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There are indeed several man-made rivers longer then this so it's unclear what the editors were thinking with this headline. The longest one that I know of is
by MichaelZuo 4y ago
There are indeed several man-made rivers longer then this so it's unclear what the editors were thinking with this headline.
The longest one that I know of is the Grand Canal in China, which begain construction approx. 1400 years ago. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_(China) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Canal_(China)
- dogma1138 4y agoWhilst it could be that the editor or author are technically wrong it’s also quite possible that they might be technically correct and were just arguing semantics here. As far as geography/geology/hydrology goes rivers have a specific definition which the grand canal might not fit especially as one big system since afaik it extends and connects to multiple rivers and the water doesn’t flow in a single direction into a larger body of water.
- MichaelZuo 4y agoEach contiguous part of the Grand Canal only flows in one direction, it would be impossible for it to work otherwise. You do have a point though that this new river in Egypt may be the 'largest' on some other metric.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Retric 4y agoThe issue isn’t direction but rather having multiple branches as a river only includes channel(s) going downstream from a single point. Without that definition a river’s length would be the length of every river connected to it. Thus the Mississippi and Ohio river are considered different rivers even though their waters mix and both flow downstream through the same channel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ohio_River, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River
- meitham 4y agoAccording to this definition then Iraq’s man-made river (Saddam’s river) is longer at 565 km. the official role of the river was to collect irrigation water from Mesopotamia fertile land all the way to the Persian Gulf, though the real reason Saddam built it was to dry the Arab Marshes as it was difficult to contain the rebels in the marshes. https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A8_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%85?wprov=sfti1 https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85%D8%B5%D8%A8...
- Retric 4y agoI thought most of that 565km distance was an existing waterway. In English: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draining_of_the_Mesopotamian_Marshes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Draining_of_the_Mesopotamian_M...
- carl_dr 4y agoI think the distinction the authors are making - correctly or not, I’m not sure, plenty of rivers don’t flow to the sea - is this artificial river flows into the sea, not into other canals or rivers. The grand canal connects the Yellow and Yangtze rivers, for example.
- oh_sigh 4y agoMaybe it is by total volume or flow rate
- baud147258 4y agoI don't think a canal that's split by locks would qualify as a river that's running in one direction all the way
- VBprogrammer 4y agoI don't think locks are the reason it wouldn't count. Otherwise the Thames would end at Teddington.
- dudeinjapan 4y agoSo you're saying these Egyptians are in de nile?
- cpursley 4y agoSarcasm like this is technically against HN policy but this made my day. Thanks for the laugh.
- dotancohen 4y agoThat is not sarcasm. Not all jokes are sarcasm.
- teh_klev 4y agoI have been to the cloak room and got your coat.
- twothamendment 4y agoLines like that are best kept in your Dad-a-base.
- joecool1029 4y ago>There are indeed several man-made rivers longer then this so it's unclear what the editors were thinking with this headline. There's one underground that's even longer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Aqueduct https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delaware_Aqueduct
- vietvu 4y agoCurrently China is building a new project: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%E2%80%93North_Water_Transfer_Project https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South%E2%80%93North_Water_Tran... which I believe is larger.