Bahrain’s Ministry of Works is set to launch a new dredging and land reclamation manual to guide all future reclamation projects in the Kingdom, according to a statement released today.
The Ministry of Works undersecretary, Nayef Omar Al Kalali, said the manual aims to create environmental and economic benefits and ensure protection against natural disasters.
He said their studies have redefined the specific processes, procedures and guidelines for land reclamation in line with current and future environmental factors.
“It was undertaken to determine required reclamation and crest levels and has been calculated on the basis of extreme water levels which occur once every 100 years,” the statement said.
“The impacts of tides, storm surges, barometric pressure, wind and wave set up and run up, meteorological oscillation and climate change were also all factored into the calculations.
“The outcome of the study has also provided clearance levels for the expected rise in sea water due to global warming. This is set at 0.4m in 100 years and an additional safety clearance of 0.1 metre has also been added in the recommendations.”
The update followed numerous investigations, statistical analyses and mathematical modelling and indicative wave crest level calculations which were conducted at five reclamation sites around the Kingdom.
The amount of reclamation works and design parameters were updated and imported into a geographical information system to form a recommended reclamation level map of Bahrain.
Over the past 50 years more than 50km2 of land has been reclaimed from the sea, mainly for housing and industrial developments.
The latest study, titled ‘Reclamation levels: Guidelines for coastal development lands and artificial islands’ was conducted by Dutch consultant, Delft Hydraulics and had input from Anthony Bates Partnership Dredging and Coastal Consultants and Dredging Research Limited.
Kalali said the resulting manual will act as a one-stop reference portal for those in the industry.
“The process of dredging and land reclamation encompasses many different disciplines and personnel who need to have access to relevant and up-to-date literature that explains the processes involved. This will be achieved by the manual,” he said.
The manual will be launched at an event on November 6 at the Bahrain Sheraton Hotel.