The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) has attributed the flooding at Interchange 42 on the Dukhan Highway, to heavy rains that lashed the Al Shahaniya area and places along the highway on September 11 afternoon.
Interchange 42, or Lebsayyer interchange, is located about five kilometres from the Shahaniya interchange.
In a statement, the authority said yesterday that it took prompt action to deal with the situation in keeping with the approved emergency plan to handle such cases.
Ashghal’s drainage operations and maintenance (O&M) department declared a Level 1 state of alert around noon on September 11, as soon as it learned about the expected rainfall.
It notified all emergency personnel to begin implementing the rainy season preparedness plan. At 2.54pm, emergency teams were notified of water overflowing in the area, which disrupted traffic flow at the interchange as a result of heavy rainfall due to a thunderstorm.
The department then raised the alert situation to Level 2 and soon after to Level 3. Around 4.30pm, tankers were deployed to pump away the water. Ashghal had also installed pumps to drain the water from the road.
Managers from the drainage O&M department and roads maintenance department, as well as heads of the departments concerned at Ashghal, were present at the site to monitor the situation, the statement noted.
The police had closed the highway in both directions as the water level impeded traffic.
 A diversion was also in place to avoid the area where the accumulation of water took place, until the road was reopened to traffic in the early hours of September 12 after draining the water.“The main reason behind the water overflow is the heavy and unprecedented rain that fell for a very brief period in the area. Video footage and site inspections on Friday (September 11) afternoon, showed the intensity of the rainfall, which exceeded the normal average,” according to the statement.
Despite the presence of a surface water drainage system on the road, comprising several tanks and reservoirs, the network was unable to drain the water due to the large volume of rain that fell on the road and surrounding areas.
This exceeded the network’s capacity and design criteria, it noted, adding that periodic maintenance work for surface water drainage networks in the area was carried out just a week before the rainfall.
Ashghal also expressed gratitude to the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Municipality and Urban Planning for providing the necessary support in responding to the situation.