



In 1953 while drilling for oil in southern Libya,

workers found instead a huge freshwater sea beneath the sands,

a vast ocean called the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS),

which stretches beneath Libya, Egypt, Chad and Sudan.

The water had accumulated during the last ice age.

Its reserves are estimated to be the equivalent to about

500 years of Nile River flow

and are expected to last a thousand years.



GREAT GADDAFI MAN-MADE RIVER



Western technicians said that Libya did not have the expertise

to exploit this underground ocean; but in the early 1980s

Colonel Muammar Gaddafi initiated the Great Man-Made River Authority,

a 25-billion-dollar project

to raise the water and pipe it across the desert.

Expertise and equipment was imported

from Italy, Spain, Germany, Japan and South Korea.

The first water began to flow in September 1989

and the project is nearing completion this year, 2011.

It is already the world's largest irrigation project and

the largest underground network of pipes and aqueducts.

It supplies 6,500,000 cubic metres of fresh water daily.

From being one of the driest countries on earth,

the Libyan desert is now blooming.

As mentioned many times in previous articles on ORWELL TODAY I knew very little about Libya or Muammar Gaddafi until motivated to do research after BIG BROTHER UNITED NATIONS began barbarically bombing that innocent nation five months ago on March 19th, 2011. I was inspired, in part, by having flown over Libya in 2006 and snapping pictures from the airplane:

Now having learned about Gaddafi and the history of modern and ancient Libya - with its Greek and Roman ruins and other world-class heritage sites - I plan to go there some day as a tourist - arriving by boat on the Meditteranean coast - so long as the "ruins" are still standing, and so long as Gaddafi is still living there. I wouldn't want to be in a Libya that didn't have Gaddafi - and I understand why the Libyan people love him so much.

Gaddafi is the heart and soul of Libya - its "guide", its symbolic "brother leader" - and without Gaddafi Libya would not have become the richest nation in Africa with one of the highest standards of living in the world.

It would take a book to describe the "what, how, when & why" of what Gaddafi has accomplished for Libya - houses, schools, hospitals, roads, cars, fuel, food, money, democracy - and many books have been written, some of which I've now read and own.

But of all Gaddafi's great accomplishments, the one he'll go down in history for - and which ranks up there with other "wonders of the world" - is the GREAT MAN-MADE RIVER - a gift from God to Libya (through Gaddafi) and a gift from Libya to the rest of the world - so much good has it done, and so much good will it still do.

To appreciate fully why THE GREAT MAN-MADE RIVER is considered one of the greatest engineering feats ever accomplished in the history of engineering -- the 8th wonder of the world -- a person has to wrap their mind around the scale of the project to understand how it was "made". I found the clearest explanation of the logistics is at the Libya government website - excerpts of which are posted below, along with other excerpts and links to articles and photos I've found during research into the GMMR (its acronym). Some day the "GMMR" will have another "G" and the GREAT MAN-MADE RIVER will be referred to as the "GGMMR" -- the GREAT GADDAFI MAN-MADE RIVER - great Gaddafi's great gift to Libya and the world.

All the best,

Jackie Jura, 2011

The Great Man-Made River Project

Facts & Figures

by The Great Man-Made River Authority

October 31, 2008

The GMMR authority has been entrusted with the implementation and operation of the world's largest pre-stressed concrete pipe project - The Great Man-Made River - which, since its conception in 1984 has grown to include almost 4,000 kilometers (2,485 miles) of mainly 4-meter diameter pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipe (PCCP). Eventually over 6.0 million-m3 (5,260 acre-feet) of water will be conveyed every day from well fields deep in the Sahara desert to the population centers that are concentrated on the northern coastal strip.

- Approximately 500,000 pre-stressed concrete cylinder pipes have been manufactured to date.



- Approximately 500,000 pipes have been transported to date. Pipe transportation is a continuous process and the work goes on day and night; the distance travelled by the transporters is equivalent to the sun and back .



- Over 3,700 kilometers of haul roads were constructed alongside the pipe line trench to enable the heavy truck-trailers to deliver pipe to the installation site.



