Aswan Dam environmental problems, these have proved to be significantly less severe than was generally expected, or currently believed by many people." Another observer disagreed and he recommended that the dam should be torn down. Tearing it down would cost only a fraction of the funds required for "continually combating the dam's consequential damage" and 500,000 hectares of fertile land could be reclaimed from the layers of mud on the bed of the drained reservoir. Periodic floods and droughts have affected Egypt since ancient times. The dam mitigated the effects of floods, such as those in 1964, 1973, and 1988. Navigation along
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