Recognition for Doha drainage project 05 Oct 2017

The Abu Hamour drainage tunnel in Doha, Qatar has been recognised as a global first class tunnel project. Designed by COWI and constructed by Salini Impregilo, the 9.5km long, 3.7m wide storm water tunnel was completed in 2016.

Steel fibre reinforced lining designed by COWI

It runs along the route of the proposed F-Ring Road from Musaimeer Street to the New Doha International Airport and up to 16.5m³ of water flows through the tunnel every second.

Being located in a hot and humid environment with a high concentration of chlorides and sulphates in the soil and groundwater, the tunnel required a highly durable lining to achieve the specified design life of 100 years. This specification was met by COWI with the application of a steel fibre reinforced concrete (SFRC) segmental lining, which produces 60-70% less CO₂ than traditional concrete lining methods.

COWI first designed a SFRC segmental lining for the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) sewer tunnel network in Abu Dhabi, the first time the technology was used in a bored tunnel in the Middle East. That project, where COWI also worked as designer for Salini Impregilo, won the Arabian Tunnel Design Award in 2015.

"It was a great project to work on. It was something new for Qatar being their first ever TBM tunnel and we were working deeper than we had before,” said Vincenzo Zeuli, one of the COWI project managers. "Having a multinational team enabled us to access wider knowledge and experience, and we also developed a great working relationship with the contractor which contributed greatly to the success of the project.”