Dubai Municipality approves $9.5mn Umm Suqeim beach rehabilitation
Project execution will be undertaken in different stages to ensure partial closures of the beach
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HH Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, Minister of Finace for the UAE and chairman of Dubai Municipality has approved a rehabilitation project worth $9.5 million, to be undertaken at Umm Suqeim Beach.
Project execution will be undertaken in different stages to ensure only partial closures of the beach at any given time, the municipality added.
The scope of the project will include all areas of the Umm Suqeim 1,2 and 3 beaches spanning an area of up to 3.5km, starting from the second fishing harbour to the Burj Al Arab Hotel, Hussain Nasser Lootah, director-general of Dubai Municipality said.
The project is being carried out based on the directives of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and comes in-line with Vision 2020, which aims to develop Dubai’s tourism sector, Lootah added.
“Dubai Municipality will start the implementation of the project as of next week and expects to be completed in coming March,” Lootah said. “The project plan consists of constructing five groynes normal to the beach with lengths ranging between 135 and 165 meters; and beach nourishment in Umm Suqeim 1.
“Whereas, in Umm Suqeim 2 beach, the stabilisation is achieved by beach nourishment works only. The total volume of beach sand required to accomplish the proposed stabilisation scheme is approximately 760,000 cubic meters,” Lootah continued.
Alya AbdulRahim Al Harmoudi, director of environment department said the Municipality has developed the structural designs of these groynes, which were also implemented to stabilise Jumeirah Beach earlier. The proposed groynes are a composite type, made of timber logs fixed to steel piles instead of conventional rubble mound structures for aesthetic reasons.
The implementation of various offshore development projects has led to the erosion of Umm Suqeim’s beaches; this prompted the Dubai Municipality to undertake the rehabilitation project, Al Harmoudi said.
“Over the past years, these beaches have been subjected to severe erosion as a result of the implementation of offshore development projects. This led to the loss of large parts of the coastal areas threatening the safety of buildings and infrastructure overlooking the sea, in addition to hindering the development works on these beaches,” she added.
