Dead Sea canal
Encyclopedia
The Mediterranean-Dead Sea canal (MDSC) is a proposed project to dig a canal from the Mediterranean Sea
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...

 to the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

, taking advantage of the 400-metre difference in water level between the seas. It is not to be confused with the Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal (RSDSC). The project could correct the drop in the level of the Dead Sea observed in recent years. The canal could also be used to generate hydroelectric power
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...

 because of surface difference and maybe by salinity gradient power, and desalinate
Desalination
Desalination, desalinization, or desalinisation refers to any of several processes that remove some amount of salt and other minerals from saline water...

 water by reverse osmosis.

History

The idea was first proposed by William Allen in 1855 in an oeuvre called 'The Dead Sea – A new route to India'. At that time it was not yet known that the Dead Sea lies below sea level, and Allen proposed this canal as an alternative to the Suez Canal
Suez Canal
The Suez Canal , also known by the nickname "The Highway to India", is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. Opened in November 1869 after 10 years of construction work, it allows water transportation between Europe and Asia without navigation...

. Later, many engineers and politicians picked up on the idea, including Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl
Theodor Herzl , born Benjamin Ze’ev Herzl was an Ashkenazi Jew Austro-Hungarian journalist and the father of modern political Zionism and in effect the State of Israel.-Early life:...

 in his 1902 novel Altneuland
The Old New Land
The Old New Land is a utopian novel published by Theodor Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, in 1902. Outlining Herzl’s vision for a Jewish state in the Land of Israel, Altneuland became one of Zionism's establishing texts. It was translated into Yiddish by Israel Isidor Elyashev...

. Most of the early proposals used the East bank of the Jordan River, but a modified form, using the West bank, was proposed after the separation of Transjordan
Transjordan
The Emirate of Transjordan was a former Ottoman territory in the Southern Levant that was part of the British Mandate of Palestine...

 from the Palestine Mandate. The idea was discussed at some length by Willy Ley
Willy Ley
Willy Ley was a German-American science writer and space advocate who helped popularize rocketry and spaceflight in both Germany and the United States. The crater Ley on the far side of the Moon is named in his honor.-Life:...

 in Engineers' Dreams, but it was then politically impractical; even the route west of Jordan would have to cross the 1949 armistice line
1949 Armistice Agreements
The 1949 Armistice Agreements are a set of agreements signed during 1949 between Israel and neighboring Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, and Syria. The agreements ended the official hostilities of the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, and established armistice lines between Israeli forces and the forces in...

 twice.

A detailed project study utilizing the difference in water levels between the Mediterranean sea and the Dead Sea for power generation has been the subject of a first publication by the engineers Wendt and Kelm in the German trade journal "Wasserwirtschaft".


For this proposal, water from the Mediterranean sea is led through a pressure duct starting at the Israeli town of Ashdod and flowing into a storage pool situated directly at the steep descent to the Dead Sea
Dead Sea
The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

 from where it will drop almost 400 m through a pressure shaft to drive three Francis turbine
Francis turbine
The Francis turbine is a type of water turbine that was developed by James B. Francis in Lowell, Massachusetts. It is an inward-flow reaction turbine that combines radial and axial flow concepts....

s with an output of 100 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

 each.

The sketch of the projected system illustrates the continuous supply of water from the Mediterranean sea (west to east) by a 7 km long free-surface flow channel, a 65 km long pressure tunnel and a 3 km long storage pool. This underground power station design is the world's first planned high-pressure seawater power station.

The approx. 8 m diameter. pressure tunnel is designed for a maximum flow rate of 2.5 m/sec deducting pressure losses and allowing a given slope of the tunnel in direction to the Dead Sea. By means of this shaft the Mediterranean sea and the storage pool behave according to the principle of communicating vessels. Hence the storage pool automatically supplies potential energy to comply fulfil with the widest range of potential requirements.

Due to of the climatic conditions between 60–70 m3 water evaporate from the Dead Sea per second. At present these quantities are not replaced by natural influent resulting in a steady drop of the Dead Sea's level while increasing concentration of dissolved salts. If only the evaporation losses are replaced by water from the Mediterranean sea the power station will have an average output of 160 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

. A total of 300 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

 is available at short time for peak loads. The underground power station is designed to allow a wide variety of requirements.

Before being fed into the turbines, the artificially stored water from the Mediterranean can be used as cooling water for a thermal power station with an output of approx. 1000 MWe
MWE
MWE may refer to:*Manufacturer's Weight Empty*McDermott Will & Emery*Midwest Express, an airline*Merowe Airport - IATA code*Multiword expressionMWe may refer to:*Megawatt electrical...

. The waste heat, in turn, can be used for desalting the seawater. The resulting fresh water can be used to irrigate the arid areas around the Dead Sea.

The idea was revived during the 1980s for the purpose of power generation following the 1973 oil crisis
1973 oil crisis
The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...

. The Mediterranean-Dead Sea Company studied various alternatives and recommended a route from the Gaza Strip
Gaza Strip
thumb|Gaza city skylineThe Gaza Strip lies on the Eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strip borders Egypt on the southwest and Israel on the south, east and north. It is about long, and between 6 and 12 kilometres wide, with a total area of...

 to Masada
Masada
Masada is the name for a site of ancient palaces and fortifications in the South District of Israel, on top of an isolated rock plateau, or horst, on the eastern edge of the Judean Desert, overlooking the Dead Sea. Masada is best known for the violence that occurred there in the first century CE...

. However, the project did not commence due to financial doubts. The idea was brought up again during the 1990s due to a water crisis
Water crisis
Water crisis is a general term used to describe a situation where the available water within a region is less than the region's demand. The term has been used to describe the availability of potable water in a variety of regions by the United Nations and other world organizations...

. In addition to the Gaza Strip-Masada route, two other alternatives were considered, namely a Red Sea-Dead Sea canal
Two Seas Canal
The Red Sea-Dead Sea Canal is a proposed canal which would run from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea and provide electricity and potable water to Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. This proposal has a major role in plans for economic cooperation between Israelis, Jordanians and Palestinians,...

 and a northern route from the Mediterranean to the Bet She'an
Bet She'an
is a city in the North District of Israel which has played an important role historically due to its geographical location at the junction of the Jordan River Valley and Jezreel Valley...

 Valley, which was found to be the cheapest of the three. At present, the Red Sea route is endorsed as a Jordan
Jordan
Jordan , officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan , Al-Mamlaka al-Urduniyya al-Hashemiyya) is a kingdom on the East Bank of the River Jordan. The country borders Saudi Arabia to the east and south-east, Iraq to the north-east, Syria to the north and the West Bank and Israel to the west, sharing...

ian project with Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

i and Palestinian
Palestinian National Authority
The Palestinian Authority is the administrative organization established to govern parts of the West Bank and Gaza Strip...

 support. Unfortunately, the Red/Dead route, in addition to being the least worthwhile in economic terms, may prove to be impractical due to chemical incompatibility of Red sea and Dead sea water.
A new proposal has appeared lately. Laying the pipes of the canal through the currently constructed (year 2010) Tel Aviv-Jerusalem railway tunnel. It may very well be the most economical option of all.

External links

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