- Phase I total length: 1,600 kilometers



- Phase II total length: 2,155 kilometers



- Volume of trench excavation: 250 million cubic meters .



- The amount of aggregate used in the project: 30,000,000 tons ; enough to build 20 pyramids the size of the great pyramid of Khoufu .



- Total weight of cement used: 7.0 million tons .



- Total length of pre-stressing wire: 6.0 million kilometers . This would circle the Earth 280 times .



- The 1,300 wells which will be drilled will ultimately produce 6.5 million cubic meters of water per day .

Libya has water to green the desert

by Simba Russeau, Guardian, May 27, 2011

With only five percent of the country getting at least 100 millimetres of rainfall per year, Libya is one of the driest countries in the world . Historically, coastal aquifers or desalination plants located in Tripoli were of poor quality due to contamination with salt water, resulting in undrinkable water in many cities including Benghazi. Oil exploration in the southern Libyan desert in the mid-1950s revealed vast quantities of fresh, clean groundwater - this could meet growing national demand and development goals. Scientists estimate that nearly 40,000 years ago when the North African climate was temperate, rainwater in Libya seeped underground forming reservoirs of freshwater .

In 1983, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi initiated a huge civil water works project known as the Great Man-Made River (GMMR) - a massive irrigation project that drew upon the underground basin reserves of the Kufra, Sirte, Morzuk, Hamada and the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer - to deliver more than five million cubic metres of water per day to cities along Libya's coastal belt.

"The Colonel's GMMR [Great Man-Made River] project was discounted when first unveiled as an uneconomic flight of fancy and a wasteful exploitation of un-renewable freshwater reserves," Middle East-based journalist Iason Athanasiadis told IPS. "But subsequently it was hailed as a masterful work of engineering , tapping into underground aquifers so vast that they could keep the 2007 rate of dispersal going for the next 1,000 years ." Lying beneath the four African countries Chad, Egypt, Libya and Sudan, the Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System (NSAS) is the world's largest fossil water aquifer system , covering some two million square kilometres and estimated to contain 150,000 cubic kilometres of groundwater . Fossil water is groundwater that has been trapped in underground fossil aquifers for thousands or even millions of years....

"The GMMR [Great Man-Made River] provides 70 percent of the population with water for drinking and irrigation, pumping it from Libya's vast underground aquifers like the NSSA [Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System] in the south to populated coastal areas 4,000 kilometres to the north ," Ivan Ivekovic, professor of political science at the American University of Cairo told IPS. "The entire project was drawn out over five phases. Phase one took water from eastern pipelines in As-Sarir and Tazerbo to Benghazi and Sirte; phase two supplied water in Tripoli and western pipelines in Jeffara from the Fezzan region; and phase three intended to create an integrated system and increase the total daily capacity to almost four million cubic metres and provide up to 138,000 cubic metres per day to Tobruk." With an estimated cost of nearly 30 billion dollars , the GMMR's network of nearly 5,000 kilometres of pipeline from more than 1,300 wells drilled up to 500 metres deep into the Sahara was also intended to increase the amount of arable land for agricultural production .

"Libya could start an agro-business similar to California's San Joaquin Valley. Like Libya, California is essentially desert but because of irrigation and water works projects that desert valley became the largest producer of food and cotton in the world, making it the ninth largest economy in the world," Patrick Henningsen, 21st Century Wire editor and founder, told IPS. "At the moment the only agro-markets in the Mediterranean zone competing to supply citrus and various other popular supermarket products to Europe are Israel and Egypt. In 10 or 20 years, Libya could surpass both of those countries because they now have the water to green the desert ."...

Libya's Crop Circles in the Desert

Peak Water/Green Prophet/African Agriculture

Prior to all the present confusion that is occurring in Libya, Colonel Gadaffi involved himself in a number of unusual "green" projects, including the GREAT MAN-MADE RIVER - a project to construct the largest artificial river which Gadaffi himself acclaimed as being "the 8th wonder of the world". This artificial waterway, built with pipes made in Libya and using water brought up from ancient underground aquifers , was just one of several environmental projects, including special types of pivot irrigation for circular farms in the middle of the Sahara Desert .

