Khaberni - Maher Abu Al-Samn, the Minister of Public Works and Housing, inspected on Friday morning a number of sites in the governorates of Tafilah and Karak that were affected by the floods resulting from the heavy rains witnessed by the kingdom in recent days.
During a field tour, Abu Al-Samn observed the damages sustained by the Kings' Highway linking the two governorates, praising the ministry's staff who succeeded in correcting the road's condition and setting up a detour to secure traffic movement in less than 24 hours.
Abu Al-Samn listened to detailed explanations from the technical teams and stakeholders about the nature of the damages and their causes, and the necessary measures to treat them to ensure that they do not reoccur in the future.
The damages to the road included scouring at the sides of the road leading to parts of it collapsing, damage to ribbed works, and the drifting of large amounts of soil towards the road path and the filling of the stream channel with silt.
The technical teams confirmed that the proposed solutions include treating the damaged sections of the road, implementing necessary protections to safeguard the road body from future flood impacts, in addition to widening the stream channel in narrow locations, noting that achieving fundamental solutions requires coordination with the relevant authorities to conduct a joint study on mechanisms for developing water collection from various sources.
Abu Al-Samn appreciated the efforts of the ministry's teams present in the field for about 10 days, emphasizing the necessity of providing all capabilities to remain in the highest state of readiness, in light of data from the Meteorological Department predicting the renewal of rainy conditions in the coming days.
He confirmed that the ministry is closely monitoring what happened and will work on addressing the damages as quickly as possible, in coordination with all relevant entities, to ensure the continued smooth movement on vital roads and the protection of the infrastructure from any future risks.
He confirmed that work will begin immediately within the available capabilities, and that the ministry will undertake the technical measures necessary to enhance the water drainage system and protection from floods in various affected sites.
