Sand seabed – CC by way of Public Area Image
CAIRO – 10 July 2026: The Egyptian executive, during the Ministry of Water Sources and Irrigation, introduced that it’s finding out proposals to introduce trendy dredging era for the primary time in Egypt to pump sand from the seabed onto seashores as a part of efforts to offer protection to the Nile Delta’s beach from the affects of local weather alternate and sea-level upward push.
The proposed era is a part of the ministry’s broader solution to adapt to local weather alternate and toughen the sustainability of Egypt’s coastal spaces, the ministry mentioned in a observation on Thursday.
Minister of Water Sources and Irrigation Hani Sweilam mentioned coastal coverage is a key part of local weather adaptation, specifically in spaces susceptible to coastline erosion, sea-level upward push, and seawater intrusion into groundwater. He wired that adopting any new coverage era or choice manner will have to be in response to correct information and complete technical, financial, environmental, and social feasibility research.
Sweilam directed that the find out about review doable sand assets, their availability, and their compliance with technical specs, in addition to implementation prices, repairs necessities, and the environmental and social affects of the usage of the era. The target, he mentioned, is to spot the best and sustainable answers in response to the traits of each and every coastal web page.
In line with the Shore Coverage Authority (SPA), the northern coast of the Nile Delta is one of the areas international maximum susceptible to sea-level upward push brought about via international warming. The phenomenon threatens the world’s herbal assets, together with freshwater, agricultural land, cattle, and fisheries, whilst additionally exacerbating environmental demanding situations equivalent to coastal erosion, coastline retreat, and the salinization of agricultural land and groundwater within the northern Delta.
What’s sand suction dredging?
A number of strategies are used international to extract sand from the seabed and pump it onto the coastline for seashore nourishment. One of the crucial extensively used is the Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD), a era repeatedly hired in coastal recovery and seashore nourishment initiatives.
Dr. Mohamed Hassan Ghattas, the Chairman of the Shore Coverage Authority (SPA) informed Egypt These days that the era is in response to extracting sand from the seabed not more than 30 kilometers offshore, taking financial issues into consideration. Transporting sand from farther offshore would considerably build up prices associated with transportation, apparatus, and gas. Environmental issues also are factored into the method to make sure that sand extraction does no longer hurt the seabed.
He defined that wave prerequisites are sparsely assessed ahead of dredging starts. In some spaces, sturdy waves can harm dredging apparatus or displace pipes and equipment, making operations unsafe and useless.
He added that the dredger is supplied with discharge pipes on the entrance and will function as on the subject of the coastline as conceivable. With a shallow draft of about 3 meters, the dredger can means the seashore and start pumping sand. In reasonably calm spaces with low wave process, dredgers may also be situated at an acceptable distance offshore and pump the sand thru pipelines to the seashore.
“In order to transport and pump the sand, whether by the dredger itself or through pipelines, the sand should be mixed with water, with sand making up about 20 percent of the mixture, allowing it to be pumped through the pipes.”
Responding to a query concerning the doable unlock of CO₂ from the seabed all the way through dredging, Ghatas confident that the method would no longer hurt the marine atmosphere as a result of dredging would happen at a intensity of about 16 meters moderately than at depths of round 1,000 meters. “The advantage of using seabed sand is that it originates from the same natural marine environment,” he mentioned.
“You are protecting the environment with materials from the same environment and helping it recover,” he added.
Requested concerning the amount of sand deliberate for extraction, Ghatas mentioned surveys offshore of the Delta point out that the to be had seabed sand is promising and to be had in abundance “We found more than 3.5 billion cubic meters of sand, which is more than enough to address coastal erosion and raise beach levels, especially during storms,” he mentioned.
He famous that the federal government is enforcing a number of coastal coverage measures, together with putting in concrete limitations alongside the coastline and studing to hold out seashore nourishment thru sand pumping to organize for worst-case situations related to local weather alternate and sea-level upward push. He added that the authority has carried out a maritime survey alongside Egypt’s Delta coast to spot sand assets and expand a strategic plan to mitigate the affects of local weather alternate.
“We are building a strategy for future generations, and we are looking for ways to protect the entire Delta region,” he mentioned.
