The pipe, laid under the sands, could serve as a tunnel for metro trains - its diameter is four meters.
The Arabian night is illuminated by the lights of the Al-Tevilah desalination plant on the shores of the Persian Gulf.
"Great artificial river", the "eighth wonder of the world" is the name given to the fresh water distribution system across Libya that came into operation last summer. This gigantic water pipeline is the largest engineering structure of our time, far surpassing in scale, for example, the Channel Tunnel. A system of huge pipelines, covering an area equal to the area of the entire Western Europe, carries fresh water from underground sources from the south to the north of the country, to the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, where populated areas are mainly concentrated.
In the 1960s, large reserves of oil and fresh water were discovered almost simultaneously in Libya - both deep underground. More precisely, under the sand of the Sahara. Two huge underground seas of pure fresh water have been discovered here. One extends under the territories of Libya, Egypt, Sudan and Chad (it is this basin with a volume of two-thirds of the Black Sea that is currently in use), the other under the territories of Libya, Tunisia and Algeria (the exploitation of these reserves in the project). Water accumulated underground 10 thousand years ago, when fertile savannas stretched out in place of the Sahara, irrigated by frequent rains and inhabited by elephants and giraffes. Then, about three thousand years ago, the planet's climate changed dramatically - the Sahara became a desert. But the water that seeped into the ground over thousands of years managed to accumulate in underground horizons.
Construction of the huge water pipeline began in 1983, and the main part was completed in 2001. Water enters it from 1,300 wells, many of them 500 meters deep or more, located over an area of 13,000 square kilometers. The total depth of these wells is 70 times the height of Everest. Through collector pipes, water flows into concrete pipes with a diameter of 4 meters, stretching for thousands of kilometers. Reservoirs with a capacity of 4-24 million cubic meters were built closer to the places of water consumption, and water supply systems of local cities and towns begin from them.
During the construction of the gigantic system, 155 million cubic meters of soil had to be removed and transferred (12 times more than when creating the Aswan Dam), and this in temperatures that at times reached 58 degrees Celsius. From the building materials used, it would be possible to build 16 Cheops pyramids. The concrete used for the pipes alone would be enough to pave the road from Tripoli to Bombay.
Water brought from the south of the country is used in the north for domestic and industrial needs, but 85-90 percent is used to irrigate fields. Up to six million cubic meters of water can be supplied per day. According to calculations, underground reserves will last for half a century, and during this time, experts hope, it will be possible to develop other options, such as desalination of sea water. True, geologists fear that as the underground layers become empty, the earth above them may begin to collapse. Will a huge hole form in the place of the desert in a few decades?
Muammar Gaddaf launched the largest irrigation project in the world. Photo
Great man-made river- this is one of the largest engineering projects of the ex-President of Libya Muammar Gaddafi, which he took up in the forty-second year of his rule. Gaddafi dreamed of providing fresh water all of Libya and turn the desert into a green garden, making the country self-sufficient in food production. In order to make this dream a reality, Gaddafi ordered a large-scale engineering project, the essence of which was to build an extensive network that would bring fresh water to the dry areas of the country from ancient underground aquifers in the depths of the Sahara. Gaddafi named his project The eighth wonder of the world
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The Great Man-Made River in Libya is the world's largest irrigation project
Western media rarely mention the man-made river in Libya, using such descriptions as "vanity", "Gaddafi's pet project" and "a mad dog's pipe dream". But this does not change the essence, the Great Man-Made River is a fantastic water supply system that has radically changed the lives of Libyans throughout the country. Libya is one of the sunniest and driest countries in the world. There are places where there has been no rainfall for decades. Less than 5% of the country receives enough rainfall for settled agriculture. Most of Libya's water supply came from desalination plants on the coast, but this method of obtaining fresh water is too expensive.
Photo In 1953, while searching for new oil fields in southern Libya, geologists discovered gigantic reserves of fresh water in the desert, hidden deep in the bowels of the earth. A total of four huge basins were discovered with a volume ranging from 4,800 to 20,000 cubic kilometers. Most of this water accumulated 38,000-14,000 years ago, before the end of the last ice age, when this region of the Sahara had a temperate climate.
Photo In August 1984, Muammar Gaddafi laid the foundation stone for a pipe factory in Brega. From that moment on, the implementation of the Great Man-Made River project began. About 1,300 wells were dug in the desert, some up to 500 meters deep, to extract water. Through a network of underground pipes stretching 2,800 kilometers, water is distributed to 6.5 million people living in the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and other places. When the fifth and final phase of the project is completed, the pipe network will be 4,000 km long, allowing 155,000 hectares of land to be irrigated for cultivation. Even at the moment, the Great Man-Made River is world's largest irrigation project.
