UCRL-ID- 124767

Use of Nuclear Explosives for Excavation of Sea-Level Canal Across

the Negev Desert (Canal Studies Filefolder)

H. D. MacCabee

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& s. t- k.J %,. E - DEC 3 0 f9

This is an informal report intended primarily for internal or limited extemal distribution. The opinions and conclusions stated are those of the author and may or may not be those of the Laboratory. Work ~~.~rformed under the auspices of the U.S. Department of Energy by the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W-7405-ENG-48.

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FROM: H. D. EcIaccabee gzq / - SUBJECT: The U s e of &clear Explosives for the Ekcavation of a Sea-Level

C a n a l across tke Mesv Iksert in Israel, connecting the Bkditgrranean with the Gulf of Aqaba

DECLASSIFICATION IlJTRoLuclllOiy STAMP ON REVERSE

Asother i n t e re s t ing application of nuclear excavation would be a ea- l eve l e- 160 ~ l e s 10% across ~oraei, ccnnecting t b mditerranean with the Gulf of A q a b (and thus the Red &a and the Indian Ocean). be a strategically valuable alternate to the present Suez Canal and mad probably contribu%e p a t l y to the ecosoniLc development of the surrounding area. The difference i n elevation between sea level and the bad Sea (30 mike a m and 3286 feet below sea level) m3e;h.t also be used to generate hydro-electric polar *

Such a canal would

!&e mimLrm depth of excavation to be encountered I s on the order of 1500 f e e t . expensive, if indeed possible, but it appears *at nuclear expUsives c a d be profitably appl iedto this situation. em& ROUTE

Conventfonel aethods of excavation of this ma@xitude are prohibitively

one possible route for such a canal across the Negev desert has been The mute exbends northward f r o m E i l a t on a bear%% sketched out in Pigure' 1.

of 5O for 83 miles, then t u r n s westward on a bearing of 295' for 20 miles to pass between two muntaZn6, then turns northward again on a bearing of 3 4 8 O for !% mfles, to the &diterranean, passing by Beersheba and the Gaze Strip.

Approximately 130 miles of the 160 mile length of the mute are in vfr'tually unpopulated desex% wasteland, and are thus amenable to nuclear excava- tfon methods. Conventional methods could be used in the vicinity of the populated

Eeeraheba, ax& the coastal plain near Gam) for an aggregate distance l o s -- these areas will also be the least difficult to excavate, 2 ~ s

rly close t o sea level.

* - . - -. . ... . r . -

h. t

tion t o costs of

f 1300 feet (using 2- devices burred at a depth of 1300 feet) in order to g e t a channel width of 1000 feet in rock.

a shot cost of @5O,OOO, we are led to a total single shot cost of $ 0.5 x 10 , and at s spacing of t"0Ur shots per nile, a cost of $ 2 x 10 per mile.

1 Assuning a hole dril l ing cost of $200 per foot for 1300 foot holes, aad

' 6 * I

6 0 6 6 6

Bus; Nuclear shot cost: 1% miles x $2 x 10 /mi = $260 x 10 convent fonal Excavaticn : 30 miles IS $3 x 10 /a = $ 90 x 10 Gng4=flag, Auxiliary Construction and Weej Program IS$ A~ouance for Contfngencies

p , p P r o ~ t e Total cost

i

CONCLU610N The results of t h i s crude preliminary investigation indicate that a

sea level canal across Israel appears t o be within the range of technologfcal feasibility, It is pore difficult to judge Its economic feasibility, but some

6

6

6

= $150 x 10

75 x 10 75 x 10

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infomtion may be @ned by notingthat the Suez Canal C0nq)any w88 offered $80 x 10 as compensation when Egypt nationalized the Suez Caaal, and thie figure i s probably only a percentage of its real value.

6

Another problem which has not been considered is that of political. feasibility, as it Os l i k e l y that the Arab countries surrounding Xsaael wuld object s t r o w to the construction of such a canal.

'See mole 3.2 p. 3-14 of the Panama Canal Report by G r a v e s et. al.