PROJECT APPLICATION
DESIGNING A WATER NETWORK
FOR A HARSH DESERT ENVIRONMENT Software applications helped successfully deliver the project within 88% of the initially proposed budget.
Layout of the Al-Wajeed Water Treatment Plant.
Providing water in the desert The Rub’ al Khali, also known as the Empty Quarter, is a sand desert that covers about 650,000 km2 of the southern Arabian Peninsula, stretching into parts of Saudi Arabia, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Saudi Arabia developed the master plan for the Al-Wajeed Water Treatment Plant to safeguard the well-being of over half a million people living in or near the Rub’ al Khali, who are affected by drought conditions. These conditions have become exacerbated by pollution and the drying-up of local wells, which is why the initiative to develop a water network is so important to the region. As part of Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 Initiative, the USD 500 million project involved the construction of a world-class treatment plant and conveyance system with a capacity of 68,000 m3 per day for Phase One, which 34
THE SINGAPORE ENGINEER October 2020
would be upgraded to a capacity of 108,000 m3 per day in a later phase. All concrete works and infrastructure, however, would need to be completed in Phase One, including 600 km of water pipelines, high-volume reservoirs and access roads. As the lead in the design and construction of this project, Khatib & Alami faced numerous challenges, many stemming from the harsh climate of the desert where the water system would be located. Access roads to the site needed to be designed and built in a way to protect them from moving sand dunes. Also, the transmission line needed to pass through sand dune areas, meaning that the team would need to coordinate the design with the construction team and the pipe supplier. Khatib & Alami would need to work to resolve the unstable dune material, establish a strong road along the pipeline for access, and provide a concrete base that considered the depth of the pipes and the accumulation of future sand dunes.
