Environmental Assessment of the Urban Regions at
Industrial Desert Societies
(A Case Study: Abu Tartour Mining Area – Egypt)
Hatem Galal A Ibrahim
Assistant professor
Deptement of Architecture.
Faculty of Engineering In Mattaria
Helwn University
&
Sameh S Ahmed
Assistant Professor
Dept. Of Mining & Metallurgical Engineering
Faculty of Engineering
Assiut University
________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
The desert areas in Egypt are considered as a promising economic
support for future development. Even though they did not pay
enough concern yet. However, designing and planning the
urbanisation society in desert regions meet some difficulties related
to the desert environment. The main objective of this paper is to
discuss the subject of the urbanisation society in the desert areas
and the grade of its suitability for the residents’ needs and the
surrounded environment by establishing two main topics: 1)
Defining the aspects of the design and planning the desert areas
based on the analytical description of the climate elements and
environmental issues in general., and 2) Studying the residential
society at an industrial area in spot of designing and planning
expression depending on the previous analytical description. The
objective at this stage is evaluating the suitability of the society for
the surrounded environment, and acquiring the positivism and
negativism of the project. To achieve the objective, the study
includes two approaches; theoretical and analytical, supported with
a case study at Abu Tartour area. The area has evaluated
environmentally and the results are presented in a matrix form that
would provide guidelines for any future extension in that region.
Several factors were considered during the rating of the case study,
among those were climatic conditions, environmental aspects such
as air pollution, groundwater contamination, and impacts of the
mining activities on the residences and environment.
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1. INTRODUCTION
The growing environmental awareness, in both developed and developing
worlds, has led the industry and the authorisations to minimise the
environmental impacts by developing policies, plans, programmes and projects
that would consider the environmental aspects during all stages of any project.
According to the Environmental Law no. 4 /1994 “All projects should address
environmental issues, taking environmental factors into account throughout the
project cycle”.
The nature of the desert areas with its continental climate, topography,
limited water resources, …etc. is requiring special considerations during the
designing and planning of the urban zones (if they are desired to take place in or
nearby a desert area). Literature review has concluded several issues related to
this matter. However, there are other issues that might increase hazards and the
environmental impacts when the case is associated with industrial development
system at the same region.
This paper introduces the concepts and procedures of conducting an
environmental assessment for the urban regions within an industrial project that
locates in the desert. The evaluation results were presented in a matrix that
would assist in better planning and designing for such cases by considering both
the well-known aspects for desert areas and what should be done in addition
when more issues related to industrial (mining) activities are raised.
The procedure is demonstrated through a case study using Abu Tartour,
mining area, Western desert, Egypt, where a large urban area was developed to
serve a quite big society near the mining area and in the heart of the desert.
2. MAIN ASPECTS FOR DESERT URBANISATION
2.1 Site climate:
In most cases, the designer has a little choice for locating the dwellings.
The client, whether a housing authority, private developer, or individual will
often have selected a site before the architect is appointed. Even when this
occurs, the architect should be able to recognise or predict the desirable and
undesirable features of the site climate.
The urbanisation pattern in desert area is determined ways of adapting
dwellings layout to be relevant to the user need. The duty of the planners to
resolve the conflict between the users needs and the different difficulties that
relate to the nature of the desert environment.
The most important difficulties in desert regions that need a highly
concern is the climatic aspects. It is obvious that a building in the tropics should
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differ from one situated in the temperature zone, but it is less obvious that even
in the same area – city, town, village or rural area – there are microclimatic
differences which should be recognised in the design and construction of
buildings. As a result of various influences the air temperature in an urban area,
for example, can be as much as 8 oC higher than in the surrounding countryside
while the relative humidity can be 5-10 percent lower.
