Page 355 - UAE Truncal States

Clio/)for Eight

to Diqdaqah. Work started in 1967 and the road was finished in 1969.
The Development Office built the four kilometres of road from
Sharjah to Khan. But the important link from Sharjah to Daid, which
was to form part of the transpeninsular road, was built at the
expense of Abu Dhabi. After a study had been prepared by Sir
William Halcrow and Partners in 1967 on the feasibility of such a
road across the mountains, the Development Office initiated the first
stage of this project.132 Work commenced in 1967 on improving the
very rough track through the mountains. The Royal Engineers
stationed in Sharjah assisted with blasting rock off the steepest hills
along the track and opening up three mountain passes on the coastal
stretch between Khaur Fakkan and Dibah, which was until mid-1968
only passable on fool or donkey. The tracks, culverts and gradients
were constructed in some places with a view to asphalting in the
future, whereas much of the track followed the easier and cheaper
routes through the wadi beds. The Development Office had ceased to
function when this latter project was completed by the federal
Ministry of Public Works. Much of the track through the Wadi Ham
was redesigned to take it above the wcidi bed, because funds were
then available to build the necessary high bridges.
The proposal to build a road to link Ra’s al Khaimah, Manamah and
Daid with the al 'Ain and Buraimi area, a distance of about 175
kilometres was studied by the Development Office. This road was
considered to be of high priority, not only to link these similar tribal
areas but also because it passed through the main existing agricul­
tural areas and a considerable amount of potential agricultural land.
In a report on roads prepared by the Development Office in
September 1970 this project was described: “By its careful siting to
the east of agricultural lands (present and future) and by its being
structurally designed in the form of a flood barrier, the following
additional results are expected: (a) the protection from floods of
existing areas such as Dhaid, Mileiha and Hamraniyah as well as
sizeable other areas not yet developed (b) by retaining waters to the
east of the road barrier and having it diffused over the gravel plain to
percolate into the subsoil, the progressive improvement of the I
quantity and quality of all groundwaters westward to the sea (c) in
the necessary maintenance works of removing silt washed down at
flood times, to keep the gravel plain surface open to percolation, the
winning of top dressing soils for garden areas. ”133
The Development Office did not start on this project; like many
330