Dubai Municipality is planning to build a deep-sewer tunnel and network in the Deira area of the emirate, similar to the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) under way in Abu Dhabi.

Plans for the project are still in the very early stages of development, with feasibility studies yet to be completed. As a result, details on the size and capacity of the planned tunnel and network have not been finalised, but, according to sources interested in the scheme, the tunnel will be a significant undertaking for the municipality.

Following the completion of initial studies, MEED understands that the municipality will tender a preliminary engineering contract for the project, which will involve providing about 30 per cent of the design for the scheme.

The scheme coincides with several major construction projects planned to expand and regenerate Deira, which will further increase pressure on the area’s existing sewage infrastructure.

The emirate’s sovereign wealth fund, Investment Corporation of Dubai (ICD), is developing the estimated AED8bn ($2.2bn) Deira Waterfront project, which will include residential and commercial buildings and associated facilities.        

Dubai developer Nakheel is also moving ahead with plans to develop its Deira Islands development, a major real estate scheme that will be built on four reclaimed islands, which were originally planned to be part of the abandoned Palm Deira scheme.

The main tunnelling works on Abu Dhabi’s $1.6bn STEP project were completed in 2014. The main 41-kilometre tunnel runs from Abu Dhabi Island, at 24 metres below ground, south to the mainland, where it descends to 80 metres underground in places.

The main tunnelling works were let through three major deals. Two of these were constructed by consortiums led by Italy’s Impregilo, and the third was by a consortium headed by South Korea’s Samsung C&T. Delegates at MEED’s recent Abu Dhabi Energy, Industry & Infrastructure conference were told that construction work on the major pumping station for the STEP, at Al-Wathba, is 40 per cent complete, and the full project is on schedule for completion by the end of 2015.