Dubai: By reusing the sand from construction sites and drilling and excavation areas, Dubai Municipality’s Buildings Department has managed to rationalise expenses by Dh154 million and increase civic body’s revenues by Dh108 million.
The new initiative, “Sustainable Smart Management of Drilling Products” 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, Layali Al Mulla, director of Buildings Department said in a press release on Wednesday.
“In addition to that, it reduces the cost of construction by reducing the cost of sand transport. We supply them and transport them in the same area within the shortest possible distance and time through the use of GIS techniques.”
Al Mulla added that the department regulates the circulation of sand resulting from drilling and construction work in a high quality technical monitoring by issuing permits for transporting and supplying sand and supervising its movement from and to all construction sites in the emirate after meeting the necessary requirements.
“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. The sand is transferred from the site under construction to another or to the dumps of the municipality or to the beaches according to the type and quality of the sand or to another location determined by the civic body for the optimal utilisation of resources and management for the benefit of the society and to achieve the principle of sustainability,” she said.
Abdullah Al Shezawi, Head of Engineering Supervision Section at the Buildings Department said that the initiative has contributed in achieving sustainability in all aspects (community happiness and sustainability/environmental sustainability/financial sustainability).
“The initiative contributed to the levelling of the lands of citizens in Khawaneej area by supplying 4 million cubic meters of sand and rationalisation of the Municipality expenditures by Dh54 million, in addition to the supply of nearly one million cubic meters of sand to citizens’ homes free of charge, making a financial savings of about Dh11 million, apart from meeting the needs of government departments for their infrastructure projects, with the supply of about 9 million cubic meters of sand worth Dh89 million,” said Al Shezawi.
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 tonnes of CO2, in addition to preserving coastal sand by supplying 3 million cubic metres of sand to the beaches. About 13 million cubic metres of sand was transferred to the municipality dumps to cover and bury hazardous waste, organic waste and other wastes, in addition to the supply of 5 million cubic metres of sand for the purpose of filling abandoned sites where work has been suspended, which constitute health and environmental constraints,” said Al Shezawi.
He said the sustainability of the environment will also help reduce the number of municipality dumps filled with drilling products from the construction sites, which means providing land to be used for housing instead of making them dumps.
“We have stopped using three waste dumps on an area of 69 million square feet. The initiative has also contributed to the recycling of sand, with almost 2 million cubic metres of sand being sent to the factories for recycling,” said Al Shezawi.
