Roads
Al Watan Road
Assessment and stabilization solutions for numerous high rock cuts along a strategic mountain road.
- Location
- Eastern UAE, Hajar Mountains
- Sector
- Roads
- Client / authority
- Public-sector roads authority
- Status
- Specialist consultancy delivered; construction by others
- DFEC’s role
- Geotechnical and rock-engineering consultant for slope, cutting and earthworks decisions along the alignment. DFEC did not construct the road.
- Services
- Rock EngineeringRoadsConstruction Support
Engineering challenge
Al Watan Road occupies steep, structurally controlled mountain ground where cuttings, fills and natural slopes sit immediately beside a live carriageway. The engineering problem is to keep the alignment serviceable without over-stabilising every face or leaving residual rockfall and slope risk unmanaged.
Analysis and design approach
DFEC combined desk study, site reconnaissance and engineering geological mapping with stability assessment of the faces that actually control risk. Photogrammetry was used where access to high cuttings was limited. Design advice addressed geometry, drainage, reinforcement and surface protection as a coordinated system rather than isolated details.
Recommended measures
- Prioritised slope and cutting assessment along the mountain alignment
- Rock-mass and discontinuity interpretation to set design mechanisms
- Stabilisation and drainage recommendations for contractor execution
- Construction-stage geological review as faces were opened
Outcome
The client and contractor received a clear, buildable set of geotechnical recommendations, with residual risks identified rather than hidden behind generic specification language.
Project photography
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