Environmental impacts of dredging and land reclamation at Abu Qir Bay, Egypt

A future gas plant is to be located at the beach adjacent to Edko Town in the eastern part of Abu Qir Bay. The proposed site comprises a low elevation sandy beach and lagoon. One of the main aspects of this project is to study the possibility of land reclamation using fill material from offshore sources rather than onshore quarries. Another aspect is the method of lagoon drainage and its environmental impacts. This paper presents some challenges associated with the design phase of the project and presents the feasibility and preliminary environmental impact assessments of lagoon drainage, dredging and land reclamation. The study indicated that use of dredging spoils is attractive as it is cost effective, requires less time and has less overall environmental impacts. The environmental assessment methodology used in this study can be applied as a preliminary assessment of land reclamation projects at coastal areas.