Dubai to rehabilitate 3.5km of Umm Suqeim beach

Sheikh Hamdan bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Deputy Ruler of Dubai, UAE Minister of Finance and  Chairman of Dubai Municipality, acting on directives from His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice- President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has approved a project to protect the marine and coastal environment at the Umm Suqeim beach at an expected cost of Dh35 million.

A rehabilitation project protecting Umm Suqeim Beach against erosion will be carried out over the next nine months, Dubai Municipality announced in a media statement on Sunday.

The scope of work of the project will cover all areas of the of Umm Suqeim 1, 2 and 3 beaches starting from the second fishing harbour to Burj Al Arab Hotel at a total length of approximately 3.5km, said Hussain Nasser Lootah, Director General of Dubai Municipality.

“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,” explained Alya Abdulrahim Al Harmoudi, Director of Environment Department.

In order to prevent erosion on the popular beachfront, beach nourishment in addition to the construction of groynes will be carried out.

A groyne is a rigid hydraulic structure built from an ocean shore that interrupts water flow and limits the movement of sediment. “One of the main advantages of groynes is that there will be minor change in the wave characteristics unlike the near shore breakwaters, which drastically change the wave characteristics by preventing the waves from reaching the shore,” she explained.

The total volume of beach sand required to accomplish the proposed stabilisation scheme is approximately 760,000 cubic metres.

“The project plan consists of constructing five groynes normal to the beach with lengths ranging between 135 and 165 metres and beach nourishment in Umm Suqeim 1,” said Lootah.

“In Umm Suqeim 2 beach, the stabilisation is achieved by beach nourishment works only.”

The project works, which will start next week and continue until March next year will be executed in different stages to avoid completely closing the beaches, which attract thousands of visitors per year.

Alya urged the public to refrain from entering the work sites during the time of the project for safety purposes.

 

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