Climatic design is based on typical or normal weather conditions and it is
usually relatively easy for the designer to obtain the necessary meteorological
data for any given region from a variety of published materials. Unlike regional
climate data, site climate information is not readily available and has to be
acquired through personal observations and local experiences. Some of the
more important factors, which may cause local variations, and which the
designer must consider, are:
Topography: The shape, orientation, exposure, evaluation, hills or
valleys and sand dunes at or near the site must be investigated as they may have
an impact on not only temperature but also the distribution of solar radiation,
wind, transportation and precipitation.
Water: The proximity of bodies of water can moderate extreme
temperature variations; land on the lee side of water will be warmer in winter
and cooler in summer. Humidity may also be affected, depending on the general
temperature pattern. The larger the body of water, the greater its impact on the
microclimate.
Ground surface: The portion of solar radiation, which reaches the earth,
raises the temperature of the ground. The amount depends on latitude, the
season, the slope of the ground, the hour of the day and the nature of the terrain.
During the daytime, the highest temperature is always found at the boundary
between the ground and the air. The temperature, in other words, increases
considerably as one approach the ground. At night, as a result of the loss of heat
by evaporation and the effective outgoing radiation, the reverse is true and the
temperature decreases as one approach the ground. Konya, 1984 asserts that the
natural cover of a terrain tends to moderate extreme temperatures and stabilises
conditions. Plant and grassy cover reduces temperatures and while they may be
still further reduced by other vegetation. A common mistake, which can have
most unpleasant results in hot climate zones, is to place paved surfaces, which
store up a great deal more heat and remain hot, longer than unpaved or grass
surfaces. Not only do these paved areas add appreciable heat to the air layer
near their surface, but they also radiate and reflect large amounts of heat into the
building, possibly aggravating already uncomfortable conditions, Figure (1)
shows this idea.
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(a) Paving
(b) Grass
(c) Bare ground
Figure (1): Absorption of heat by different surface materials, (Konya, 1984).
Accordingly, the temperatures in and around buildings can be tempered or
aggravated by the nature of surrounding surfaces. Figure (2) shows the control
in temperature in hot-dry climate when the air temperature was 42oC.
Figure (2): Moderating the temperature in and around buildings by
the nature of surrounding surfaces, (Konya, 1984).
Vegetation: In all hot-dry zones the beneficial effect of even the lightest
plant cover is quite considerable and all existing plants should be taken into
account by the designer. Vegetation also provides protection against glare and
dust. Vegetation has a marked effect on the movement of air over and around
low buildings. In hot climate zone, the air should enter the building through
shade without passing over or through heated surfaces, and vegetation can play
an important role in this respect, as long as it does not restrict the free flow of
the breeze as shown in Figure (3).
Figure (3): Airflow patterns are influenced by
vegetation and can be modified by landscaping (a and
b). Hot air should, ideally be cooled by passing over
and through vegetation before entering a building (c),
(Konya, 1984).
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Sun angle: The sun will be almost overhead at noon in the hottest
months, but in the cooler months it will have an altitude of approximately 45 o at
noon. Slopes that face towards the equator will receive greater intensities of
radiation in the winter months, while receiving about the same intensity as a
horizontal surface in the summer. Slopes which face SW, W, or NW will
receive increased radiation during the extremely hot afternoons, and air
temperatures on these slopes may be even hotter. This orientation of slope
should therefore be avoided. Accordingly, the architect can concern to exclude
as much heat as possible by sitting of dwellings in relation to the sun, and partly
by one or a combination of the various factors such as shading, reflection,
insulation, etc. Any building surface, such as windows, walls, and the roof that
is exposed to the sun can admit solar radiation. To avoid the inward flow of
heat, either direct or indirect, the surfaces on which the sun’s rays fall must be
protected. An efficient control system should take into consideration the
following: - Minimisation of glare and reduction of eyestrain.
- Maximisation of solar heat entering rooms in winter.
Wind: Saini, (1970) states that in hot dry climates, wind is a liability not
an asset. Hot dry winds will increase discomfort and carry dust and sand. Figure
(4) shows the different forms of wind. The main sites to suffer from wind-blown
sand are those, which are open, with little or no natural shelter.
