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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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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produced from the best available original
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FROM:

SUBJECT:

H. D. EcIaccabee

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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

IlJTRoLuclllOiy

DECLASSIFICATION
STAMP ON REVERSE

Asother i n t e r e s t i n g application of nuclear excavation would be a e a -

160 ~ l e 1
s0%across ~oraei,ccnnecting t b mditerranean with the
Gulf of A q a b (and thus the Red &a and the Indian Ocean). Such a canal would
be a strategically valuable alternate to the present Suez Canal and mad
probably contribu%ep a t l y to the ecosoniLc development of the surrounding area.
l e v e l e-

The difference i n elevation between sea level and the b a d Sea (30 m i k e a m
and 3286 feet below sea level) m3e;h.t a l s o be used to generate hydro-electric

polar *

!&e mimLrm depth of excavation to be encountered I s on the order of

1500 f e e t . Conventfonel aethods of excavation of this ma@xitude are prohibitively

expensive, if indeed possible, but it appears *at nuclear expUsives c a d be
profitably a p p l i e d t o this situation.

em&

ROUTE

one possible route for such a canal across the Negev desert has been
sketched out in Pigure' 1. The mute exbends northward f r o m E i l a t on a bear%%
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
los
these areas will also be the least difficult to excavate, 2 ~ s

--

rly close t o sea level.

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

h.

tion t o costs of
f 1300 feet (using 2-

devices burred at a depth of 1300 feet) i n order t o g e t a channel width of

1
1000 feet in rock.
Assuning a hole d r i l l i n g cost of $200 per foot for 1300 foot holes, aad
' 6
a shot cost of @5O,OOO,
we are led to a total single shot cost of $ 0.5 x 10
6
and at s spacing of t"0Ur shots per nile, a cost of $ 2 x 10 per mile.
*

Bus; Nuclear shot cost:

conventfonal
Excavaticn:

1% miles x $2 x 100/mi = $260 x 106

30 miles

IS

$3 x

Gng4=flag,

10/a=

Auxiliary Construction
and Weej Program
IS$ A~ouancefor
Contfngencies

$ 90 x 106

= $150 x 10

- 75 x
- 75 x

p , p P r o ~ t eTotal cost

10

10

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
i n f o m t i o n may be @ned by notingthat the Suez Canal C0nq)any w88 offered
$80 x 106 as compensation when Egypt nationalized the Suez Caaal, and thie figure
i s probably o n l y a percentage of its real value.
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 m o l e

3.2

p.

3-14 of the Panama Canal Report by G r a v e s et. al.