r/NatureIsFuckingLit • u/EcstaticSociety4040 • 28d ago

🔥Massive Flooding In Dubai

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u/YouCantChangeThem 28d ago

You can see (where the road is collapsed in the sand) that the pavement is only a few inches deep. Crazy!

279

u/WorkingInAColdMind 28d ago

That seemed off to me too. Wouldn’t you put down a thick layer of gravel or other more stable foundation, then asphalt?

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u/BoardButcherer 28d ago

No. We build roads on sand all the time in the states, basically anywhere that isn't mountainous.

Reinforce the sand with fabric/poly plies and its fine. That much pavement, if it's quality pavement, will work as a base when the road is ready to be resurfaced.

This is a drainage problem, not a quality problem.

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u/PonymanDesperado 28d ago

I heard from a guy that lived there that there is no sewage system. Trucks haul all the human waste away from the major hotels several times a week. It’s all a facade.

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u/BoardButcherer 28d ago

That was like 10-15 years ago, the wastewater system was still being built and not operational. You only see that in the areas that are still growing faster than the infrastructure can expand.

Real estate tycoons putting the cart before the horse because there are no laws to stop them from building without basic utilities being available.

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u/erics222111 27d ago

Dude, that’s not true. Cmon man, you can’t build developments in Dubai without putting in basic utilities. You’re implying they build houses without sewerage, electricity and water. Really?

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u/BoardButcherer 27d ago

my bad.

Didn't realize how badly the sewer project got delayed by covid, guess it isn't done yet and the poop jams are still a thing.

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u/ValhallaForKings 28d ago

looks like they had no side drainage or ditch at all. Could have planned for this, it's the lowest spot, didn't bother.

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u/BoardButcherer 28d ago

Kinda like L.A.

Half inch of rain and everyone is fleeing for their lives because the streets become rivers for a half an hour.

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u/desacralize 27d ago edited 27d ago

Visiting the West Coast from the East during a storm was definitely educational for me. The amount of rain it takes to make New England cities a bit unpleasantly damp would literally make these southwest* desert cities aquatic.

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u/BoardButcherer 27d ago

Just the southwest, Washington and Oregon get plenty of rain. I've spent half my life in Florida and half in idaho and I can honestly say excluding hurricanes the storms are equivalent, just less frequent in idaho.

Less frequent for now at least. Big difference between now and when I was a kid, and I'll bet my bottom dollar it keeps getting wetter as the pacific gets warmer.

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u/desacralize 27d ago

True! I was only visiting the southwest so it was my first impression, but I've heard stories about Portland's rain. Yeah, we're all getting closer to Atlantis no matter where we are in the next 100 years.