Vital Water Drainage Channels in Muscat Governorate
- Prioritizing such projects to drain excess water from residential areas quickly
- High cost projects to construct water crossings
- Diverting current service lines so to build the drainage channels instead.
Efforts in urban planning made by municipalities around the globe focus primarily on the development and design of land use and the built environment, which is also a mission of Muscat Municipality. Muscat Municipality always seek to implement sustainable and long-lasting solutions to address challenges in Muscat Governorate, particularly issues related to water accumulations in urban neighbourhoods and streets. In its current strategic plan, Muscat Municipality took into account to prioritize the construction of drainage channels as these channels help drain excess rainwater accumulating at roads and residential neighbourhood.
Water Drainage Channel in Al Ghubra
The municipality is currently building a channel to discharge surface water in Al Ghubra area in Bousher near the "Panorama Mall" commercial complex. The 175 metres long channel will be 2.5 to 3 meters wide and 2 meters deep. It will be supplemented by a closed channel of pipes with a diameter of ( 900 mm) and a total length of (390) meters.
Wadi Al Ghadeer Stream Rehabilitation Project
Another project that is underway is in Bousher, to construct a rainwater drainage channel for Wadi Al Ghadeer stream that extends from 18 November street to its mouth into the sea. Before municipality started the work, it took into account to transfer all service lines that could conflict with the drainage network.
The work will also comprise other tasks like cleaning the stream, creating a 3 km long protections (1.5 km per side), building box culverts in three locations, each has 12 cells that are 3 X 2 meters large for all streets crossing the wadi. There will be Irish water crossings under a street that crosses the wadi stream.
Drainage Canal Project in Al-Ansab (Phase 2)
Recently, Muscat Municipality has completed the second phase project constructing a drainage canal in two sites in al-Ansab area. The main work is to extend a network of perforated water pipes that discharge surface and underground water, with a total length of (1355) meters at the first site, and to extend closed water pipes with a total length of (185) meters to discharge surface water at the second site.
In the first phase, the Municipality used perforated a 1280-meter-long pipes that allow water to discharge surface and underground water, taking into account to choose designs that will transfer all service lines that could conflict with the drainage network.
Phase 3 of the Rainwater Drainage Channel Project at the Sultan Qaboos Street in Al Khuwair
The project is to lift the Sultan Qaboos Street to a higher level so to ensure a smooth water flow through the drainage channel, and connecting the canals under the Sultan Qaboos Street with the first and second phases.
With the completion of the third phase, the canal extending from the commercial district of Al Khuwair to its mouth into sea through the Sultan Qaboos street and the ministries district will be completed, which in return will solve the problems caused by accumulation of rainwater in urban areas. Landscaping and beautification works began in May this year, now underway and expected to complete by the first quarter of 2022. The completion rate reached (10%) by the end of August 2022.
Completed stages (1 and 2):
The first phase of the project is to implement an underground water crossing that is (1115) meters long, starting from Ministries Street into the sea, which was completed in 2019. The second phase was completed in January 2021, was to rehabilitate the service street at the ministries` area, plus to increase the number of lanes and to divert traffic flow from the Sultan Qaboos Street to the third phase, plus rehabilitating the canal adjacent to the Sultan Qaboos Street located on the other side of al Khuwair commercial area to be (3-5) meters wide, 2 metres deep and 945 metres long.
Construction of a drainage canal in Al-Mahaj area in al-Amirat phase 1
Muscat Municipality is supervising a project to establish a drainage channel to drain rainwater in Al-Mahaj area in al-Amirat. The 2 km long channel that is 5 to 9 metres wide attempts to drain water coming from nearby terrains and mountains at the area.
It required to make some cuts to the mountains adjacent to the channel project, plus creating 4 km long protections on both sides of the canal and building a box culvert having 4 cells and each is 2.5 m X 2 m at the route crossing the canal.
It is worth to mention that these projects are being implemented according to plans and priorities that take into account the needs of each stage and its material capabilities in the implementation of projects, as well as in accordance with the nature of each region and the quality of service projects located in its surroundings.