About Suez Canal The Suez Canal ( In Arabic: Qanat as-Suways ), is an artificial sea-level waterway  running north to south across the Isthmus of Suez in Egypt to connect the  Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea. The canal separates the African continent from  Asia, and it provides the shortest maritime route between Europe and the lands lying  around the Indian and western Pacific oceans. It is one of the world's most heavily used  shipping lanes.  The Suez Canal is one of the most important waterways in the world.  The canal is extensively used by modern ships , as it is the fastest crossing from the  Atlantic Ocean to the Indian Ocean . Tolls paid by the vessels represent an important  source of income for the Egyptian government.  Railroad and a sweet water canal are run on the west bank parallel to the Suez Canal .  The Canal runs between Port Said harbor and the Gulf of Suez , through soils which  vary according to the region. At Port Said and the surrounding area, the soil is  composed over thousands of years of silt and clay sedimentations deposited by the Nile  waters drifted by Damietta branch. This formation extends to Kantara, 40 km to the  south of Port Said , where silt mixes with sand. The central region of the Canal between  Kantara and Kabret consists of fine and coarse sands, while the southern region  contains dispersed layers of rocks, varying in texture from soft sand to some calcium  rocks. The Suez Canal is a sea level Canal and the height of water level differs slightly and the  tide is 50 cm high in the north and 2 m high in the south. The banks of the Canal are  protected against the wash and waves, generated by the transit of ships, by revetments  of hard stones and steel piles corresponding to the nature of soil in every area. On both  sides of the Canal, there are mooring bollards every 125 m for the mooring of vessel in  case of emergency, and kilometric sign posts helping locate the position of ships in the  waterway. The navigable channel is bordered by light and reflecting buoys as  navigational aids to night traffic.  The side gradient of the water cross section differs according to the nature of the soil,  which is 4:1 in the north and 3:1 in the south. Most of the canal is limited to a single lane of traffic, but 4 bypasses ( total length 80.7  Km ) are located along the Canal, and this allows the transit of ships in both directions. :  1. Port Said by-pass 40 km accomplished in 1980  2. Ballah by-pass 8.5 km accomplished in 1955 3. Timsah by-pass 5.1 km accomplished in 1980 4. Deversoir by-pass and the Bitter Lakes area   27.1 km accomplished in 1980 Suez Canal Authority About Suez Canal  Copyright 2010 © Atlantic Maritime All Rights Reserved.