A mitigation strategy for reducing flood risk to highways in arid regions: a case study of the El-Quseir-Qena highway in Egypt

During the past 20 years, there has been a rapid increase in tourism development along the Red Sea coast of Egypt. In the resort of Hurghada, for example, the number of hotel rooms increased from a few hundred in 1989 to 35 000 in 2004, and the entire Egyptian Red Sea coastline has experienced growth. Accordingly, car and lorry traffic between the major cities of Upper Egypt and the Red Sea coast along the El-Quseir-Qena highway has increased tremendously. The road provides access to tourist destinations and is an essential commuting route for workers. The El-Quseir-Qena highway is subject to flash flooding, and several serious traffic accidents have occurred during flash floods. Therefore, this study performed an assessment of run-off water and sediment yield for different parts of the El-Ambagi basin using the Hydrologic Modeling System and the Kinematic Runoff and Erosion Model. In addition, the study aimed to determine the impacts of run-off water and sediment yields on the El-Quseir-Qena highway. The study proposed possible mitigation strategies for reducing flood risk and utilising the run-off water to recharge the basin's alluvial, fractured-carbonate, and fractured-basement aquifers.