Photo In July 2011, NATO bombed a water pipeline near Brega and a pipe manufacturing plant. This led to disruption of water supply for almost 70% of the population. Currently, the country is still recovering from the civil war, so the future of the Great Man-Made River looks very vague.
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Photo May 31st, 2018
I have repeatedly come across mentions of this Libyan project, but all the information that I came across resembled some kind of “conspiracy theory”. Of course, this could not have happened without this, but here are some implementation details and current state this huge project.
The largest engineering and construction project of our time is considered The Great Manmade River- a huge underground network of water pipelines, daily supplying 6.5 million cubic meters of drinking water per day in settlements desert areas and coast of Libya. The project is incredibly significant for this country, but it also provides reasons for something slightly different from what was depicted by Western means. mass media, look at the light former leader Libyan Jamahiriya Muammar Gaddafi. Perhaps this is precisely what can explain the fact that the implementation of this project was practically not covered by the media.
This huge system of pipes and aqueducts, which also includes more than 1,300 wells more than 500 meters deep, supplies the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte and others. Muammar Gaddafi called this river the “Eighth Wonder of the World.” In 2008, the Guinness Book of World Records recognized the Great Man-Made River as the largest irrigation project in the world.
Let's find out more about this project...
In the 1960s, 4 giant underground water reservoirs were discovered in the Sahara Desert in Libya.
1). the Kufra basin,
2). the Sirt basin
3) the Morzuk basin and
4). the Hamada basin. The first three contain 35 thousand cubic KILOMETERS of water!
Back in the 80s, Gaddafi began a large-scale project to create a network water resources, which was supposed to cover Libya, Egypt, Sudan and Chad.
In October 1983, a Project Authority was created to transport water from southern Libya, where the underwater lakes are located, to northern, industrialized Libya. In 1996, artesian water came to the houses of the capital Tripoli!
By the beginning of the war, this project was almost realized. They say it's 2/3 done. The task was, it must be said, historical for the entire North African region, because the problem of water has been relevant here since the times of Phenicia. And, more importantly, a project that could turn all of North Africa into blooming garden, not a single cent from the IMF was spent. It is with the last fact Some analysts attribute the destabilization of the situation in the region.
The desire for a global monopoly on water resources is already the most important factor in world politics. Maghreb-Nachrichten from 03/20/2009 reports: “At the 5th World Water Forum in Istanbul, the Libyan authorities presented a water supply project for the first time. The project's obscurity is explained by the fact that Western media Almost no coverage was given to it, and yet the project overtook the world's largest construction projects in cost: the project cost $25 billion.
The fundamental difference between the Libyan irrigation project is that it uses a virtually inexhaustible underground rather than surface water source to irrigate agricultural land, which is easily subject to significant damage in a short period of time. Water is transported in a closed manner using 4 thousand kilometers of steel pipes buried deep in the ground. Water from artesian basins is pumped through 270 shafts from a depth of several hundred meters. One cubic meter crystal clean water from Libyan underground reservoirs, taking into account all the costs of its extraction and transportation, cost the Libyan state only 35 cents, which is approximately comparable to the cost of a cubic meter cold water in a large Russian city, for example Moscow. If we take into account the cost of a cubic meter of drinking water in European countries(about 2 euros), then the value of artesian water reserves in Libyan underground reservoirs is, according to rough estimates, almost 60 billion euros. Agree that such a volume of a resource that continues to grow in price may be of much more serious interest than oil.
With its water project, Libya could start a real green revolution. Literally, of course, which would solve a lot of food problems in Africa. And most importantly, it would ensure stability and economic independence.
Moreover, there are already known cases when global corporations blocked water projects in the region. There is an opinion that the World Bank and the IMF deliberately blocked the construction of a canal on the White Nile - Jonglei Canal - in southern Sudan, which was started there and abandoned after the American intelligence services provoked the growth of separatism there. For the IMF, of course, it is much more profitable to impose its own expensive projects, such as desalination. An independent Libyan project did not fit into their plans. In neighboring Egypt, over the past 20 years, all projects to improve irrigation and water supply have been sabotaged by the International Monetary Fund.
It is noteworthy that, speaking at the celebration of the anniversary of the start of construction of the river, on September 1 last year, Gaddafi said: “Now that this achievement of the Libyan people has become obvious, the US threat against our country will double!” In addition, several years ago, Gaddafi stated that the Libyan irrigation project would be “the most serious response to America, which constantly accuses Libya of sympathizing with terrorism and living on petrodollars.” A very eloquent fact was the support for this project and former president Egypt Mubarak. And this is probably not a mere coincidence.
