Qatar's massive infrastructure and landscaping requires specialized software

Summary

Qatar has been growing rapidly, making massive infrastructure improvements, which requires water professionals like SEERO to follow specific regulations and use specialized software. One piece of software that's called out in the government manual is InfoWorks ICM.

Qatar's vision for growth

Qatar is one of the most water-stressed countries on Earth. Rainfall is low and mostly seasonal, so flooding can be a concern at specific times of the year, which is intensified by a flat and low-lying landscape. Or, at least, it used to be. As Qatar strives to reach their ambitious Qatar Vision 2030 goals, they’ve been landscaping the country extensively, transforming the elevation of this small nation by building ambitious, architecturally striking skyscrapers, stadiums, and a network of roads to connect it all.

All this intensive infrastructure improvement requires intense water management, which is guided by Ashghal, the Public Works Authority (PWA) responsible for all infrastructure projects and public buildings in Qatar. SEERO, a firm that provides design, engineering, consultancy, and construction management services, is a regular choice for clients when it comes to performing flood risk assessments.

Map of InfoWorks ICM flood risk assessment

InfoWorks ICM 2D flood risk assessment for roads in Dukhan.

10 years of moving forward

SEERO means walk, travel, move, or go forward in Arabic. The name was chosen because it ties into the focus of their business - helping smooth the way forward, particularly when it involves roads or paths. Established a decade ago, they offer a wide range of services, from gigantic public freeways to small roads connecting private farms and businesses across the country.

Typical projects include flood risk assessments for new roads, like SEERO did for proposed routes in the municipality of Dukhan, or local farms who need to build irrigation networks. Some of these projects can be quite extensive, requiring SEERO to do things like measure the width of trenches spread out across an entire network to a close level of accuracy.

Upholding governmental standards

To be awarded contracts by Ashghal, water professionals need to follow recommended practices and methods. One of the key recommendations for Ashghal work is that all roads must be evaluated for water safety before construction. When performing that work, Ashghal’s storm drainage manual encourages firms to use software that can import catchment data directly into models from GIS records. While Ashghal doesn’t include a list of officially prescribed software in the manual, they do call out one example of what contractors can use when modeling sewer and drainage systems in the manual – InfoWorks ICM.

SEERO uses InfoWorks ICM extensively. “The ease of modeling and representing the design of storm and sewer water systems under different flood scenarios to ensure zero doubt is the main motivation for us to invest in InfoWorks ICM,” says SEERO Civil Engineer Yahia Alabbasi, MSc. And, like many other firms, they also regularly work with CAD, especially Civil 3D. This means that when it’s time to model storm and sewer flows, they can take plans developed by themselves and other contractors in Civil 3D and interact with them in InfoWorks ICM. “The main strength of InfoWorks is the easy-to-use, functional interface, which we use to perfectly represent the actual situations we model,” says SEERO Roads/Infrastructure Section Lead Engineer Khaled Aboelenen, MSc .

"Our dedicated professionals work relentlessly to uphold our track record of excellence in planning, designing, and executing sustainable infrastructure across Qatar, the USA, and Canada. SEERO extensive experience with InfoWorks ICM in has increased the type and volume of our business and assisted us to pioneer in this market.”

– Mohammed Sadeq, PhD., General Manager, SEERO

The Doha Golf Club presents many water-related challenges.

Preparing for the 2022 World Cup™

The Supreme Committee for Delivery & Legacy - or “SC” as it is known locally, has spent years preparing to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. One of the most important details for holding the event is making sure every team has high-quality, safe training facilities and accommodations that meet with FIFA’s strict requirements.

As part of the project, SEERO was tasked with helping at one of the most interesting locations, the Doha Golf Club. Home to the Qatar Masters golf tournament, the Doha Golf Club contains 10,000 trees and shrubs, along with special varieties of cacti imported from the US.

Ensuring flowpaths are up to par for FIFA compliance at Doha Golf Club.

Ensuring FIFA compliance is up to par

Water-intensive landscapes like this that are built in desert locations require special water considerations for regular upkeep and maintenance, but also for long-term planning and flood prevention.

Before FIFA-compliant training sites were built near the club, SEERO was able to successfully determine the maximum flood level at locations in this varied landscape where runoff streams intersect with proposed roads to ensure road embankments always sit above flood levels.

Moving forward with growth in mind

Since they began in 2012, more engineers at SEERO have adopted Innovyze software as it has become more integrated tightly into their business. As a result, they are in a great position to boost their growth and take on new clients.

And growth is important to them. Just like Qatar itself, SEERO’s leadership has its own vision for 2030. By then, they want to have 5 branches worldwide, employ 500 professionals, and have more than 200 mega-projects under their belt. “Our dedicated professionals work relentlessly to uphold our track record of excellence in planning, designing, and executing sustainable infrastructure across Qatar, the USA, and Canada,” says SEERO’s General Manager Mohammed Sadeq, PhD. “SEERO extensive experience with InfoWorks ICM in has increased the type and volume of our business and assisted us to pioneer in this market.”