water, the depth of water, the type of soil, the nature of water current and differences in water level between the regions served by the canal. The most important feature in canal construction is the availability of water since this is what will allow for easy navigation of sea vessels for instance, ships. After proper survey, excavations then follow, heavy machines and labor help to dig the channels and ferry the sails away. Puddle makes the walls and floors of the canal waterproof. Puddle involved the use of sand, cement and gravel mixed and smoothened to prevent any penetration of water downwards. Construction of locks then takes place. This may involve the use of metallic gate, concrete gate or timber gates to help regulate the amount of water in and out of the canals. Channelling of water to the canal is the last step, and then followed commissioning for operation. The Suez Canal The Suez Canal is one of the world's largest waterways in the world. It has a length of around 101 miles (163 kilometers) long. It connects the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea at its northern branch. Suez Canal does not have a lock since the water levels of the Mediterranean and Red Seas are almost the same. It is wide enough to accommodate a convoy of ships at the same time. This is the reason for its consideration as the cargo transportation system along the horn of Africa. The canal is very deep, thus allows for easy cruising of different types of ships. It does not accommodate two overtaking ships, leading to ships navigating the canal in a straight convoy. The canal has many crossings to help eliminate traffic within the tunnels. The crossings comprise railway line, tarmac roads, pipelines, overhead power-lines and other overhead transport infrastructures. The complexity of this canal brought the focus and efforts of architectures, civil and structural engineers, electrical engineers, mechanical engineers and environmental engineers to bring it to its completion. Suez Canal plan Napoleon did his first exploration in 1700. He and other cartographers started an intensive survey of the Red and Mediterranean Seas in 1799 to ensure a proper plan for the construction of the canal. Napoleon discovered the remains of the canals dug by the ancient Egyptians during the reign of Pharaoh. Most environmental engineers determined the differences in water levels of the two Seas. They noticed a small difference, which made it viable for the dam construction. Another concern was movement of sea currents, which flowed north and to south in winter and summer respectively. They also tested the salinity of the both seas and examined the migratory nature of the Red Sea into Mediterranean Sea. The nature of the Sea's salinity was too high leading to the engineers excavating part of the river Nile to allow free flow of fresh water into the channel. Napoleon’s efforts to construct the Suez Canal were in vain. He proposed the use locks in his canals, which the Egyptian government, then refused because they believed it would be a very expensive venture. However, Napoleon contributed to ground breaking for the construction of the world largest canal (Goldschmidt, 2000). The Final Suez Canal Route plan used in the construction Source: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Suez%20Canal.pdf Construction of Suez Canal Construction began in the year 1859 through to the year 1869. The Suez Canal Company headed by the then French diplomat to Egypt de Lesseps adopted an Austrian Engineer’s plan to construct the canal. He used both human forced labor and machines to help in the excavation and dredging of land and ocean floor. The French company had a 99-year license to operate the Suez Canal after its completion, and then hand it over to the Egyptian government. Ferdinand de Lesseps used many engineers who helped in the operation of dredging and excavation machines. There were different types of dredgers used for instance, long chuted dredgers (Lesseps, 2011). This type of dredger could excavate wide canals and dig deep into the floors of the canal. These dredgers had the ability to dredge 60 meters long and reach the depth of the same measurement. Another type of dredger used was one with a 45m chute length. This helped in widening the canal’s breadth. It had floating dredgers used in removing sand, gravels in the ocean floor and channelling them to the banks of the canal (Lesseps, 2011). Diagrams of Equipment used in the Suez Canal construction (Sherman and Sherman, 2000) An example of a long Chuted Dredger Source: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Suez%20Canal.pdf A 45m Chuted Dredger Source: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Suez%20Canal.pdf A dumper dredger also contributed in further excavation. This machine helped dredging