MUSCAT -- Sayyid Saud bin Hilal al Busaidy, Minister of State and Governor of Muscat, will open on April 30 Al Amerat Dyke for protection against the dangers of floods at Al Amerat Heights. The project comes in implementation of the directives of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos. The project, which ads to existing groundwater recharge dams, seeks to protect the area of Al Amerat and Qurum Commercial District from the dangers of floods brought about by climatic conditions.
The project, which cost RO 29 million (RO 29,099,844), is the first one of a proposed scheme which comprises seven dams along the course of the valley of Wadi Adai. Austrian contractor Strabag has been awarded the six-kilometre-long structure, which is coming up just above the mouth of the wadi gorge. When completed later this year, the dam will mitigate severe flooding downstream of the wadi, particularly in Al Amerat and Qurum. As part of the Al Amerat Heights Dam project, Strabag is also constructing a series of overflow concrete spillways and an appurtenant spillway leading to the existing wadi channels downstream.
The dam, which covers a total area of 65 square kilometres, is designed to store 22 million cubic metres of water along a wall of 5,800 metres, which reaches a height of 23 metres. Special valves will be designed and installed to ensure the controlled release of reservoir water into the wadi channel downstream of the dam. In the next phase of the Wadi Adai Flood Protection scheme, the ministry plans to initiate development of a second dam intended to create a huge reservoir further up the gorge. Engineering design studies and related documents are due to be finalised within the next three months, it is learnt.
Separately, French consultant Sogreah is carrying out engineering studies for a flood protection system in the upper catchment of Wadi Samayil, one of the Oman's biggest wadis that cuts through the capital region en route to the sea. The initiative is designed to secure the flood prone areas of Al Khoudh, Seeb and Maabelah from flooding. Envisaged is a major dam system upstream of the existing recharge dam at Wadi Al Khoudh. Sitting astride the northern foot of the Hajar Mountains, Muscat Governorate is criss-crossed by a number of major and minor wadis.
With increased urban development over the years, authorities undertook a number of flood protection measures to alleviate flooding in flood prone areas. The Ministry of Agriculture constructed the Wadi al Khoudh recharge dam as a pilot project in 1985, while Muscat Municipality built three small-scale flood retention dams and six check dams in key places around the Governorate during 1992-1993
© Oman Daily Observer 2012
