On November 16, 1865, the Suez Canal was officially opened - the man-made waterway at sea level running north-south through the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea.
The canal separates the African continent from Asia and provides the shortest sea route between Europe and the lands surrounding the Indian and western Pacific Oceans. It is one of the most frequently used and important sea lanes in the world.
After multiple expansions over the years, today it is 193.30 km long, 24 meters deep, and 205 meters wide.
The canal is widely used by modern ships as it is the fastest route from the Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean. The fees paid by the ships represent an important source of income for the Egyptian government.
A railway and freshwater canal run along the west coast parallel to the Suez Canal.
The canal runs between the port of Port Said and the Gulf of Suez, through soils that vary by region. In and around Port Said, the soil has been composed over thousands of years of silt and clay sediments deposited by the waters of the Nile. This formation extends to Qantara, 40 km south of Port Said, where silt mixes with sand.
The central region of the channel between Kantara and Cabret consists of fine and coarse sands, while the southern region contains scattered layers of rocks ranging in texture from soft sand to some calcareous rocks.
The Suez Canal is located at sea level and the height of the water level varies slightly, and the extreme tidal range is 65 cm in the north and 1.9 m in the south. The banks of the canal are protected against scour and waves generated by passing ships by hard stone linings and steel sheet piles matching the nature of the soil in each area. On both sides of the canal every 125 m there are moorings for ships to moor in case of emergency and kilometer signs to help determine the location of ships in the waterway. The navigable channel is fenced with light and reflective buoys as navigation aids for night traffic.