1) “Swept sand” moves along the ground
and is deposited behind obstacles.
3) “Barchans” advancing- crescent
shaped dunes.
2) “Driven sand” rises up to
2m and impairs visibility
4) “Dust devils” caused by the
rising of hot sunlit ground.
Figure (4): Different forms of windborne sand,
(Saini, 1970).
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Temperature inversion: It is another climatic feature, which often
occurs, in hot dry climates. The result is a drop in wind speed, and the lack of air
movement can result in a steady increase in pollution if there is a pollution
source such as industry or heavy traffic.
2.2 Form of dwellings:
This is particularly important in hot climates. The form of dwellings can
be adjusted to take advantage of the beneficial aspects. The form, layout,
orientation, and scale of dwellings should therefore be controlled in relation to
the needs of the climatic zone. The design of dwelling form should not only be
related to improvement of the internal environment, but also to the creation of
comfortable conditions in the external spaces between and around buildings.
The depth or the distance between opposing facades is considered as an
important aspect of building form. As shown in Figure (5), where good internal
airflow is required, dwellings should be shallow with ‘single banked’ rooms, so
that each room has openings on two facades. Where air movement is seldom
necessary, dwellings with ‘double banked’ rooms can be used, to achieve
buildings with greater depth.
(1)
Single-banked rooms (building which are one room deep in section)
should be used when low heat capacity and cross ventilation are required.
(2)
Double-banked rooms can be used to give a high heat capacity building in
climates where air movement is not so important.
(3)
A compromise for composite climates: the upper floor can be used in the
humid season or at the time of day when air movement is needed; the lower floor,
with its higher heat capacity, can be used in the hot dry season.
Figure (5): Effect of building depth on internal condition, (Evans, 1980).
In hot dry climates, the form of dwellings should provide protection from
solar radiation and shelter from hot dusty winds. These requirements can be
satisfied by building forms that are compact and low rise, using small courtyards
to provide light and air as shown in Figure (6).
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a.
In hot dry climates, isolated slab blocks result in large sunlit spaces, which are
difficult to maintain or landscape, and a small proportion of external shaded space.
b.
Closely clustered low courtyard buildings leave less external space at ground
level, but it is sheltered from the wind, and a high proportion is shaded. With low
buildings, the roof space is also more easily used by the occupants.
Figure (6): A comparison between the advantages of low-rise and high- rise
building form in hot dry climates, (Evans, 1980).
These small courtyards will also provide outdoors spaces sheltered from
the sun and wind. With inward-looking dwelling forms and windowless
boundary walls, the building form can be continuous, with one building
sheltering the next. This pattern of dwelling is typical of traditional areas in the
hot dry tropics.
To minimise the impact of solar radiation in desert areas, the relative
areas of the different building surfaces can be adjusted to minimise heat gain.
Ideally, dwellings should be one room thick with windows on both sides of the
building to achieve good cross ventilation. With low wind speeds, windows on
only one side of a room will be insufficient to achieve adequate air movement
for comfort when conditions are hot and humid. When sun and prevailing wind
both come from the west, it is difficult to prevent the sun from entering without
excluding the wind. Wind from the west may be deflected through windows
facing north and south, by staggering the building form and using suitably
placed external walls to create high and low pressure zones to induce cross
ventilation as shown in Figure (7).
2.3 Design considerations of building materials in desert region:
Two basic things have to be considered when materials are selected for
buildings in hot climates: availability and performance. Materials, which last
well in hot, dry conditions, may simply not be suitable in warm, humid areas.
The following are some recommendation of the different materials of building
elements in hot dry climates.
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(1) With wind and sun from the west, rooms with two external walls facing north and
south will have little air movement, but protection from solar radiation.
(2) Rooms facing east and west will have breeze and solar radiation, a less desirable
combination.
(3) The careful placing of external walls can be used to create high and low pressure
zones to achieve cross ventilation ‘turning’ the air movement through 90o.
