The protection dams built in the Special Economic Zone at Duqm (SEZD) stored about 24 million cu m of water after the tropical storm, Hika, said the chairman of the Special Economic Zone Authority at Duqm (Sezad).
Yahya bin Said Al Jabri recently visited Duqm, and was accompanied by Said bin Hamdoon Al Harthi, the Undersecretary of Ports and Maritime Affairs at the Ministry of Transport and Communications. The visit included touring the dams, water drainage canals, Duqm Refinery, Duqm Port and a number of other private sector projects in the Zone.
They were briefed on the protection system established by Sezad to protect the economic zone in Duqm, especially during such diverse weather conditions. The efficiently built system consists of two dams, namely Wadi Saay Dam and Wadi Jurf Dam, and three water drainage canals.
Establishing the protection system comes as part of Sezad's efforts to provide maximum protection to the Special Economic Zone from floods and such diverse weather conditions. The system is aimed to protect major projects under construction in the Zone including Port of Duqm, Dry Dock, Duqm Refinery and other projects too.
The amount of rainfall in Duqm during the tropical storm, Hikka, was 116 mm. The Wadi Jurf dam stored 16,000 million cu m of water, while the Wadi Saay dam stored about 8 million cu m, and the dam lakes are designed to store about 50 million cu m of water.
The height of the Wadi Jurf dam is about 19.4 meters and extends for 1600 meters while its width at the base is about 100 meters and its thickness increases as it rises to reach 8 meters at the end. Its lake has a storage capacity of 32.8 million cu m of flood and wadi water.
The Wadi Saay Dam is 16.4 meters high, 3,665 meters long and 100 meters wide. The dam accommodates about 17 million cu m of water in case of wadi surface runoff.
Sezad has also established three canals for the safe discharge of water into the sea. Besides, at the planning stage, it has been taken into consideration the tracking of the original routes of the canals and the collection of rainwater from the secondary canals in a way that does not affect the plan of the economic zone.
Al Harthi confirmed that the protection system at the Special Economic Zone at Duqm served as a real protection for the Port of Duqm and the dry dock from the floods of wadies.
“The potential risks, which could affect the port, dry dock and other projects have been reviewed and flood of wadies was the main one. There were 17 vessels docked during the storm at Port of Duqm, which provided shelter for 50 fishing vessels,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service