Urbanization and the processes of erosion and sedimentation in the River

Nile
Mostafa M. Soliman
Abstract.
The processes of erosion and sedimentation were in a dynamic state along the River
Nile and its small islands during flood times. However after building the High Dam of Aswan,
the situation changed and these islands appear to be in a stable position.
This paper is mainly concerned with studying the urbanization process on the Islands south
of Cairo.
Effets des processus d'urbanisation sur l'rosion et la sdimentation dans le Nil
Rsum.
Le processus d'rosion et de sdimentation se trouvait en tat dynamique lors
des priodes de clue tout au long du Nil et de ses petites iles. Actuellement, en consquence de
la construction du Barrage d'Assouan, la situation s'est transforme et les iles paraissent se trouver
maintenant en position stable.
Cette communication se rapporte surtout l'tude des processus d'urbanisation de ces iles
au sud du Caire.

INTRODUCTION
Effects of man on erosion and sedimentation in rivers result from changing the natural
water-way by building dams and irrigation structures at several locations on the rivers.
These effects are discussed for a small reach of the River Nile in the vicinity of the
city of Cairo.
The River Nile is one of the longest and oldestrivers in the world. Many historians
have said that the Nile is the gift of Egypt. Most of the Egyptian wealth depends to
a great extent on this great water resource. Fertile lands and many important Egyptian
cities are located on both sides of the main waterway. Therefore it is very important
to treat and control the river to overcome the effects of erosion and silting processes
at the rural and urban areas along the river. This is clearly demonstrated along the
aforementioned reach which divides Cairo City in.two parts. Located within this
reach are several islands which are utilized either for urban facilities, parks or cultivable land.
Since the completion of the High Aswan Dam, no sediment has been released
downstream from the dam and the river discharge is also very different from before.
The River Nile is moving towards a new equilibrium, and thus there is an urgent need
to deal with the problems of degradation, bank stability, river control for navigation
and protection of the urban areas on the islands.
GENERAL DESCRIPTION
The Nile is a meandering river. The short reach considered here forms a bend with a
large radius of curvature (Fig.l). There are several islands located in this reach, of
which some are rural areas while others are urban and form part of Cairo City. They
were covered by water during floods before the construction of the High Dam. The
flood water which carried a large quantity of silt and fine materials, deposited part
of these materials on the islands and along the banks of the river. However during
summer the water carries no silt, and large quantities of the deposited sediments are

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Mostafa M. Soliman

FIGURE 1.

Nile reach near Cairo.

eroded from the banks of the islands. These processes created fairly stable conditions
along the river. However after the construction of the High Dam (which is an effect
of man) many changes occurred along the main water course. No sediment is released
downstream from the dam and the discharge is regulated to satisfy power, navigation
and irrigation requirements. Since the released water is nearly clear, degradation
below the Dam is expected and several control works are proposed to reduce the
degradation problems. River control near big cities is required to overcome the
instability due to meandering.
THEORY
The expected erosion along the River Nile will be mainly due to meandering. Many
authors believe that the main action of degradation or meandering is due to secondary currents, which are created not only in curved parts (Soliman and Tinney, 1968)
but also in straight reaches.
Meandering causes lateral movement due to the existence of secondary currents
in the vortices in river bends. Neill (1971) presented the following differential equation for the channel shift in confined meanders:

Urbanization and the processes of erosion and sedimentation

125

de _ 1 A
t

(1)

L At

where
e is the average transverse distance of channel shift in a specified time;
A is the area of erosion on left and right banks within a meander wave length;
L is the curved length.
Secondary currents due to bed irregularity may cause sediment to move in straight
reaches. Rao and Seetharamiah (1967) gave a value for the upward component of the
secondary velocity as follows:
F=0.315(F)0- 9 5/0.45 C -0.1
where
Fis the upward component of the secondary velocity in cgs units;
V is the mean velocity of flow;

Sec.

22

Sec. 4 _ 4

FIGURE 2.

Cross sections along the reach.

(2)

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Mostafa M. Soliman

/ is the slope of the channel;

C is the concentration of solids by weight which equals SG/Q where S = yshw> Is ar>d
j w being the specific weights of solids and water respectively, G is the volumetric rate
of sediment, and Q is the mean channel discharge.
OBSERVATIONS
Figure 1 shows the river bend near Cairo City, while Fig.2 shows a series of cross
sections along the reach. The following observations are noted:
(a) There is very little change of water surface elevation after the High Dam
construction. This may be due to the backwater effect of the Delta Barrage some
25 km north of Cairo.
(b) The bed level increased slightly in certain locations.
(c) The cross-section shapes are more uniform within the straight reach near
the main island (Fig.2).
(d) The suspended sediment concentration is rather higher than expected
but much less than that before construction of the dam.
ANALYSIS
From the very limited observations in this reach, there is little evidence of river bed
degradation, although silting problems occurred near Dahab Island and south of
it on the river banks. Silting in this zone may be attributed to the deceleration of
the flow because of the backwater effect of the Delta Barrage.
The deepest bed line (shown dotted at Fig.l) has changed little since the construction of the High Dam. In spite of this encouraging result against degradation or
meandering problems, yet more data collection and analysis are needed.
River control is also recommended in this area to weaken the secondary currents
created by the river bends shown in Fig.2.
From the above analysis the author believes that the islands south of Cairo could
be used for urban settlement without much fear of erosion, assuming that necessary
revetments are constructed around the island.
CONCLUSION
The construction of High Dam across the Nile is one of the effects of man on the
hydrological cycle, river erosion and thus on urban environments. This is clearly
demonstrated in this paper for a certain reach of the River Nile near Cairo. A few
islands south of Cairo could be used for urban facilities after some river control work
has taken place.
REFERENCES
Neill, C. R. (1971) River bed transport related to meander migration rates. Proc. Amer. Soc.
civ. Engrs, J. Waterways Harbours and CoastalEngngDiv., Nov., 783-786.
Rao, B. V. and Seetharamiah (1967) Development and role of secondary currents in alluvial
streams. Twelfth Congress of the International Association for Hydraulic Research,
pp. 472-478.
Soliman, Mostafa M. and Tinney, E. R. (1968) Flow around 180 bends in open rectangular
channels. Proc. Amer. Soc. civ. Engrs, J. Hydraul. Div., July, 893-907.