THE SUEZ CANAL

BY MR. HAYWARD6TH GRADE

WINDHAM MIDDLE SCHOOL

WHAT IS A CANAL?

A canal is a man-made waterway that connects two bodies of water. It can connect rivers, lakes, or oceans. It usually is used to make the shipping of goods easier whether by shorting the miles traveled or to by-pass a natural landform.

The Sinai Peninsula

The Sinai Peninsula connects two continents, Africa and Asia. Due to this location, it has been an important trade route since ancient times. Its dry, arid climate has made it a difficult place to live in.

The Plan

Since the time of the Egyptians, ideas have been planned to build a water way to connect the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. The 1st attempt was in 1874 BCE.

More Tries

There were at least 6 more attempts to build a canal, starting in 1310 BCE and ending in 640. Each time the attempt was abandoned due to construction problems and silting.

The Master Planner

In 1858, French engineer, Ferdinand de Lesseps, put together the Universal Company of the Maritime Suez Canal. His plan was to finally build a working canal.

The Reason

The canal would cut days and miles from the voyage to and from India

The Canal

The planned canal would connect the two bodies of water through the Sinai Peninsula.

The BuildingThe building of the canal began April 25, 1859. The idea was to build a sea level canal. It was hoped to open by 1863.

The Workers

The construction started in 1859 and took 10 years to complete. More than 1.5 million Egyptians took part in the work, of which more than 125,000 lost their lives due to accidents and sickness.

The Grand Opening

Opening Day

The Suez Canal was opened on November 17, 1869. The opening was celebrated with fireworks and a ball attended by the heads of Europe and 6,000 other people.

The Canal

The Suez Canal is 193 km (120 Miles) long, 24m(79 ft) deep and 205 m (673 ft) wide. The canal is a single lane with passing places at “Ballah By-Pass” and the Great Bitter Lake. There are no locks. The northern port is Port Said and the southern terminus is Port Tawfiq.

Traveling the Canal

http://www.suezcanal.gov.eg/simulation.aspx

Another CanalViscounte de Lesseps will go on to try to build other canals. His most famous one will be in Panama. He will attempt to build a sea level canal through the jungle. After spending millions of dollars and thousands of deaths, he will admit his failure. In 1903 the United States starts building a canal where de Lesseps tried. The Panama Canal will be completed in 1914

Shipping in the Canal

The Canal Today

On a typical day, three convoys transit the canal, two southbound and one northbound. The passage takes between 11 and 16 hours at a speed of around 8 knots (15 km/h; 9 mph). The low speed helps prevent erosion of the canal banks by ships' wakes.

World’s Highway

Approximately two-thirds of Europe's oil passed through the canal. About 7.5% of world sea trade is carried via the canal today. In 2008, a total of 21,415 vessels passed through the canal and the receipts from the canal totaled $5.381 billion, with the average cost per-ship at roughly $251,000.