(4)
The staggering of rooms can be used to achieve the same result, obtaining
the benefit of cross ventilation and protection from solar radiation at the same
time.
Figure (7): Alternative solutions to the problem created when sun
and wind both come from the west in hot climates where cross
ventilation is required for comfort, (Evans, 1980).
Roofs: Because of its orientation, comparatively large area and the
difficulty of shading it from the intense solar radiation, the roof is often a major
source of heat gain in building. It should therefore absorb as little radiant heat as
possible and offer good resistance to heat flow from outside to inside. Whatever
the type of roof, the use of a reflective upper surface is important. Asbestos
cement sheets and galvanised iron provide reasonable reflection only when new
and will need to be painted white or some other light colour at regular intervals.
In lightweight roof construction, Konya (1984) suggests thermal insulation with
a reflective upper surface (e.g. aluminium foil) at ceiling level is without doubt
the most effective way of reducing room temperatures. In massive and
heavyweight roofs are generally flat and have reinforced concrete. Saini (1970)
suggests that grass or some other form of vegetation grown on the roof cool the
air above the roof. On the other hand, the roots preserve a certain amount of
moisture, which helps to keep the temperature down and prolongs the life of the
concrete by minimising cracking in periods of extreme temperature variation.
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Walls: In hot climates, it is desirable to construct walls that will keep a
sizeable amount of heat out of the building. Kukreja (1978) states that the
interior surface temperatures of walls should be kept well below the normal
temperature of the human skin. If the wall surface approaches the average skin
surface temperature 28.4oC, the people in the rooms will suffer discomfort
because their bodies cannot lose heat by radiation to the walls. Accordingly,
wall insulation must provide the barrier against heat in such kind of climates.
Vertical ventilation between the outer and the inner layers of a wall will increase
wall insulation. Since hot air rises, a considerable amount of air movement can
be created by simply providing openings at the bottom and the top of a wall
through which the hot air can rise and escape. Of course, these vents should be
suitably screened to keep out insects and such.
Openings: Openings should be tight closing as protection against high
heat. Low solar angles may bring radiation deep into the house from windows
placed on either the eastern or western sides. Windows, particularly those
facing the direction of the sun, should be small. Deep reveals are advantageous.
Avoid large glass areas. All windows, except those on the north, must be
shielded from the high summer sun. Windows should be broad rather than high.
Exterior sunshades are essential on east windows during summer. If possible,
avoid west windows altogether. Shading devices should be separate from
structure.
Ceiling height: One of the features traditionally associated with housing
in hot climates is a high ceiling. These might be expected to create cooler
condition at body level for a number of reasons, which Evans (1980) described
them as follows:
1. Heated ceilings would transmit less radiation to the
occupants than lower ceilings, assuming the same room area,
since the solid angle of ceiling subtended by the occupant
would be less than with the lower ceiling.
2. The converted heat transfer would have less effect with
higher ceilings, since the heated air would form a layer under
the ceiling above the heads of the occupants.
3. Rooms with high ceiling heights would have larger surface
areas. Any heat gain would result in a smaller rise in
temperature spread over a large surface, rather than a large
rise with a smaller surface.
4. The possibility of having greater differences in height
between two openings gives improved possibilities of
exhausting heated air by stack effect.
5. High ceilings increase the volume of air within the room.
Ventilation rates can therefore be reduced when outdoor
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temperatures are high, as the larger volume of air will not
become ‘stale’ so quickly.
3. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
As mentioned before, the paper introduces the concepts, terminology and
procedures of environmental assessment that would be used for evaluation of
urban regions and its surroundings in desert area. The following sections give
definitions and concepts of the main parts of the environmental assessment
followed a highlight on the environmental impacts of mining activities.
3.1 Environmental issues
Environmental assessment is essentially in both the Project Planning
Phase (PPP) and in the Project Implementation Phase (PIP). While in the (PPP)
the concern is with the changes that will occur as a result of the proposed
development, the concern in the (PIP) is with the changes that have actually
occurred. These changes can be best identified and quantified in terms of
specific environmental issues.