within the sea, where the sand and stone debris are not easy to sieve from the water. They separated the debris and loaded them in the container to ferry them to the canal’s banks. An illustration of a Dumper Dredger Source: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Suez%20Canal.pdf The other important machine used was a mud barge. It helped in the ferrying away of the mud excavated from the Lake Floor or ocean floor to the canal banks or a way into the deeper part of the ocean. This equipment worked together with dredgers. The Diagram of Mud Barge Source: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Suez%20Canal.pdf Other materials used in Suez Canal construction were barbed wires and wire netting. They helped in the reinforcement of stones and gravels at the canal walls and floor. The canal banks also had steel reinforced with ballast. The metal steels helped increase the strength of the banks. The use of forced human labour and oxen contributed massively in excavations, which extended through the land. They used ox plough to dig the soil and ferry them using ox carts. In some instances, people used hoes and shovel to dig, then ferry the soil using buckets to the banks of the canal. There was also the use of timber and nails in making pillar frames. These helped in the protection of ballast, to dry and reinforce the metals used (Rogers, 2004). Suez Canal is very wide as compared to Panama Canal, thus it has an ability to handle many ship and other water vessels. However, Suez Canal cannot handle overtaking ships; it has the capability of holding a convoy of numerous ships at the same time. Many people use Suez Canal because its depth can withstand heavy ships and accommodate heavy tons of cargo. On the other hand, Panama Canal is very narrow and shallow thus do not accommodate heavy and many ships. Suez Canal length covers 101 miles connecting Red Sea and Mediterranean, thus it is most preferred for the cargo transit as compared to Panama Canal, which only covers a distance of about 50 miles. Suez Canal also connects many business people in Africa and other parts of the world. Suez Canal has gained preference over time since it has a smooth ride due to lack of locks, which would otherwise delay navigation as compared to Panama Canal whose navigation is distracted by the three locks located at Miraflore, Pedro- Miguel and Gatun. Suez Canal also comprises recreational facilities making it act as a recreational centre for tourists. For instance, it has sporting facilities like stadium, which attract many people. Panama Canal on the other hand only comprises transport facilities making it attractive for business only and not any other activities (DuTemple, 2003). Suez Canal has its history drawn from Pharaoh’s reign making many people to visit it and experience the use of Egyptian historical infrastructures for instance, the pyramids. Suez Canal is also special in to many people because of the nature of its plan; design and construction, which people believe contribute to its capability of quick service delivery in cargo handling. Panama Canal on the other hand, is considered to be narrower and thus, congested to handle many cargos and voyages (Harmon, 2005). Finally, Suez Canal has protruded in the Egypt land leading to a lot of ease in the access of agricultural regions. This makes the exportation and importation of agricultural materials and facilities easier. Panama Canal on the other hand has ports located on the seashores making exportation and importation difficult since ships are not able to navigate inlands (Bodden, 2007). References Angelakis, A. N. (2012). Evolution of water supply throughout the millennia. London: IWA. Bodden, V. (2007). Suez Canal. Mankato, MN: Creative Education. Boyer, P. S. (2011). The enduring vision: A history of the American people. Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. DuTemple, L. A. (2003). The Panama Canal. Minneapolis, MN: Lerner. Goldschmidt, A. (2000). Biographical dictionary of modern Egypt. Boulder [u.a.: Rienner. Harmon, R. S. (2005). The Río Chagres, Panama: A multidisciplinary profile of a tropical watershed. Dordrecht, Netherlands: Springer. Lesseps, F. . (2011). The Suez Canal: Letters and documents descriptive of its rise and progress in 1854-1856. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Lesseps, F.., & Wolff, H. D. (2011). The history of the Suez Canal: A personal narrative. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Rogers, J. R. (2004). Water resources and environmental history: June 23-July 1, 2004, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reston, Va: American Society of Civil Engineers. Sherman, S. J. S., & Sherman, G. F. (2000). Destiny by design: The construction of the Panama Canal. Lopez Island, Wash: Pacific Heritage Press. Read More