Before the war, the man-made river irrigated about 160,000 hectares, which were actively being developed for agriculture. And to the south, in the Sahara, ditches brought to the surface serve as watering places for animals. And most importantly, drinking water were supplied big cities countries, in particular the capital Tripoli.
Here important dates in the history of the Libyan irrigation project “Great Man-Made River”, recognized in 2008 by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world:
October 3, 1983 - The General People's Congress of the Libyan Jamahiriya was convened and an emergency session was held, at which the start of funding for the project was announced.
For some reason, the construction of the Great Man-Made River in Libya was deprived of media attention, despite the fact that this structure has been recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest irrigation project in the world since 2008. But what is important here is not the scale of the construction of the century, but the goals. After all, if the Libyan man-made river is completed, it will transform Africa from a desert into a fertile continent, the same as, for example, Eurasia or America. However, the whole problem is precisely in this very “if”...
WATER INSTEAD OF OIL
In 1953, Libyans, trying to find sources of oil in the south of their country, discovered water: giant underground reservoirs feeding oases. Only a couple of decades later, the residents of Libya realized that they had fallen into their hands with a much greater treasure than black gold. From time immemorial, Africa has been a drought-stricken continent with sparse vegetation, but here literally under our feet there is about 35 thousand cubic kilometers of artesian water.
With the appropriate volume, it is possible, for example, to completely flood the territory of Germany (357,021 square kilometers), and the depth of such a reservoir will be about 100 meters. If this water is released to the surface, it will turn Africa into a blooming garden!
This is precisely the idea that came to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi. Of course, because the territory of Libya is more than 95% desert. Under Gaddafi's patronage, a complex network of pipelines was developed that would deliver water from the Nubian Aquifer to the arid regions of the country. To implement this grandiose plan to Libya from South Korea specialists arrived modern technologies. A plant for the production of reinforced concrete pipes with a diameter of four meters was launched in the city of Al-Buraika. On August 28, 1984, Muammar Gaddafi was personally present at the start of construction of the pipeline.
THE EIGHTH WONDER OF THE WORLD
The Great Man-Made River is not without reason called the largest irrigation project in the world. Some even consider it the largest engineering structure on the planet. Gaddafi himself called his creation the eighth wonder of the world. Now this network includes 1,300 wells 500 meters deep, four thousand kilometers of concrete pipes laid underground, a system of pumping stations, storage tanks, control and management centers.
Every day, six and a half million cubic meters of water flow through the pipes and aqueducts of the man-made river, supplying the cities of Tripoli, Benghazi, Sirte, Gharyan and others, as well as the green fields in the middle of the former desert. In the future, the Libyans intended to irrigate 130-150 thousand hectares of cultivated land and, in addition to Libya, include others in this system African countries. Ultimately, Africa would not only cease to be a perpetually starving continent, but would even begin to export barley, oats, wheat and corn itself. The project was planned to be completed in 25 years, but...
EXILEMENT FROM PARADISE
4,000 kilometers of underground pipes stretch across the desert
At the beginning of 2011, Libya was engulfed Civil War, and on October 20, Muammar Gaddafi died at the hands of the rebels. But there is an opinion that the real reason for the murder of the Libyan leader was his Great Man-Made River.
Firstly, a number of major powers were engaged in supplying food to African countries. Of course, it is completely unprofitable for them to transform Africa from a consumer into a producer. Secondly, due to population growth on the planet, fresh water is becoming more abundant every year. valuable resource. Many European countries are already experiencing a shortage of drinking water. And here Libya has a source in its hands, which, according to experts, will be enough for the next four to five millennia.
Once, at the ceremonial completion of one of the stages of construction of the Great Man-Made River, Muammar Gaddafi said: “Now, after this achievement, US threats against Libya will double. The Americans will do everything to destroy our work and leave the people of Libya oppressed." By the way, the heads of many African states were present at this celebration, and the leaders of the Black Continent supported Gaddafi’s initiative. Among them was Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.
Mubarak was also removed from his post as a result of the revolution that suddenly broke out in Egypt.
Strange coincidence, isn't it? It is noteworthy that when NATO forces intervened in the Libyan conflict, in order to “protect civilians” their aircraft struck precisely on the branches of the Great River, pumping stations and destroyed a plant producing concrete pipes. So I think with high probability it can be assumed that the struggle for oil is being replaced by another war for water. And Gaddafi became the first victim of this war.
