Waterway Design Criteria of Land Reclamation Based on an Environmental Fluid Dynamics Computer Model

Jiang, Wei; Zhang, He; Peng, Jingyi; Song, Chunfeng; Li, Xue

doi:10.2112/jcr-si108-018.1

Cited by 1 publication

(1 citation statement)

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“…Artificial structures built on land reclamation should include open channels allowing ocean currents to partially flow through the structure. This permeability would facilitate the flushing of the area downstream and hence improve its water quality [ 48 ]. Very Large Floating Structures (VLFS) also present an interesting alternative to traditional land reclamation methods, especially in terms of reducing their impact on ocean currents dynamics and subsequently on water quality [ 49 ].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land reclamation and its consequences: A 40-year analysis of water residence time in Doha Bay, Qatar

Lecart,

Dobbelaere,

Alaerts

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

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Qatar’s rapid industrialization, notably in its capital city Doha, has spurred a surge in land reclamation projects, leading to a constriction of the entrance to Doha Bay. By reducing and deflecting the ocean circulation, land reclamation projects have reduced the effective dispersion of wastewater introduced into the bay and hence degraded the water quality. Here, we assess fluctuations in water residence time across three distinct eras (1980, 2000, and 2020) to gauge the impact of successive land reclamation developments. To do this, we couple the multi-scale ocean model SLIM with a Lagrangian model for water residence time within Doha’s coastal area. We consider three different topographies of Doha’s shoreline to identify which artificial structures contributed the most to increase water residence time. Our findings reveal that the residual ocean circulation in Doha Bay was predominantly impacted by northern developments post-2000. Between 1980 and 2000, the bay’s residence time saw a modest rise, of about one day on average. However, this was followed by a substantial surge, of three to six days on average, between 2000 and 2020, which is mostly attributable to The Pearl mega artificial island development. Certain regions of the bay witnessed a tripling of water residence time. Given the ongoing population expansion along the coast, it is anticipated that the growth of artificial structures and coastal reclamation will persist, thereby exacerbating the accumulation of pollutants in the bay. Our findings suggest that artificial offshore structures can exert far-reaching, non-local impacts on water quality, which need to be properly assessed during the planning stages of such developments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%