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Jeddah to have permanent rainwater drainage system
Bids to construct projects to drain flood and rainwater in Jeddah, termed by the municipality to be “long-term-solution projects”, will be opened in two weeks while construction contracts will be signed during the first quarter of next year.
The timeline of these contracts was unveiled by the director of the drainage department at the Jeddah municipality, Ahmad Al-Sulaim. Arab News accompanied him on a visit to the sites of these schemes on Thursday.
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had opened on Dec. 1, fourteen ad hoc projects, referred to by the municipality as “the quick-solution projects” in east Jeddah for the quick drainage of flood and rainwater.
Jeddah was hit by torrential rains and devastating floods in November 2009 and again in January 2011 that killed more than 130 people and destroyed a large number of homes and cars. The poor drainage system was blamed for the tragedy.
“We will apply the highest standards of international professionalism while offering projects to contractors including transparency and clarity of the commitments of each party in addition to the objectivity in the technical and financial evaluation so as to ensure a fair placement of the offers and a quality implementation of the projects,” he said.
At the site of the “permanent solution projects” which was in Umm Hablain area about 30 km northeast of Jeddah, Al-Sulaim said the permanent projects were the outcome of three workshops held by the municipality and the other concerned government departments.
He said the first of these workshops discussed the formulation of mechanisms for coordination among all parties involved, while the second reviewed and approved the designs and the third debated the best means of implementation of the current and the future development projects in Jeddah.
“The workshops witnessed presentations and discussed permanent solutions to protect Jeddah from floods coming from the eastern mountains and heights. The participants recommended the construction of a series of dams which would be designed for a repetition time of 200 years and a level of 149mm of rainwater,” he said.
Al-Sulaim said under the new projects, the dam basin will be emptied of water in a maximum time of 15 days during which the water will be drained to the sea through canals connected to the three valley passes.
“The bodies of the dams will be constructed to deal with a level of rainwater as high as 243 mm,” he said, adding that the total length of the canals to drain the water will be about 300km.
He said both the ad hoc and the permanent solution projects have taken into consideration the geographical nature of the city that shows that water runs from east to west. He noted that the Red Sea coastal city is bordered by the sea to the west and a chain of mountains and heights to the east, which include 15 spots with a total area of 1,150 sq. km that can collect about 96 million cubic meters of rainwater.
Talking to Arab News, director of the permanent solution projects, Ahmad Al-Ardi, said the designs of the dams were nearing completion.
“Geotechnical and geophysical studies were currently being conducted to determine the soil type and mountainous nature of the location of the dams so as to update the designs,” he said.
Al-Ardi said the drainage projects will consist of the construction of canals for the eastern, northern and southern valley passes and added that a new canal for the drainage of floodwater will be constructed at the airport.
He recalled that the 14 ad hoc projects for quick solutions consisted of refurbishing the Umm Al-Khair and Al-Samir dams in addition to the treatment of 12 water-collection areas in various parts of Jeddah.
He also said five other dams were constructed in south Jeddah to protect the districts there from the floodwater coming from the south.
On his part, director of Umm Al-Khair and Al-Samir dams, Mansour Al-Shihri, said the two dams though constructed within the ad hoc projects are in fact part of the permanent solution schemes.
He explained that Umm Al-Khair dam was built at a height of seven meters and a length of 1,100 meters and was linked to the northern valley pass via an open canal, which are 730 meters long and 33 meters wide.
He said the Al-Samir dam was also linked to the northern valley pass by an open canal, which is 3 km long and 40 meters wide.
Al-Shihri said within the ad hoc projects, the mud and precautionary dams of the Musk Lake were reinforced and strengthened so as not to burst or leak water when the lake is filled with sewage water.
Director of the quick solution projects, Sameer Al-Damin, said the treatment of the 12 water-collection points in various parts of the city consisted of the construction of 20,600-long pipes, the installation of 25 fixed and 16 mobile water pumping machines to quickly drain underpasses water. He also said 78,000 meters of pipes were cleaned and made ready to drain water.
The 14 quick-solution projects were implemented in 110 days with people working 24/7. “The municipality was turned into a giant workshop during those days,” he said.
Al-Damin said the equipment for the execution of the quick-solution project were brought by sea and also by air onboard three giant Antonov aircraft. “More than 2,600 employees including 2,000 laborers, 400 machine operators and 200 engineers and project managers were involved in the execution work in addition to 900 machines and trucks,” he said.
“We had to work in complete coordination with the Interior Ministry, the airport, the seaport, the customs and the traffic police to ensure the speedy implementation of the projects which were completed without any work injuries,” he said.
Al-Damin said the work in the quick-solution projects also included removing the control equipment of the water pumps with their electrical connections outside the tunnels so as not to be damaged by water. “These devices will now be operated automatically from a distance. A number of fixed pumps were also installed and mobile ones placed near the underpasses,” he added.