The Great Man-Made River, the most ambitious project of the Libyan Jamahiriya, is a network of water pipelines supplying waterless areas and the northern industrial part of Libya with the purest drinking water from underground reservoirs of oases located in the southern part of the country. According to independent experts, this is the world's largest engineering project currently existing. The little-known nature of the project is explained by the fact that the Western media practically did not cover it, and yet the project has surpassed the world's largest construction projects in cost: the project cost is $25 billion.
Gaddafi began work on the project back in the 80s, and by the time the current hostilities began, it was practically implemented. Let us especially note: not a cent of foreign money was spent on the construction of the system. And this fact is definitely thought-provoking, because control over water resources is becoming an increasingly significant factor in world politics. Isn't the current war in Libya the first war over drinking water? After all, there really is something to fight for! The functioning of the man-made river is based on drawing water from 4 huge water reservoirs located in the oases of Hamada, Kufra, Morzuk and Sirt and containing approximately 35,000 cubic meters. kilometers of artesian water! Such a volume of water could completely cover the territory of a country such as Germany, while the depth of such a reservoir would be about 100 meters. And according to recent research, water from Libyan artesian springs will last for almost 5,000 years.
In addition, this water project in its scale can rightly be called the “Eighth Wonder of the World”, since it transports 6.5 million cubic meters of water through the desert per day, which amazingly increases the area of irrigated desert land. The man-made river project is completely incomparable to what was carried out by Soviet leaders in Central Asia for the purpose of irrigating its cotton fields and which led to the Aral disaster. The fundamental difference between the Libyan irrigation project is that it uses a virtually inexhaustible underground rather than surface water source to irrigate agricultural land, which is easily subject to significant damage in a short period of time. Water is transported in a closed manner using 4 thousand kilometers of steel pipes buried deep in the ground. Water from artesian basins is pumped through 270 shafts from a depth of several hundred meters. One cubic meter of crystal clear water from Libyan underground reservoirs, taking into account all the costs of its extraction and transportation, cost the Libyan state only 35 cents, which is approximately comparable to the cost of a cubic meter of cold water in a large Russian city, for example, Moscow. If we take into account the cost of a cubic meter of drinking water in European countries (about 2 euros), then the cost of artesian water reserves in Libyan underground reservoirs is, according to the most rough estimates, almost 60 billion euros. Agree that such a volume of a resource that continues to grow in price may be of much more serious interest than oil.
Before the war, the man-made river irrigated about 160,000 hectares, which were actively being developed for agriculture. And to the south, in the Sahara, ditches brought to the surface serve as watering places for animals. And most importantly, large cities of the country, in particular the capital Tripoli, were supplied with drinking water.
Here are the most important dates in the Libyan Great Man-Made River irrigation project, recognized in 2008 by the Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world:
October 3, 1983 - The General People's Congress of the Libyan Jamahiriya was convened and an emergency session was held, at which the start of funding for the project was announced.
August 28, 1984 - The leader of Libya lays the first stone in the starting building of the project.
August 26, 1989 - The second phase of construction of the irrigation system begins.
September 11, 1989 - water entered the reservoir in Ajdabiya.
September 28, 1989 - water entered the Grand Omar-Muktar reservoir.
September 4, 1991 - water enters the Al-Ghardabiya reservoir.
August 28, 1996 - regular water supply to Tripoli begins.
September 28, 2007 - water appeared in the city of Garyan.
Due to the fact that countries neighboring Libya, including Egypt, suffer from a lack of water resources, it is quite logical to assume that the Jamahiriya with its water project was quite capable of significantly expanding its influence in the region, starting a green revolution in neighboring countries, and figuratively , and in the literal sense of the word, since by irrigating North African fields, most food problems in Africa would be solved very quickly, providing the countries of the region with economic independence. And corresponding attempts took place. Gaddafi actively encouraged Egyptian peasants to come and work in the fields of Libya.
The Libyan water project has become a real slap in the face to the entire West, because both the World Bank and the US State Department are promoting only projects that are beneficial to them, such as the project for desalinization of sea water in Saudi Arabia, the cost of which is $4 per cubic meter of water. Obviously, the West benefits from water scarcity - this keeps its price high.
It is noteworthy that, speaking at the celebration of the anniversary of the start of construction of the river, on September 1 last year, Gaddafi said: “Now that this achievement of the Libyan people has become obvious, the US threat against our country will double!” In addition, several years ago, Gaddafi stated that the Libyan irrigation project would be “the most serious response to America, which constantly accuses Libya of sympathizing with terrorism and living on petrodollars.” A very eloquent fact was the support of this project by former Egyptian President Mubarak. And this is probably not a mere coincidence.
