The Suez Canal Axis Development Project

Nearly 150 years after its completion, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced the new Suez Canal project to dig a 72-kilometre canal alongside the original, which is still vital, and vulnerable, to this date. Dr. Shaul Shay offers a comprehensive review of the project

The Suez Canal Axis Development Project

Bulldozers and trucks work on an upgrade project for the Suez Canal (Photo: AP)

Nearly 150 years after its completion, the Suez Canal continues to be a vital link between Europe and Asia and a strategic asset. On 5 August 2014, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi announced the new Suez Canal project to dig a 72-kilometre canal alongside the original, to be implemented over a year at a cost of EGP 29bn ($4bn). The announcement was made during the inauguration ceremony of the Suez Canal Axis Development Project in Ismailia.

Al-Sisi called on the army’s engineering corps, who will directly supervise the project, to conclude the project in one year instead of the previously scheduled 3–year timeline. Al-Sisi attributed the shortened time period to the “the deteriorating security” which could threaten the project. The new canal is carried out with the participation of the armed forces along with 17 companies.

The recent spikes in attacks on Egyptian security forces and installations in northern Sinai have apparently exposed the canal’s vulnerability. With a width of only about 900 feet, it would not take much in the way of weaponry for militants to disrupt the operation of the canal and attack large ships in its confined space. This is precisely why the Egyptian armed forces have devoted significant resources to ensure safe transit.

The Suez Canal Axis Development Project is one of the most significant and important projects to be implemented in Egypt following the 25 January 2011 uprising.

Since its nationalization in 1956, the cross-section of the canal has been enlarged by 400%, and the Suez Canal’s income in the Egyptian treasury hit more than $50bn, representing one of the most important sources for national income within the economy. Compared to last year’s revenue, canal income has increased by 14.4%.

But today the Suez Canal has become a transportation bottleneck. Statistics on navigational activities in the Suez Canal showed that international trade has increased between East Asian countries, China, India, on the one hand, and Western Europe and US’s eastern coast, on the other.

Under the new project, the government will work to decrease the period it takes cargo ships to cross while simultaneously increasing their flow. It is forecasted that Suez Canal income will increase by 259% before 2032 to reach around $13bn annually.

The New Suez Canal and Corridor Axis aims to double the throughput of the existing canal, which is one of the world's most important maritime transit links. The Egyptian plan intends to transform the entire zone of 76,000 square kilometers, with industrial, logistical, and technological centers, as well as universities.

Chairman of the Suez Canal Authority Mohab Mamish has identified 10 goals behind the Suez Canal axis development project. These targets include creating new jobs, investment, a global industrial zone, distinguished logistical area at world-level, boosting exports, developing international trade, diversifying the range of activities in the area and guaranteeing economic growth in the long run.

Memish said that the new canal will be established to increase the absorptive capacity of the Suez Canal to 97 passing ships per day, up from the current rate of 49. The project would involve 35kms of dry digging and 37kms of “expansion and deep” digging. Upon completion, the project would see canal revenues increase by 259%, Memish added, up from current annual revenues of $5bn. By the beginning of 2015, the infrastructure work in the project would be issued to international companies on a usufruct basis for 25 years, according to Memish.

The Egyptian armed forces and the Suez Canal Axis Development Project

The Suez Canal Axis Development Project was adopted by the current government after being proposed during the rule of former president Mohamed Morsi. It had been rejected by the armed forces at that time for “national security” concerns. The current plan for the project was amended by the armed forces.

Armed Forces spokesperson Mohamed Samir announced that the Armed Forces’ Engineering Authority added 16 working companies to work on the Suez Canal axis, with a total of 33 Egyptian civilian companies specializing in excavation work. Two engineering corps military brigades were added to accomplish 36 months of work in just 12 months as President Abdel Fatah al-Sisi ordered.

Samir also pointed out that the military will periodically update the public about the work, according to a press statement published on his official Facebook page.

In a press conference on December 4, 2014, Head of the Armed Forces Engineering Authority Kamel el-Wazir, said that the number of workers in the project reached 22,000 after new companies had joined in the project and that the digging rate at the project reached 142 million cubic meters.

The Current Suez Canal

Suez Canal extends for a total length of 162 km from Port Said on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast southwards to Port Tewfik on the Gulf of Sea (Red Sea). The canal’s widest point is the Great Bitter Lake (although in practical terms only the eastern side of the lake is used by transiting and anchored vessels); however, the canal is only 133 meters wide at its current nominal maximum depth of 22.5 meters. There are no restrictions on the length of vessel that can transit the canal as the radius of the curves in the canal at Ras El Ish, El Ballah, Ismailia, El Kabrit, Geneffe and Port Tewfik, enable sufficient maneuvering for even the largest ships. Due to the configuration of the canal’s dredged cross-section, the maximum width of vessels is 70.1 meters and the maximum draft permitted is 17.68 meters.

