Photo retrieved from: www.greenprophet.com
“For hundreds of years, Saudi’s Wadi Hanifah River carved out a scenic valley extending from sand dunes and agricultural land pocked with date plantations into the heart of Riyadh before it seeped underground. But the city’s expansion into a thumping metropolis of 7 million people brought the 4500 sq km catchment area close to extinction as sewage and construction waste was dumped in the river.
As a result, the Arriyadh Development Authority commissioned the Canadian architecture and planning firm Moriyama & Teshima and Buro Happold – a UK engineering firm – to submit a Master Plan and Restoration Program to restore the area’s ecological health. One decade later and the Wadi is once again a thriving desert oasis.
This massive reclamation project involved various stages. First it was necessary to clean up the river waste, which involved removing 1.5 million cubic meters of debris ranging from construction waste to dead animals.
The riverbed hand to be cleared and a nearby tannery that was releasing toxic chemicals into the river was shut down.”
Read more: Green Prophet
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