JEDDAH: The Jeddah municipality is putting its final touches to the newly built water dam in the city’s Al-Samer district, said Ibrahim Kutubkhana, deputy mayor for construction and projects.
“The construction of the new dam is complete and we are now reinforcing the concrete walls that will be facing the water,” he said. He said that the municipality would try to empty rainwater that has gathered behind the dam due to recent rains, adding this would allow the dam to face any potential floods heading its way.
Al-Samer dam is seven meters high and is situated on a flood plain close to the Musk Lake.
It is logical on the part of the municipality to build the dam at an elevation of seven meters in order to hold as much water as possible. That’s why the municipality mobilized all its resources to build this dam quickly in order to be better prepared for future rains.
“We have made sure to build the dam in the shortest possible time so that rainwater can collect behind it and not flood the area. Small concrete channels, one meter in diameter, branch out from the dam to the Red Sea. These would allow water to easily reach the sea,” said Kutubkhana.
He added there is a lot of confusion among members of the public and the media regarding the dam after seeing the stagnant floodwater on the other side of the dam and he assured residents living close to the Musk Lake dam that they are not in any danger.
The Samer dam protected many Jeddah neighborhoods from damage by preventing floodwaters from flowing into the residential area, he said.
Kutubkhana had earlier said that the two sand dams are safe from any leakage. “Jeddah municipality dispatched specialist field teams to inspect the water level and the dams on Wednesday. The lake’s level hadn’t increased from its initial level of 9.6 meters.”
