The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has announced the completion of 50% of the total works in Waab Lebareg and Rawdat Al Thekhriya Streets in Ain Khalid, as part of Phase 1 of Doha City Road Upgrade Development Works Project, aimed at regulating traffic on main streets, improving roads, and increasing their capacity to accommodate vehicles.
The project also aims to provide new parking spaces, enhance roads over a length of 3km, and expand them to improve the traffic by constructing two interchanges with traffic lights, an Ashghal statement said yesterday.
The project will provide pedestrian and cycling paths, implement landscaping and greening works, and enhance infrastructure services.
The project implements a campaign to reduce carbon emissions resulting from the overall works, with the project team making sure to identify high carbon emission construction activities, changing the conventional ways of conducting them to reduce carbon emissions during the implementation stage.
Engineer Mooza al-Sowaidi, head of Doha City Section in Ashghal’s Road Projects Department, said that Waab Lebareg and Rawdat Al Thekhriya Streets are among the most important streets in Ain Khalid area, and that their development serves many residential units along with service and educational facilities, notably Umm Al Seneem Park, Umm Al Seneem Health Centre, Qatar Academy for Science and Technology, along with new shops and the shopping mall.
“Ashghal spared no effort to support sustainability practices and green initiatives by engaging all stakeholders and professionals from consulting firms, contractors, and suppliers along with workers and others,” she said. “We are making every effort to encourage all stakeholders to adopt positive environmental practices and to innovate and apply new solutions and methods at various stages of project implementation to maintain available resources, reduce long-term costs, and many other benefits.”
It is worth noting that the project was accomplished 50% by completing works in one direction only in both Waab Lebareg and Rawdat Al Thekhriya Streets and opening them to traffic, providing 250 parking spaces for cars, and making progress in the infrastructure networks where 2.1km (out of 3.5km) of surface water drainage network was constructed, 0.4km (out of 1km) of potable water network lines were constructed, 4km (out of 5km) of power lines were installed, 1.5km (out of 8.5km) of street lighting cables were extended, and 24 (out of 98) lighting poles installed.
Work is currently underway to complete works of both streets’ second direction, including constructing two new traffic lights, implementing 6km-long pedestrian and bicycle lanes, and applying landscaping and greening works.
Sustainability wise, particularly the effort to reduce carbon emissions, the project’s work team changed its approach during excavation operations by utilising precise and heavy equipment capable of controlling and outlining the dimensions of the excavation.
The project’s contractor, JAK Company, used the Trencher and Chain cutter to avoid excess excavation and thus avoiding excess fuel consumption, directly resulting in low carbon emission.
As a result of these efforts, the carbon emissions from construction work at the project site in Ain Khalid have been reduced by approximately 323 tonnes, to date.
These practices have also recorded other benefits that have a positive impact on the environment, safety measures, and conservation of resources.
The use of such equipment has contributed to the reduction of noise and dust levels, as these machines emit lower levels than other conventional equipment and have also contributed to the reduction the project's total costs.
By applying these sustainability and environmental principles, Ashghal has realised significant achievements and encouraged project executors to adopt many positive practices aligned with Environmental Development, one of the four pillars upon which the Qatar National Vision 2030 is built.
As for carbon emission reduction, since 2019 Ashghal has prepared and implemented the “Environment and Sustainability Monthly Report”, an innovative tool aimed at recording and controlling building materials and carbon emissions, thus contributing to emission reduction in 2023 on all of the department's projects, the statement added.
Engineer Mooza al-Sowaidi
