The Jebal Aulia Dam is a dam on the

White Nile The White Nile ( ') is a river in Africa, the minor of the two main tributaries of the Nile, the larger being the Blue Nile. The name "White" comes from the clay sediment carried in the water that changes the water to a pale color. In the stri ...

near

Khartoum Khartoum or Khartum is the capital city of Sudan as well as Khartoum State. With an estimated population of 7.1 million people, Greater Khartoum is the largest urban area in Sudan. Khartoum is located at the confluence of the White Nile – flo ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

. Its construction began in 1933 and was completed in 1937. When completed it was the largest dam in the world. The dam was built by Gibson and Pauling (Foreign) Ltd, which was a partnership between the British civil engineering company Pauling & Co. and the

civil engineer A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...

John Watson Gibson. In 2003 a

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

project with a maximum capacity was completed on the dam. This increased the structure's strategic value, so it is now continually guarded by the Sudanese Army. In November 2023 the Jebel Aulia Bridge, part of the Jebel Aulia Dam complex, was destroyed amid heavy fighting in Jabal Awliya. A Sudanese official said the dam itself remained intact. In December 2024, the

Rapid Support Forces The Rapid Support Forces (RSF; ) is a paramilitary force formerly operated by the government of Sudan. The RSF grew out of, and is primarily composed of, the Janjaweed militias which previously fought on behalf of the Sudanese government. RSF ...

accused the

Sudanese Armed Forces The Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF; ) are the military forces of the Republic of the Sudan. The force strength has been estimated at personnel in 2011 (by IISS), 200,000 personnel before the current war in Sudan broke out in 2023 (by the CIA), and ...

of damaging the dam in airstrikes, causing flooding in White Nile State. The SAF accused the RSF of causing the reservoir to flood horizontally by closing the dam.

References

Dams completed in 1937 Dams in Sudan Dams on the Nile Energy infrastructure completed in 2003 Hydroelectric power stations in Sudan Khartoum State White Nile State {{Sudan-struct-stub