3.2 Environmental impacts
Change in any environmental issue that results from a particular activity,
such as a development project, is an environmental impact of that activity. An
impact can be assessed as the degree of change in a given environmental issue
(or parameter) over a specified period of time and within a defined geographic
area, due to a particular activity. The degree, or impact, is measured against the
situation that would have occurred without that activity.
It is important to note that the baseline or comparison is not static (i.e. the
present situation at particular point in time) but is dynamic – it may change in
the future even without the present activity. Any impact may be positive, in
which the environmental issue shows improvement, or negative, in which
deteriorates. Popular attention is often focused upon the latter but for balanced
environmental assessment it is essential to identify and evaluate both positive
and negative impacts.
3.3 Environmental Assessment Procedures
Figure (8) shows a network diagram of environmental assessment
procedures. These can be discussed briefly under two headings:
i)
ii)
Environmental Pre-assessment: the assessment of
potential impacts that are anticipated due to a development project;
evaluation takes place within the (PPP).
Environmental Post-assessment: the assessment of actual
impacts and a comparison with what was anticipated under i);
evaluation takes place during the (PIP).
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PROJECT
IDENTIFICATION
Pre-Project
Screening
ENVIRONMENTAL PRE-ASSESSMENT
Environmental
Project
Project
Identification
No
Significant
Impacts
PROJECT EVALUATION
Project
Screening
Scoping
Mitigatory
Measures
IEE/EA
Monitoring
&
Audit
ENVIRONMENTAL
POST-ASSESSMENT
PROJECT
IMPLEMENTATION
EIA
Alternative
Options
Screening – assessment of the need for environmental assessment and at what level
Scoping – identification of key issues for environmental assessment
IEE/EA – Initial Environmental Examination/ Environmental Appraisal
EIA – Environmental impact Assessment
Figure (8): Environmental Assessment Procedures.
11
A project may be specifically environmental and so not require
environmental assessment. Otherwise, once identified, the environmental
consequences should receive a pre-project screening, to enable environmental
inputs to be included in the terms of reference to be issued. A major project with
obvious potentially severe negative environmental impacts would require a
detailed formal Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).
3.4 Environmental Issues Due to Mining Activities
Environmental issues due to mining are mainly occurring during loading,
unloading and mining operations. It can be classified as follows:
A) Surface mining operations:
 dust created during operations causing respiratory problems;
 blast, noise and vibration effects from machinery;
 creation of large holes in the ground.
 Waste materials leading to groundwater contamination.
B) Underground mine:
 waste rocks excavated during tunnelling;
 machine dangers and noise;
 water consumption and contamination.
C) Ore transportation:
 dust effects during loading and unloading operations;
 road damage by haulage trucks;
 air pollution and noise;
4. A CASE STUDY: ABU-TARTOUR MINING AREA
Abu-Tartour phosphate mine is located in the Western desert of Egypt (60
km from El-Kharga City, as shown in Figure (9). The ore reserve has been
estimated as 1000 million tons of phosphate. The urbanisation area (1346783
m2) is located mainly near the main road as shown in Figure (10). The Project
area has also two farms with an area of 323365 m2 and 17 groundwater wells.
Figure (9): Location map of the study area.
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3.2 Site evaluation:
Unfortunately, not all the required data for good analysis of the
environmental issue at the study area are available, however, some of the water
quality data is used here. One need to measure the level of noise at different
zones and study the materials used for building the dwellings. In order to study
the environmental situation at the study area, the area has divided into 6 zones as
given in Table (1).
A simple measure for the level of each pollution has assigned as (High =
H, Moderate = M, and Low = L) where the level of pollution at each zone was
compered with the Permissible Standard Levels. The six zones have been tested
against those standards and the results are given in a matrix form, see Table (1).
