A spectacular project was commenced in Libya in September 1984. This is the ‘river of pipelines’, sometimes called the 8th wonder of the world. This Great Man - Made River aims at the mass Transfer of waters from the Kufra and Sareer Basins beneath the earth surface to the coastal concentration of population in Benghazi, Sirte and Tripoli. Upon completion the huge network of pipelines will extend to about 3,380 km.

Two special pipe factories were constructed in the regions of Brega and Sareer, to provide the project with the great numbers of concrete pipes necessary. These vary in weight between 73 and 78 tons, have a diameter of 4 meters and are 7.25 meters long. This project of the century comprises three phases, the first involves laying pipelines from Tazerbou and Sareer in the south to Adjedabia in the north, the second phase will to carry 2 million cubic meters of water a day from the wells situated in the Fezzan region in addition to half a million cubic meters from two fields in the Hasawna mountains. The third phase should pump a further 1.68 millions cubic meters of water to the first two phases.

In total, the Great Man-Made River project requires the drilling of 960 wells with depths varying from 450 to 650 meters. The network of wells covers on area of 8000 square km.

8 km of carbonised metal wire is wound around each pipe segment, that means the length of wire required for the first phase alone is sufficient to encircle the globe 230 times.

The volume of water in the reservoir in the Kufra basin exceeds the amount
of water that would flow from the Nile basin in 220 years.

The volume of water that will flow daily from this artificial river upon completion is equal to half the amount of oil produced daily all over the world.

The stone and sand used to manufacture the pipes would be enough to build 16 of the Giza Pyramids in Egypt. The quantity of cement used in this project could build a highway from Tripoli to Bombay.

Experts anticipate that the estimated 6 million cubic metres of drinking water pumped through the pipelines daily should cover the needs of the Libyan People for over 50 years.