Ground fortifications

War-Induced Soil Degradation, Depletion, and Destruction (The Case of Ground Fortifications in the Terrestrial Environment of Kuwait)... 

Keywords Environmental damage. Ground fortifications. Onsite and off site impacts. Terrestrial environment. 

Assessment of Environmental Damages Caused by Ground Fortifications. 129... 

The main objective of this study is to assess the environmental damage caused in Kuwait as a result of military operations during the Iraqi occupation emphasis will be given to the impact of ground fortifications on the main components of the terrestrial environment of Kuwait. 

Construction of ground fortifications in sediments of high susceptibility to wind erosion. The total estimated number of ground fortifications was around 380,000 units [2],... 

Exposure of huge amounts of sandy soils (resulting from the construction of ground fortifications) to deflation and abrasion by strong winds during summer. 

Geographically, the Iraqi ground fortifications are distributed into two main units in Kuwait. These are ... 

The theater of military operations outside KOC operational areas is subdivided into several sectors. Table 1 presents available information on the ground fortifications in these sectors. 

Since August 1990, the exposed loose sediments have been subjected to wind erosion. Consequently, new active sandy sheets and dimes were developed downside of the ground fortifications. 

There is extensive evidence that damage to the desert surface and exposure of huge amounts of excavated materials that resulted from the ground fortifications has caused a dramatic increase in the amount of sand mobilized in Kuwait. This evidence is well documented in the scientific literature [1, 5-7,11]. 

Table 1 Total number of ground fortifications in different sectors in Kuwait...

On the basis of density of ground fortifications per km, three degrees of surface disturbances were identified. These are intensive (> 100 fortifications/km ), moderate (100-50 fortifications/km ) and slight (< 50 fortifications/km ). The analyses of data on the total surface area damaged by ground fortifications indicate the following (Fig. 3) ... 

Table 3 Degree of damage caused by ground fortifications in several areas of Kuwait...

Table 4 Number of military ground fortifications in the northeastern area (Pakistani sector)...

From the military point of view, more than 60% of the Iraqi troops with their heavy equipment and intensive ground fortifications were deployed in the northeastern area. The southern fringes of this area, which constitute the northern outskirts of Kuwait Bay represent one of the most severely damaged areas by military activities. Damage resulted from the construction of thousands of military fortifications and the establishment of other defensive belts including sandy berms and long trenches. 

The Ministry of Defense (MOD) subdivided the northeastern area into 25 subsectors (Fig. 4). The total areas of these sub-sectors vary between 53 and 104 km. The total numbers of ground fortifications in the different sub-sectors are shown in Table 4 and Fig. 5. 

On the basis of field measurements and information from the Ministry of Defense, the average size of damaged areas and volume of excavated soils that resulted from the construction of ground fortifications in the different sections has been estimated (Tables 5-9). From these tables, the following can be concluded ... 

As a direct result of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, the terrestrial environment of Kuwait has been intensively disrupted by complex systems of ground fortifications. For example, the northeastern part of the country (about 16.4% of Kuwait) was dotted with about 164,153 ground fortifications of different types (about 60 fortifi-cations/km ). Some, 17 million m of loose soils were excavated from these fortifications. The establishment of these ground fortifications has both onsite and offsite impact. The onsite impact includes terrain deformation, destruction of vegetation cover, and wildlife deterioration. While the offsite impact inclndes active aeolian processes (sand and dust storms). 

Al-Ajmi D, Misak RF, A1 Dousari A, A1 Enezi A (1996) Impact of Iraqi war machinery and ground fortification on the surface sediments and Aeolian processes in Kuwait. Proceedings of the international conference on the effects of the Iraqi aggression on the State of Kuwait... 

Sediment Disruption Due to Construction of Bunkers, Ground Fortification and... 

Rehabilitation of Areas Damaged by Ground Fortification and Mining. 159... 

Off-roads movement Ground fortifications Oil trenches Oil lakes Fire- fighting Demining operations... 

Misak R, Omar S (2(XB) Environmental damages caused by Iraqi ground fortifications with emphasis on sand mobilization in Kuwriit. Technical Paper for the Oral Proceedings on the Third Installment Environmental Drunage Qeiims Kuwriit Institute for Sdentific Research... 

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