Center pivot irrigation is basically a method of agricultural irrigation which results in a circular field of crops . A huge column of sprinklers, fixed to the ground at one end, slowly travels around in a circle whilst spraying the crops below. The hexagonal forms look like they are made up of clusters of houses in the middle and farmland radiating out. Each circular plot is about 1-kilometer in diameter , and is able to grow a number of different crops including grains, fruits and vegetables, and crops for animal fodder . Desert-based irrigation projects such as this one typically drill thousands of feet underground to tap fossil water deposits. There are a half-dozen or so such projects in Libya ; this is one of the largest, with almost 100 irrigated fields , each over one kilometer in diameter.

Libya has been involved for years in growing crops by pivot irrigation, a system designed to minimize water loss through evaporation. A combination of sprinkler and drip irrigation methods feeds water from a pivot point within a circle. The water being fed to the crops is measured and dispersed from a series of circular pipes that are rotated on wheeled platforms that gradually move out from the center of the circle; the place where the water originated from. By using this circular rotation method, less water is wasted and the crops inside the circular agricultural plot are able to receive the maximum amount of water available . The use of this method to grow crops is so unique that the circular pivot irrigation fields are often photographed by both orbiting satellites and NASA space shuttles passing overhead.

In a country like Libya, where more than 95% of the country consists of the near-waterless Sahara , this type of agriculture is not cheap, and is only possible by being able to tap underground fossil water deposits from a large underground aquifer like they've done in the Great Man Made River project.... No one really knows how much Libyan President Muammar al-Gaddafi has spent on these projects. But when one is sitting on what is still one of the worldâs largest oil reserves (at least 10% of the worldâs oil) then anything is possible â as long as the oil holds out.

GADDAFI SPOKE FROM HEART TO PROUD LIBYA

listen JACKIE JURA RADIO GADDAFI CRYSTAL SPIRIT

THANKS GRAND RIVER MAN GADDAFI

listen GADDAFI GREEN SQUARE SPEECH TO WORLD

BIG BROTHER DOUBLETHINK BOMBING LIBYA

HOLLAND HOPES HARVEST LIBYA WATER

ORWELLIAN PROPAGANDA WAR ON LIBYA

watch ORWELL TODAY LIBYA WATER VIDEO

READER VIDEO ORWELL TODAY INTERVIEW

IT HURTS FEELING LIBYA'S PAIN

BIG BROTHER WAR FOR LIBYA WATER

listen JACKIE JURA RADIO INTERVIEW

GREAT GADDAFI MAN-MADE RIVER

BROTHER GADDAFI AT HOME IN TENT

LIBYA'S MAMA GADDAFI SPEAKS OUT

DAUGHTER DESCRIBES GRANDPA GADDAFI

AISHA GADDAFI & BENAZIR BHUTTO

KILLING GADDAFI LIKE JFK-LUMUMBA

BIG BROTHERHOOD BANKS BOMBING LIBYA

GADDAFI: RECOLLECTIONS OF MY LIFE (gave people houses/hospitals/schools/made desert into farmland)

FLYING IN LIBYA NO-FLY ZONE

watch Pipeline to Paradise (Gaddafi's Gift to Libya), StateOfMind, Nov 14, 2013, YouTube

From the documentary filmmaker and producers Winfried Spinler and its crew, first in Hollywood at the documentary film festival in 2001 presented film, another reality about the states points in Libya and their revolutionary leader Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gaddafi...

