The Suez Canal (In Arabic: Qanat as-Suways), is an artificial sea-level
waterway running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
The canal separates the African continent from Asia, and it provides the
shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying around the Indian
and western Pacific oceans. It is one of the world's most heavily used shipping
lanes.
The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the
world. The canal is extensively used by modern ships, as it is the
fastest crossing from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. Tolls paid by the
vessels represent an important source of income for the Egyptian government.
The Canal runs between Port Said harbor and the Gulf of Suez,
through soils which vary according to the region. At Port Said and the
surrounding area, the soil is composed over thousands of years of silt and clay
sedimentations deposited by the Nile waters drifted by Damietta branch. This
formation extends to Kantara, 40 km to the south of Port Said, where silt mixes
with sand. The central region of the Canal between Kantara and Kabret consists
of fine and coarse sands, while the southern region contains dispersed layers
of rocks, varying in texture from soft sand to some calcium rocks, The side
gradient of the water cross section differs according to the nature of the
soil, which is 4:1 in the north and 3:1 in the south.
The Suez Canal is a sea level Canal and the height of water level differ
slightly and the extrime tidal range is 65 cm in the north and 1.9 m in the
south. The banks of the Canal are protected against the wash and waves,
generated by the transit of ships, by revetments of hard stones and steel sheet
piles corresponding to the nature of soil in every area. On both sides of the
Canal, there are mooring bollards every 125 m for the mooring of vessel in case
of emergency, and kilometer sign posts helping locate the position of ships in
the waterway. The navigable channel is bordered by light and reflecting buoys
as navigational aids to night traffic.