Table (1): A matrix shows the major environmental issues at Abu Tartour area.
Zone name
1. Underground mine
2. Industrial location
3. Administration dwellings
4. Residential town
5. Farms
6. Sanitary station
Environmental issue
Noise
Dust
Noise
Water contamination
Noise
Dust
Transportation
Noise
Water consumption
Water quality
Degree
(H)
(H)
(H)
(H)
(M)
(L)
(M)
(L)
(H)
Within the limits
Two impacts of the mining operations at the area were studied, ore
transportation and water quality. The transportation of the phosphate ore at AbuTartour area is carried out by the following utilities:

Conveyors: belt conveyors are used to transport the ore from the mine
to the loading points.

Trucks: used to transport the ore to Assiut factory (300 km).

Railway: to export the phosphate through Safaga port at the Red Sea.
All the forms of phosphate transportation exhibit certain common
environmental features, such as:
 Dust effects during loading and unloading operations.
 Truck and rail transport will cause damage to buildings near the town.
 Road damage by haulage trucks constitutes a major environmental
cost.
 Air pollution from engines powering the transportation facility.
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 Noise as a result of engine, horn, and wheel-rail intersection.
Water quality is often a key environmental issue, but can be assessed in
terms of a large number of parameters (salinity, pH, cations, anions, BODS,
conductivity, etc). The treatment of the wastewater at Abu Tartour area is
conducting with a safe margin. The following table is an example of the
analysis:
Substa
nce/or/
Charac
teristic
I
n
t
e
r
.
u
n
i
t
s
pHvalue
u
n
i
t
Suspen
ded
Solids
m
g
/
L
m
g
/
L
m
g
/
L
Settabl
e
Solids
BODS
M
.
D
.
C
Average
Sample
Analysis
1
7
8
.
5
1
0
5.85
1
0
Nil
1
0
4
6
However, as the consultant reported, there is a need for using a certain
amount of free chloride with 5 mg/L to eliminate the useless bacteria.
Maximum Desirable Concentration 1
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5.
CONOCLUSIONS
Designing and planning of urban societies in desert areas should take into
consideration not only the climate, and topography of the desert but also has to
involve a clear idea about the impacts of the activities in the area. The mining
operations, for example, normally add different environmental issues that need a
special attention prior to the designing and planning any residential region. The
case study, showed that should the main town at Abu- Tartour area was well
planned from environmental point of view despite it is not from economical
point of view.
6.
ACKNOLEDGEMENT
The authors would like to thank the people at Abu Tartour Phosphate
Project for their corporations and providing the information used through out
this work.
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
Allan Konya, (1984). Design Primer for Hot Climates. The Architectural Press Ltd.,
London, UK.
Bal Ant Singh Saini, (1970). Architecture in Tropical Australia. Architectural
Association Paper No. 6, Lund Humphreys, London.
Health and Safety Executive (HSE), (1989). Report (111), The Noise at Work
Regulations: Noise Guide No 1: Legal Duties of Employers to Prevent Damage to
Hearing, Noise Guide No 2: Legal Duties of Designers, Manufacturers, importers and
Suppliers to Prevent Damage Hearing, Crown Copyright.
Martin Evans, (1980). Housing, Climate, and Comfort. The Architectural Press Ltd.,
London, UK.
R. R. Hester, and R. M. Harrison (eds.), (1994). Issues in Environmental Science and
Technology, 1. Mining and Its Environmental Impacts. The Royal Society of Chemistry,
Herts, UK.
P. Kukreja, (1978). Tropical Architecture. Tata McGrow-Hill Publishing Company
Ltd., New Delhi.
Layout map of Abu Tartour Phosphate Project, (2000). Scale: 1:50,000.
Samir El Manharawy, (1994). Wastewater Analysis of Abu Tartour Project (Report),
GEOCHEMICA Consultants, Egypt.
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1
3
2
5
4
6
Figure (10). Layout for Abu-Tartour mining area, Egypt.
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