ADSSC completes drilling of world’s second largest gravity driven sewer tunnel
Sewer’s construction is part of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP)
RELATED ARTICLE: ASGC wins Ishraqah award to proceed with Onyx project | Ashghal plans $474mn sanitation project in northern Doha | World Cup 2022 to encourage infrastructural spending worth $100bn The Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) has announced the completion of drilling work on Abu Dhabi’s 41km main sewer tunnel. The final segment – the eighth in the project – runs 4.7km from the Officer’s Club area to the Abu Dhabi National Exhibitions Centre. Drilling as deep as 32 metres, the structure is the world’s second-longest gravity-driven tunnel and stretches from Al Mushrif to Al Wathba. The Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) broke through near ADNEC, marking an end to the drilling process. A ceremony marking the completion of the project was attended by Sheikh Diab bin Mohammed Al Nahyan, Sanbio Kim, the Korean minister of state, Mohammed Al Bawardi, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Executive Council’s executive committee, members of the Executive Council and officials from the Abu Dhabi Government. The sewer’s construction is part of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP), which includes 16.1km of the tunnel that was divided into three segments – 41 km of deep sewer pipes, 43 km of smaller diameter link sewers and a pumping station adjacent to the Al Wathba Independent Sewerage Treatment Plants. A report by Gulf News stated this project is in line with the emirate’s Vision 2030. “It is meant for the increased population by 2030; however if the population growth is slow, this system may be enough until 2040 or even beyond,” the officials of ADSSC were quoted saying about the tunnel with a capacity of 1.7 million cubic metres sewage, the expected demand for 2030. Expected to reduce the carbon footprint of the emirate’s sewerage system, the environment-friendly tunnel is expected to save $1.1bn (AED 4.2bn) on energy and maintenance costs for the next 25 years. The report added that the tunnel – starting 27 metres underground continuing to a depth of 100 metres – will not require regular maintenance over its lifespan of 80 years.