The Current Infrastructure and Crossings

The Suez Canal Bridge, also called the Egyptian-Japanese Friendship Bridge, is a high-level road bridge at El Qantara, and has a 70-metre clearance over the canal.

El Ferdan Railway Bridge, which is 20 km north of Ismailia, with a span of 340 m , is the longest swing span bridge in the world. The previous bridge was destroyed in 1967 during the Arab-Israeli conflict.

The Ahmed Hamdi Tunnel - runs under the Suez Canal north of Suez city connecting the Sinai peninsula with the the eastern parts of Egypt. The tunnel was completed in 1983. The tunnel is 1.64 km with a total length of 4.20 km including the entrances. Its internal diameter is 10.40 m and having a design capacity of 300 vehicles per hour in each direction.

The tunnel was constructed using open face shield tunneling method. The tunnel lining consisted of precast reinforced concrete rings, 0.60 m thick having a width of 1.20 m. The route of the tunnel is in stiff clayey layer. The lowest point in the tunnel is at a depth of 51 m.

After 10 years of service, the reinforced concrete segments were deteriorated by the saline water seeping from the joints between the segments which led to the corrosion of the steel bars. The rehabilitation works were done by covering the whole surface of the existing lining with a waterproofing membrane then placing a 45 cm reinforced concrete secondary lining. These works ended in 1995 and the tunnel is now operating successfully.

There are three pipelines taking fresh water under the canal to the Sinai regions, which are located some about 57 km north of Suez.

The Components of the New Project

The new Suez Canal - the plan is to dig a 72-kilometre canal alongside the original one. It will add another direction the navigational channel of the canal to cut crossing times for ships and containers crossing the canal, while simultaneously lowering costs for maritime transport companies.

Roads - the Cairo­­­ into freeways to facilitate transportation between areas surrounding the Canal and connect them to the capital city.

Tunnels - Six tunnels will be built, including the Ismailia tunnel and a tunnel south of Port Said which will pass through the Suez Canal channel to connect the two eastern and western canal banks.

Water system - a new water outlet will be constructed on the Ismailia Canal to reach the water treatment plant east of the canal and supply new developmental areas .

Redistribution of urban and geographic housing locations - through integrated urban projects aiming to reclaim and cultivate roughly 4m acres and construct roads 3,200 sq km in length.

Tourism – the project includes new touristic sites and resorts along canal. A “Silicon Valley” will also be constructed to serve the technological industries.

Free Zones - the General Authority for Free Zones and Investment (GAFI) has included means for integrating the new infrastructures and activities in canal area free zones.

The Financial Resources

Prime Minister Ibrahim Mehleb said that the cost of the national project amounts to EGP 50bn. During his speech, on August 5, 2014, President Al-Sisi called on Egyptians to participate in Long Live Egypt Fund as the country needs around EGP 100bn to implement a number of necessary projects. He added that collecting donations is the “only solution” to find funds “because we will not ask for loans from foreign countries nor businessmen”, he said.

The president called on all Egyptians to participate in funding the project through a stock market IPO (Initial Public Offering), asking Egyptians resident in the country to contribute EGP 100, and those living abroad to donate $100. The president said the government had refused any foreign participation in the project, stressing that only national banks, companies and investors would be able to finance it.

Summary

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s government is counting on the new multi-billion dollar Suez Canal project to help overcome what has been described as Egypt’s worst economic crisis since the 1930s.

The project aims at expanding the Suez Canal region’s role as a global, industrial, and logistics Centre that is environmentally balanced with an integrated economy. It is also projected to become global hub due to its logistics and industrial services.

The project represents global competition for the region in the fields of advanced logistics and industrial services as well as commerce, tourism, information technology, agriculture, and real estate.

Finance Minister Hani Qadri asserted that Egypt, via the new Suez Canal project, will build an economy on strong bases for the coming five centuries. The Minister said that the project opens up new horizons for development whose fruits would be picked by the Egyptian citizen in the future, in addition to increasing the state resources via doubling the revenues of Suez Canal Authority (SCA).

Egypt’s Friends Conference or what is known as the Donors’ Conference will be held in the resort town of Sharm al-Sheikh in March 2015. The major economic summit aimed at encouraging international investment in Egypt, will be a strategic opportunity for Egypt to introduce the project to potential donors and investors.

The Egyptian forces in Sinai would have to rely on reinforcements and logistical support from bases in the Canal Zone. All operational and logistical support movement having to cross the Suez Canal by bridges, ferries, pontoon bridges and a single underwater tunnel (the Ahmed Hamdi tunnel). The construction of six new tunnels under the Suez Canal will improve dramatically the traffic crossing capacity of the Egyptian armed forces.

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