The Great Man-Made River, Direct Democracy of the Jamahiriya

...In 1984, the Libyan government started the largest civil engineering project ever undertaken in the world that was scheduled to complete within twenty years. The project, popularly known as the Great Man Made River Project (GMMRP), when fully completed can supply a total of 6,500,000mÂ³ of freshwater per day to most northern Libya cities bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Eighty percent of this water is allocated for agricultural activities while the remaining is for municipal and industrial purposes. The impact of the availability of this water on the agriculture activities is tremendous â¦.â

Jackie sends email to Patrick's radio show about Gaddafi's Great Man-Made River providing pure water to Libya, OneRadioNetwork, Aug 23, 2013

Moammar Gadhafi Overthrown , by Paul Koring, GlobeMail, A Moment in Time, Aug 23, 2011-2013

Bizarre, ruthless and unpredictable, Moammar Gadhafi styled himself "King of Kings," believed HIV was a Western biological weapon , was protected by comely female security guards and liked to travel with a huge Bedouin tent . He ruled Libya for more than 42 years after seizing power in 1969. Dubbed the "mad dog of the Middle East" by USA president Ronald Reagan, Gadhfi set out his political philosophy in The Greeen Book , and odd form of supposedly direct democracy . But mostly he ran his desert fiefdom as a tyrant, killing or imprisoning dissenters. Civil strife erupted into a war in 2011, and a Canadian general led a NATO campaign that backed Libyan rebels with more than 10,000 air strikes over six months. Gadhafi fled Tripoli. Weeks later, he ws found hiding in a ditch in his home town of Sirte, and was shot and beaten to death.

watch Explosion on the Great Man-Made River (near Bani-Wald, Libya, Mar 13, 2012 (...destroyed a large part of the fresh-water system -- built by Muammar al-Gaddafi with support of all Libyan people -- leaving many Libyans without water for days)

SNC-Lavalin plunges on profit outlook, accounting probe, Ottawa Citizen, Feb 28, 2012

...SNC-Lavalin was able to secure hundreds of millions in contracts from the Libyan regime before it was ousted last year. One big issue now is how much of that business, previously booked in its backlog, it can restore. Historically, Libya has been a material part of SNC-Lavalinâs business , representing 10% to 15% of the companyâs earnings per share bottom line. In the fourth quarter of 2010, the company removed some $900-million in contract value related to Libya from its backlog as unrest in the North African state grew and eventually erupted into civil war. Projects the company was working on included an airport, water pipeline and a prison. Last September, the United Nations recognised the National Transitional Council as the legal representative of Libya, replacing the Gaddafi regime. But the situation on the ground remains volatile and several companies including SNC-Lavalin have yet to restore a presence and collect their accounts receivable....

Gaddafi not a dictator; we lived in democracy; life was good

(UN is killing our children; why are they doing this? for what?

8 months of UN bombing has turned Libya into living hell:

no food/water/gas; stench of dead bodies in street)

Fare thee well Brother Gaddafi

(attacked because his Green Book system liberated Libya)

Telegraph/Uganda, Sep 25-Oct 3, 2011



GADDAFI: RECOLLECTIONS OF MY LIFE

watch GADDAFI NOT DICTATOR HE MADE 8TH WONDER

(Libya 6,000-km water pipeline greatest engineering feat)

watch ORWELL TODAY LIBYA WATER VIDEO



GREAT GADDAFI MAN-MADE RIVER

& BIG BROTHERHOOD BANKS BOMBING LIBYA

& 4.Old World Destruction

Emerging water crisis in Tripoli, UNICEF, Aug 27, 2011

UNICEF has delivered 23,000 bottles of water with support from a WFP vessel for the emergency use in Tripoli as the situation is expected to worsen in the Libya capital. UNICEF delivered an additional 23,000 litres of bottled water earlier this week for use in two major hospitals in Tripoli. In addition, 90,000 bottles of water are due to arrive on Monday 29th August. Currently, a total of around 5 million litres of water is being procured by UNICEF from neighbouring countries to be trucked and shipped to Tripoli in the coming days. âUNICEF is responding to the immediate needs in Tripoli, but we remain extremely concerned about the situation should there be a shortage of water in the coming days. This could turn into an unprecedented health epidemic âsaid Christian Balslev-Olesen, UNICEF Libya Head of Office. A UNICEF technical team is now working with the Libyan authorities to facilitate an assessment of water wells , review urgent response options and identify alternatives for water sources . "The current situation is the absolute worst-case scenario, and a swift resumption of water supplies is critical ", added Mr. Bolaslev-Olesen. Since the beginning of the conflict, power cuts and fuel shortages has put the Great Manmade River Authority, the primary distributor of potable water in Libya, at risk of failing to meet the countryâs water needs.

