Nusail Engineering Consultancy was contracted by Marine Technology to provide pre-bathymetric survey services for dredging activity in Bar Al Jissah, Sultanate of Oman.

Scope of the Survey

The pre-bathymetric survey was conducted to determine the seabed profile along the proposed dredging area in Masira Port on the seaward boundary of the plot.

Equipments of the Study

• Odum Hydrotrac Echo Sounder
• Transducer
• Valeport Tide Gauge
• Sokkia RTK GPS
• Sokkia Total Station and Bar Plate

Survey Procedure

Bathymetric data were acquired at 20 m intervals along each line. All data from each of the peripherals were logged into software. Time was logged in UTC. An Odom Echotrac MKIII Dual Frequency Echo Sounder was utilized with 210 kHz and 33 kHz digital output logging by the navigation computer. Bar checks were conducted before starting the survey each day. The Hemisphere DGPS navigation system comprised a computer loaded with HydroPro software, which received corrected GPS-derived Latitude and Longitude. The HydroPro software converted the antenna position into local UTM projection coordinates (UTM Zone 40Q) with both coordinate references WGS84 Vertical datum based on Chart Datum (CD).

Result

The bathymetry chart was prepared at a 1:2500 scale. The survey area was covered with irregular seabed features, and the seabed remained relatively shallow. Exposed rocks and a sandbar were noticed during low tide near the center of the survey area.