UAE: Municipality to update stormwater drainage facilities in wake of flooding

The Permanent Technical Committee for Abu Dhabi Technical Standards of the Abu Dhabi Quality and Conformity Council (QCC) approved an update of the Abu Dhabi Guidelines for Storm Water Drainage in partnership with the Department of Municipalities and Transport.

The update is aimed at ensuring a safe and unified operational and structural capacity of the network, while reducing the cost of operation and maintenance, in turn benefiting the development of infrastructure services for related government projects.

The update ensured obtaining a safe and unified operational and structural capacity throughout the stormwater drainage network, improving the quality of the network, with the deployment of international best practices and a unified approach, helping the designing of a rainwater drainage network in accordance with international standards.

The implementation of the updated guideline was carried out by a team from the Department of Municipalities and Transport, the Department of Energy, the Abu Dhabi Environment Agency, the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport, the Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company, the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center (Tadweer), Masdar, Musanada Company, and Aldar Real Estate and Investments, Parsons International Limited, in addition to the United Arab Emirates University.

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Saif Al Bakri, Director of Specifications Services Department of QCC said that updating the guideline for the stormwater drainage included taking into account the latest technology in designing rainwater drainage networks and learning from the recent studies on climate changes, in addition from technical notes from the current state of operations. Since the beginning of its implementation in 2017, updates have been made on some of the sub-directories in the 2020 Rainwater Drainage Networks Guide.

Kholoud Al Marzouqi, Director of the Infrastructure Regulation and Operation Department - Planning and Infrastructure Sector in the Department of Municipalities and Transport, said QCC contributed to updating the guide based on accurate data and a study conducted over the years to set the best standards for stormwater drainage and to ensure that it does not affect city movements and business continuity. The updated guide directly contributed to raising the quality of life for residents and guests in Abu Dhabi, positioning the emirate globally as one of the best destinations for living, working and visiting.

• Abu Dhabi