UN war on Libya now water-shortage humanitarian disaster (no fuel/power to pump Man-Made-River wells/reservoirs). UNICEF, Aug 27, 2011

Listen to JACKIE JURA RADIO INTERVIEW talking "1984" (explains UN illegal war on Libya and Gaddafi made Great Man-Made River). Patrick Timpone/One Radio Network, Aug 18, 2011

53 African Union nations will miss Gaddafi's generosity (financial/moral support to Africa unrelenting/wholehearted). East African Kenya, Aug 27, 2011

Libya war drastically hurting Canadian water pipeline company (equipment worth $11-million can't be delivered)

Pure Technologies Ltd, Aug 9, 2011

..."We continue to follow developments in Libya, particularly as they relate to our work there with the Great Man-Made River Authority (GMRA). We have been granted exemptions from the economic sanctions imposed by the Canadian Government and the United Nations and have applied to the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control for similar exemptions since the letter of credit from GMRA is routed through a US bank. "The impact of the turmoil in Libya on our business this year cannot be overstated. In 2010, Libya accounted for approximately 50% of our revenue ; for 2011, we had budgeted a 30% contribution from Libya to our 2011 revenue expectation of $75 - $80 million.... This will be mitigated should the final equipment shipment be made to the Great Man-Made River Project this year...."

Libya: water emerges as hidden weapon, Guardian, May 27, 2011

The fight for Libya's water, Khaleej Times, Apr 30, 2011

The Great Reservoirs of Libya, Pruned Blogspot, Apr 7, 2011

Libya: water emerges as hidden weapon, Guardian, May 27, 2011

watch Gaddafi - A Libyan Hero (video footage of Gaddafi with soundtrack in background), Apr 29, 2011, You Tube

UN wants to bomb Libya's Man-Made River water system (say Gaddafi hiding weapons in irrigation tunnels). Guardian, Apr 18, 2011

What if Colonel Gaddafi loses the battle of Tripoli? (a patron saint to 31 sub-Saharan Africa countries). Uganda Vision, Apr 12, 2011

Gaddafi says al-Qaeda is to blame for unrest in his country, CNN: Question: "If Libyans love you, then why are they capturing Benghazi, and they say they are against you there?"... Gaddafi answers: "It is not my people... There are no demonstrations at all in the streets... No one is against us...against me for what? I am not the President. They love me, all my people are with me, they love me all...It is al Qaeda...al Qaeda...al Qaeda...not my people...."

Libya Seeks World Intervention to Prevent Environmental Disaster ( UN warplanes targeting Libya's Great Man-Made River )

Tripoli Post, Apr 7, 2011

Libyan authorities have urged the UN and its specialised agencies, UNESCO, FAO and the International Agency for Environmental Protection, to prevail on the Western coalition forces to stop aerial bombing and the hawling of missiles on targeted parts of the country. The Libyan authorities raised the alarm against targeted air attacks on such sensitive areas like the Great Man-Made River Project facilities, which provides drinking water and irrigation needs to about 4.5 million people, which is 70 per cent of the population, Panapressreports. In a joint statement issued after an emergency meeting held Sunday to inform the world of the dangers inherent in targeting such sensitive areas by the air raids, the Libyan Secretariat of General People's Committee (Ministry) on Agriculture and the executive committee of the Great Man-Made River said that continued bombing could cause environmental and humanitarian disaster that will affect over 4.5 million Libyans, in addition to the damage that could affect the production of cereals, fodder and waterholes for livestock . The statement highlighted the serious catastrophic consequences that could result from the air raids on most parts of Libya, including areas very close to pipelines , especially between Sirte and Benghazi, where pipeline networks and gas pipelines overlap, in addition to equipment and facilities. Panapress reported the statement warning against the consequences of actions that may affect part of the water project, in view of the difficulties to repair the damage to the pipes of the plant of Brega, which could affect the supply of water to the citizenry . Among the consequences of the destruction of the hydraulic system, the statement also cited the risk of flooding , which could affect residential areas and cause human and environmental disaster . These water systems drain more than three million cubic metres daily at high pressure, in addition to the over 60 million cubic metres of water stored in reservoirs across different regions of Libya. It said that the Management Committee of the Great Man-Made River Project is responsible for its operation and water supply to most towns and villages in Libya and it is the main source of water for most of the regions and cities, which represent approximately 70 per cent of the Libyan population.



