As cities expand and populations rise, utilities come under increasing strain. Doha is presently undergoing a massive expansion with several new major real estate developments under way and dozens of new tower blocks under construction.

A continued programme of investment has helped transmission networks expand in line with the city and to ensure the country has a large reserve margin between electricity supply and demand.

Now attention is turning to the Doha’s sewerage system. Tendering of a $2.72bn scheme to radically overhaul the way sewage is managed in Doha is set to get under way this year. The Inner Doha Resewerage Implementation Strategy (Idris) is intended to cater for the wastewater needs of southern Doha for the next 50 years.

It is an enormous project that is essential to ensuring public services in Qatar keep pace with the demands of a modern metropolis. It involves digging and building more than 30 kilometres of main trunk sewer lines and 76km of lateral interceptor lines.

The scale of the project is such that it has the potential to bring major disruption to the city. The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has come up with an innovative solution that involves a system of conveyors to remove the excavated earth without using trucks. With so many projects planned over the next decade, keeping the city moving during their execution will be as important as the projects themselves.