Aswan Dam dam near Aswan was in the 11th century, when the Arab polymath and engineer Ibn al-Haytham (known as "Alhazen" in the West) was summoned to Egypt by the Fatimid Caliph, Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah, to regulate the flooding of the Nile, a task requiring an early attempt at an Aswan Dam. His field work convinced him of the impracticality of this scheme. The British began construction of the first dam across the Nile in 1898. Construction lasted until 1902, and the dam was opened on 10 December 1902. The project was designed by Sir William Willcocks and involved several eminent engineers,
Aswan Low Dam 1907–1912 and between 1929–1933, and generation of electricity was added. The first phase was supervised by Sir Benjamin Baker, though much of the detailed work was undertaken by Murdoch MacDonald. With its final raising (designed and supervised by MacDonald's firm, Sir M MacDonald & Partners), the dam is in length, with a crest level above the original riverbed; the dam provides the main route for traffic between the city and the airport. With the construction of the High Dam upstream, the Old Dam's ability to pass the flood's sediments was lost, as was the serviceability provided by the locks. The