DOHA: The Public Works Authority ‘Ashghal’ has announced the completion of the main works of the Roads and Infrastructure Development project in Al Egda, Al Heedan and Al Khor (Package 1), as the completion rate reached about 95 percentof the total works. The project is located West of Al Bayt Stadium, covering the Al Egda area West of Al Khor Road and Al Heedan area East of it.
On this occasion, Eng Abdulla Al-Naemi, Head of the Northern Areas Section at Ashghal’s Roads Projects Department, stated that the project serves 738 plots for citizens and aims to achieve vast improvements in the area by developing internal streets and infrastructure services such as rainwater and sewage drainage networks, allowing citizens to start building their houses and providing connectivity with future public facilities in the area.
Eng Essa Al-Hillabi, the Project Engineer in the Northern Areas Section, explained that the project works include providing a 19 km-long road network, with the provision of traffic safety elements such as street lighting systems and poles, signboards and road signs, in addition to the construction of 38.8 km-long pedestrian and cycle paths.
The project also included the construction of a 23.7 km-long sewage network, a 33 km-long surface and groundwater drainage network, a 6.7 km-long treated water network, and a 20.4 km-long potable water network. New drainage pipes were extended and a new system was established to distribute the water flow and connect them to the main sewage network, in addition to the construction of an emergency rainwater storage tank with a capacity of 44,000 cubic metres, with the aim of reducing water accumulation during the rainy season.
Regarding the project progress, Eng Al-Hillabi explained that the rainwater drainage network and sewage network works have been completed, in addition to implementing all the development works of the drinking water network and the extension of communication lines. Road works are also nearing completion, whereas beautification works and installation and operation of street lighting poles are underway.
It is worth noting that local materials and manufacturers were relied upon in most of the project works, as the percentage of local components exceeded 75 percentof the total materials used.
Project challenges
One of the challenges faced by the project team is the high groundwater level in the area, which required studying the most suitable solutions to drain the water before the commencement of construction work. The rocky nature of the area’s soil also delays the completion of some excavation work. In addition, the implementation of deep well excavation work for the project's infrastructure networks required excavations at a depth of up to 5-7 metres underground, which required increasing safety procedures to ensure workers' safety.
It is worth mentioning that the project scope has been divided into four smaller phases that will be implemented in succession, where machinery, equipment and human resources are focused to accelerate the completion of each phase, thus reducing the impact of construction work on the residents of the area. However, this leads to an increase in the total period of the project compared to working on the entire project area at once.
Ashghal is also keen to enhance communication with the residents of the area throughout the implementation period by appointing public relations officers who have experience in the implementation works and the culture of the country. Qatari nationals or Qatar-born are appointed to coordinate continuously with the residents, respond to their inquiries and do everything possible to mitigate impact of the works on them. The Authority also provided a designated number to communicate with citizens, which is 188, which operates around the clock (24/7) to receive requests and inquiries from the public and respond to them as quickly as possible.