The Great Man-Made River system has been globally recognised as the largest water transport system in the world . It stretches from Kouffra, Serrir and Jabal Hassouna (south) to Ghadames (southwest), up to coastal areas from Benghazi (east) to Zouara (west), through the city of Ajdabia, Brega, Ras Lanuf, Ben Jaouad, Sirte, Museratha, Zlitin, Khomas, Tarhouna, Beni Walid, Gharyan, Kufra, Yefrane, Nalout and Tripoli, through pipelines stretching to over 4,000 km. This gigantic water project has several reservoirs in Benghazi, Sirte and Ajdabiyah, with a total capacity of more than 50 million cubic metres and pumping stations in various parts of the country. The water system has 120 supply sources to the cities, agricultural projects and maintenance services, 55 pastoral watering points, 3,000 control rooms and ventilation valves, which are the main facilities for safety and operation of the hydraulic structure.

watch Great Man-Made River Project, Libya (fantastic footage of project, with soundtrack in background), You Tube, Mar 23, 2011

Canada politicians & media silent about bombing Libya (role in UN-war not mentioned in election campaign)

CBC, Apr 8, 2011

Canada's former former chief of the defence staff says he's "puzzled" by the lack of debate over the conflict in Libya during a "boring" election campaign . Rick Hillier, the outspoken former head of Canada's military , said in an interview with CBC Radio's The Current that he finds it puzzling that Canada's role in Libya is not coming under more scrutiny , especially as voters are heading to the polls on May 2. Hillier said he'd like to see a debate over where the parties stand on the conflict in Libya happen on the campaign trail. "I'm puzzled by the absolute absence of any discussion of the operations in Libya by the United Nations and by NATO on behalf of the United Nations, which is inclusive of Canada ," Hillier said. "I am just absolutely puzzled; we are two weeks into an election campaign , it is the most boring thing that I've ever seen in my life and this would be one of the questions that might liven it up just a little bit.".... Canada has committed six CF-18s to join an international effort to enforce a UN Security Council resolution that is trying to prevent violence by forces loyal to Libyan ruler Moammar Gadhafi against rebels and civilians. Hillier said in the interview the no-fly zone over Libya was a half-measure and that it won't protect people on ground. The retired general said there is very little clarity on the mission in Libya .... "It hasn't come up during the election campaign whatsoever. We are at war , we've been doing this in Afghanistan, we've had immense discussion, huge amounts of discussions on the mission in Afghanistan including parliamentary debates," Hillier said. " Here in Canada right now it is actually silent on what is happening in Libya and that is puzzling to me personally."

Embracing Gaddafi was Canada's gain, National Post, Feb 22, 2011

...In 1999, economic sanctions were lifted after Libya made two suspects of the Lockerbie bombing available for trial and agreed to pay compensation to the victimsâ families.... In 2004 Liberal prime minister Paul Martin was in Libya on a trade mission to make the case for Canadian companies, just as Libya was getting ready to fling open its doors to foreign investment in its oil industry. The scramble for North African oil saw more than 40 companies flood into Libya, including BP, Chevron, Exxon Mobil, Royal Dutch Shell and Canadaâs Petro-Can. As the oil industry flooded Libya with petro-dollars, the Gaddafi regime bought jet aircraft, machinery and wheat from Canada. SNC Lavalin, the Canadian engineering giant, has since been awarded a $450-million contract to develop part of a water system that will transport potable water from the southern Libyan desert to the Mediterranean coast . In trade terms, Mr. Martinâs gambit was a complete success â bilateral trade has risen from zero in 2006 to nearly $300-million....

