The Great Man-made River Project

Soodong KangÉcole des Mines de Saint-Étienne

What is the Man-Made River Project? The Great Man-Made River(GMR) is a network of pipes that supplies

water to the Sahara in Libya, from the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer. It is the largest underground network of pipes (4,000 kilometers) and

aqueducts in the world. It consists of more than 1,300 wells, most more than 500 m deep, and

supplies 6,500,000 m3 of fresh water per day to the cities. The late Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi described it as the “Eighth

Wonder of the World”.

The Aim of GMR The aim was to provide fresh water for everyone, and to turn the

desert green, making Libya self-sufficient in food production.

Necessity of GMR

• Almost region of Libya is desert.• Only 5% of the country re-

ceives enough rainfall.• Desalination of sea water

was expensive.• Little water was used for ir-

rigating the land.

Historical Background

• In 1953, the government searched new oilfields in southern Libya.

Searching for oilfield

• Vast quantities of ancient water aquifers were discovered. Most of this water was collected between 38,000 and 14,000 years ago.

Water aquifers were discovered

• The initial feasibility studies were conducted in 1974, with work starting ten years later.

Decided to develop

Overview of construction

The Great Man-made River Project (GMRP) was conceived in the late 1960s and work on the project began in 1984.

The project's construction was divided into five phases. The phase was inaugurated on Ⅰ 28 August 1991.

The phase was started in Ⅱ 1990 and inaugurated on 1 September 1996. Phase was completed by Ⅲ 2009. Phase and are under construction.Ⅳ Ⅴ

• First : planned to set up large-scale agricultural projects near the aquifers.

• Later : changed plan to bring the water to the people (cities).

How to construct Transport of pipe segments.

• Digging the ground

• Installation of pipes under the ground.

Some Figures Pipe diameter : 4 m, length : 7.5 m Almost 600,000 pipes Cost : $25 billion - 10% those of

desalination.

• It produces 6.5 million cubic meters of water per day.• There are 1,300 wells.• phase : 1732 kmⅠ• phase : 1926 kmⅡ• Phase : 700 kmⅢ

Evaluation of GMR At the beginning of the project, the western media rarely mentioned

it. It was dismissed as a “vanity project” calling it "Gaddafi's Pet Project"

and “the pipe dream of a mad dog”. But the Great Man-Made River Project is a fantastic water delivery

system that has changed lives of Libyans all across the country.

Evaluation of GMR

“It will last for thousands of

years.”

“There will be no more water after

50 years”

Difficult circumstances In July 2011, NATO bombed the

Great Man-Made River water sup-ply pipeline near Brega including a factory that produces the pipes.

NATO claimed that the factory was used as a military storage facility.

NATO’s attack on the pipeline dis-rupted water supply for 70% of the population who depended on the piped supply for personal use and for irrigation.

Reference https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Man-Made_River http://www.amusingplanet.com/2015/07/the-great-man-made-river-

of-libya.html https://humanrightsinvestigations.org/2011/07/27/great-man-made-

river-nato-bombs/ http://www.great-man-made-river.algaddafi.org/great-man-made-

river-gmmr--facts-figures

Thank you for at-tention!