Dubai Municipality’s Buildings Department has managed to rationalise expenses by $41.93m (AED154m) and increase the municipality revenues by $29.40m (AED108m) through a new initiative, “Sustainable Smart Management of Drilling Products.”
Eng. Layali Al Mulla Director of Buildings Department said: “The initiative focuses on the optimal utilisation of the excavation products and recycling them instead of sending them to the waste dumps as was the case in the past.
“In addition it reduces the cost of construction by reducing the cost involved in sand transportation. We supply them and transport them in the same area within the shortest possible distance and time through the use of GIS (geographic information system) techniques.”
Al Mulla added that the Department regulates the circulation of sand resulting from drilling and construction work.
It does this through a high quality technical monitoring system by issuing permits for transporting and supplying sand and supervising its movement from and to, all construction sites in the emirate.
“In addition to that it reduces cases of violations committed by some transport companies, which will affect the environmental protection and the enhancement of the efficiency of construction,” she added.
Extracted sand is transferred from the site under construction to another site or to one of Dubai Municipality’s dumps.
Depending on the type and quality of the sand, it is also sent to beaches or to another location determined by the Municipality for its optimal utilisation of resources and management, Al Mulla informed.
Eng. Abdullah Al Shezawi, head of Engineering Supervision Section in the Buildings Department said that the initiative has contributed in achieving sustainability in all aspects – community satisfaction, environmental and financial sustainability.
“The initiative contributed to the leveling of lands in Khawaneej area by supplying 4 million m3 of sand and rationalisation of the municipality expenditures by $14.70m (AED54m).
“The supply of nearly 1 million m3 of sand to citizens’ homes free of charge resulted in financial savings of about $2.99m (AED11m), apart from meeting the needs of government departments of the sand for their infrastructure projects, with the supply of about 9 million m3 of sand worth $24.23m (AED89m),” Al Shezawi added.
He also stressed the environmental role played by the initiative by reducing the carbon footprint. “The initiative contributed to reducing the amount of 56,000 tons of CO2, in addition to preserving coastal sand by supplying 3 million m3 of sand to the beaches.
“About 13 million m3 of sand was transferred to the Municipality dumps to cover and bury hazardous waste, organic waste and other wastes. In addition, 5 million cubic meters of sand was supplied to fill abandoned sites where work has been suspended, which was resulting in health and environmental constraints,” said Al Shezawi.
He also said that the number of municipality dumps for drilling products from construction sites has been reduced aiding to its sustainability goals. Leading to freeing up land for housing projects to be developed instead.
“We have stopped using three waste dumps with an area of 64.10 million m2. The initiative has also contributed to the recycling of sand, with almost 2 million cubic meters of sand being sent to the factories for recycling,” said Al Shezawi.