Umm Alqura deploys key system at Makkah development


Saudi-based Umm Alqura for Development and Construction said it has deployed the latest technical treatments for the safety, sustainability and preservation of groundwater at its master development Masar in Makkah ahead of infrastructure works.

Saudi-based Umm Alqura for Development and Construction said it has deployed the latest scientific and technical treatments for the safety, sustainability and preservation of groundwater at its master development Masar in Makkah ahead of infrastructure work. 
 
The company devoted particular attention to groundwater before implementing infrastructure works for Masar, which features multiple pathways, by taking all geological aspects into consideration in coordination with the Saudi Geological Survey.
 
With this move, it has set a new industry benchmark in maintaining the sustainability, flow, and composition of groundwater in the kingdom. 
 
Umm Alqura said it remained committed in employing the latest scientific and technical treatments to ensure the sustainability of the volume of groundwater without hindering its pathways with construction foundations or affecting the chemical and biological composition and physical properties of the groundwater.
 
"We had designed a system for transporting groundwater through Al Asher and Al Otaiba valleys," remarked its Chief Of Studies & Development Department Engineer Waleed Baghanem.
 
The system includes water collection points, layers of cumulative filters, networks of perforated water pipes, and a subsystem for washing the main network to maintain the efficiency of groundwater transport, he noted. 
 
"It also set up a system for monitoring groundwater flow to track the estimation of water quantities, percentages, and quality during different points in time," he added.
 
According to him, this system works below and around the project’s infrastructure to ensure a smooth flow of water from the northern borders through the infrastructure facilities all the way to the southern borders of the project until the point of contact with Ibrahim valley. 
 
This system maintains the sustainability, pathways, and composition of the groundwater without disturbing the environmental balance that existed before work commenced on Masar, he stated.
 
In developing this system, Umm Alqura relied on a study conducted for around 100 years to show how water moved underground in Makkah and at the most extreme altitudes. 
 
Based on this study, the Saudi group readied a plan so that the project would not affect the pathways of groundwater or its vital characteristics. 
 
The Saudi Geological Survey also suggested establishing a rain monitoring system to obtain rainfall data and calculate the amount of rainwater on the roofs of buildings and transport it to underground networks from one side to the other through the infrastructure facilities of Masar, stated Baghanem.
 
The plan approved the presence of 4x16-m water pathways under each building in the project running over 3 km long. The width of the pathway allows for the passage of the largest amount of water, it added.-TradeArabia News Service