Bids to construct projects to drain flood and rainwater in Jeddah, termed by the municipality to be “long-term-solution projects”, will be opened in two weeks while construction contracts will be signed during the first quarter of next year.
The timeline of these contracts was unveiled by the director of the drainage department at the Jeddah municipality, Ahmad Al-Sulaim. Arab News accompanied him on a visit to the sites of these schemes on Thursday.
Makkah Gov. Prince Khaled Al-Faisal had opened on Dec. 1, fourteen ad hoc projects, referred to by the municipality as “the quick-solution projects” in east Jeddah for the quick drainage of flood and rainwater.
Jeddah was hit by torrential rains and devastating floods in November 2009 and again in January 2011 that killed more than 130 people and destroyed a large number of homes and cars. The poor drainage system was blamed for the tragedy.
“We will apply the highest standards of international professionalism while offering projects to contractors including transparency and clarity of the commitments of each party in addition to the objectivity in the technical and financial evaluation so as to ensure a fair placement of the offers and a quality implementation of the projects,” he said.
At the site of the “permanent solution projects” which was in Umm Hablain area about 30 km northeast of Jeddah, Al-Sulaim said the permanent projects were the outcome of three workshops held by the municipality and the other concerned government departments.
He said the first of these workshops discussed the formulation of mechanisms for coordination among all parties involved, while the second reviewed and approved the designs and the third debated the best means of implementation of the current and the future development projects in Jeddah.
“The workshops witnessed presentations and discussed permanent solutions to protect Jeddah from floods coming from the eastern mountains and heights. The participants recommended the construction of a series of dams which would be designed for a repetition time of 200 years and a level of 149mm of rainwater,” he said.
Al-Sulaim said under the new projects, the dam basin will be emptied of water in a maximum time of 15 days during which the water will be drained to the sea through canals connected to the three valley passes.
“The bodies of the dams will be constructed to deal with a level of rainwater as high as 243 mm,” he said, adding that the total length of the canals to drain the water will be about 300km.
He said both the ad hoc and the permanent solution projects have taken into consideration the geographical nature of the city that shows that water runs from east to west. He noted that the Red Sea coastal city is bordered by the sea to the west and a chain of mountains and heights to the east, which include 15 spots with a total area of 1,150 sq. km that can collect about 96 million cubic meters of rainwater.
Talking to Arab News, director of the permanent solution projects, Ahmad Al-Ardi, said the designs of the dams were nearing completion.
“Geotechnical and geophysical studies were currently being conducted to determine the soil type and mountainous nature of the location of the dams so as to update the designs,” he said.
Al-Ardi said the drainage projects will consist of the construction of canals for the eastern, northern and southern valley passes and added that a new canal for the drainage of floodwater will be constructed at the airport.
He recalled that the 14 ad hoc projects for quick solutions consisted of refurbishing the Umm Al-Khair and Al-Samir dams in addition to the treatment of 12 water-collection areas in various parts of Jeddah.
He also said five other dams were constructed in south Jeddah to protect the districts there from the floodwater coming from the south.
On his part, director of Umm Al-Khair and Al-Samir dams, Mansour Al-Shihri, said the two dams though constructed within the ad hoc projects are in fact part of the permanent solution schemes.
He explained that Umm Al-Khair dam was built at a height of seven meters and a length of 1,100 meters and was linked to the northern valley pass via an open canal, which are 730 meters long and 33 meters wide.
He said the Al-Samir dam was also linked to the northern valley pass by an open canal, which is 3 km long and 40 meters wide.
Al-Shihri said within the ad hoc projects, the mud and precautionary dams of the Musk Lake were reinforced and strengthened so as not to burst or leak water when the lake is filled with sewage water.
Director of the quick solution projects, Sameer Al-Damin, said the treatment of the 12 water-collection points in various parts of the city consisted of the construction of 20,600-long pipes, the installation of 25 fixed and 16 mobile water pumping machines to quickly drain underpasses water. He also said 78,000 meters of pipes were cleaned and made ready to drain water.
The 14 quick-solution projects were implemented in 110 days with people working 24/7. “The municipality was turned into a giant workshop during those days,” he said.
Al-Damin said the equipment for the execution of the quick-solution project were brought by sea and also by air onboard three giant Antonov aircraft. “More than 2,600 employees including 2,000 laborers, 400 machine operators and 200 engineers and project managers were involved in the execution work in addition to 900 machines and trucks,” he said.
“We had to work in complete coordination with the Interior Ministry, the airport, the seaport, the customs and the traffic police to ensure the speedy implementation of the projects which were completed without any work injuries,” he said.
Al-Damin said the work in the quick-solution projects also included removing the control equipment of the water pumps with their electrical connections outside the tunnels so as not to be damaged by water. “These devices will now be operated automatically from a distance. A number of fixed pumps were also installed and mobile ones placed near the underpasses,” he added.