Man Made River Libya , Web Shots, by JaapBerk, Nov 30, 2010 http://travel.webshots.com/album/579213989DMszyN

SNC-LAVALIN AWARDED NEW CONTRACT TO EXTEND CAPACITY OF LIBYAâS GREAT MAN-MADE RIVER PROJECT

Press Release, SNC Lavalin, Oct 26, 2010

Montreal - SNC-Lavalin is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a $450 million contract by the Great Man Made River Authority (GMMRA) in Libya to develop the Al Kufra Wellfield. This is part of the major GMMR water supply system currently under construction to transport potable water from the southern Libyan desert to urban centres in the north. SNC-Lavalinâs mandate includes the design of the Al Kufra Wellfield system and all construction related to connecting this new wellfield to the existing water distribution system including the installation of collector pipelines, pumps in 300 deep wells, the power supply and communications system. âThe Great Man Made River Authority has been one of SNC-Lavalinâs major clients for the last 20 years ,â said Riadh Ben AÃ¯ssa, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. âThis new contract reflects the Authorityâs confidence in our ability to design and build challenging projects, which has been our trademark in Libya for over 25 years. We are proud of the working relationship we have built up in Libya and how it has allowed us to establish a unique local team capable of undertaking major projects in the country.â One of these projects is a contract currently underway at SNC-Lavalinâs factory at Sarir for the construction of 45,000 gigantic concrete pipes to convey water along the GMMR to coastal cities. The Kufra scheme will provide an additional 1.68 million cubic metres of water per day to the GMMR main spine and increase the hydraulic capacity of the existing conveyance systems in order to transport this additional flow. Construction will begin shortly with a completion date of 2015 . SNC-Lavalin (TSX: SNC) is one of the leading engineering and construction groups in the world and a major player in the ownership of infrastructure, and in the provision of operations and maintenance services. SNC-Lavalin has offices across Canada and in over 35 other countries around the world, and is currently working in some 100 countries.

Pure Technologies monitors Great Man Made River Project in Libya, Journal of Commerce, May 10, 2010

watch Canadian technology helping Gaddafi build Libya's Great Man-Made River, CBC, Jul 26, 2009, YouTube

GMMR (Great Man-made River) Water Supply Project, Libya, Water Technology

Great Man-Made River in Libya, Documents & Resources

[website http://www.docstoc.com/docs/57355610/Great-Man-Made-River-in-Libya no longer connects]

Great Socialist Peopleâs Libyan Arab Jamahiriya, Temehu, Libya

Facts & Figures about The Great Man Made River Project, The Great Man Made River Authority, Oct 31, 2008

[Libya GMMR website "http://www.gmmra.org/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=76&Itemid=50 now links to a Chinese website]

The Man-Made River, Galenfrysinger/New Dawn

Libya's thirst for 'fossil water', BBC World Service

...Further along the coast is the Pre-Stressed Concrete Cylinder Pipe factory at Brega. This is where they make the 4-meter-diameter pipes that transport water from the desert to the coast. It's a modern, well-equipped factory, built specially for the Great Man-Made River Project . So far, the factory has made more than half a million pipes . The pipes are designed to last 50 years, and each pipe has a unique identification mark, so if anything goes wrong, engineers can quickly establish when the pipe was made. The engineer in charge of the Brega pipe factory is Ali Ibrahim. He is proud that Libyans are now running the factory : "At first, we had to rely on foreign-owned companies to do the work. "But now it's government policy to involve Libyans in the project. Libyans are gaining experience and know-how, and now more than 70% of the manufacturing is done by Libyans. With time, we hope we can decrease the foreign percentage from 30% to 10%."...

The Muammar Gadaffi Story, BBC News

...The combination of water and oil gave Libya a sound economic platform Colonel Gaddafi fitted the bill as an authoritarian ruler who had endured for more years than the vast majority of his citizens could remember. But he was not so widely perceived as a western lackey as some Arab leaders accused of putting outside interests before those of his people. He had redistributed wealth ... He sponsored grand public works, such as the improbable Great Man-Made River project , a massive endeavour inspired, perhaps, by ancient Bedouin water procurement techniques, that brought sweet, fresh water from aquifers in the south to the arid north of his country....