Crowd Dynamics Ltd - Ministry of Haj workshops

We ran a series of crowd dynamics workshops from Sept-Dec 2004 in preparation for the 2005 Haj (Jan 2005 - 1425H).

Format of the Crowd Dynamics - Ministry of Haj workshops - 2004 (for 2005 Haj).

Click here to download a press article is from the Haj and Umra (Volume 59, issue 10, December 2004).

Haj 2006/2007 - (2nd Jan 2007)

Arab News

In a press statement on Sunday evening at Mina, Prince Naif expressed his optimism on the passing of the second day of “Tashreeq” (the third day of Eid) smoothly and peacefully, because of three reasons. One, he said, was thanks to the decree by Islamic scholars that the stoning at the Jamrat at any time of the day during Haj is valid. Earlier, many pilgrims believed that the stoning had to take place after noon (Dhuhr) prayers. Prince Naif said the second reason the flow was smoother this year was due to the crowd-control procedures implemented by Civil Defence authorities. The third reason: overall increase in security personnel..

Security Forces Win Applause for Successful Haj Operation#

Arab News

JEDDAH, 7 January 2007 — Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah yesterday commended the role played by Saudi security forces in making this year’s Haj a resounding success. “We appreciate the efforts of security forces in ensuring the safety and security of more than 2.54 million pilgrims who performed Haj this year,” the Saudi Press Agency quoted the king as saying. King Abdullah made this comment while replying to a message from Interior Minister and Chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee Prince Naif, who had informed the king that 2,540,436 pilgrims performed Haj this year. Security officers successfully carried out the Haj plan despite the tense regional and international situations, he added. Prince Naif said the establishment of the new Jamrat Bridge, the dispatch of pilgrims in groups to Jamrat and the introduction of a new force to control pedestrian movement in the streets of the holy sites had contributed to the successful organization of Haj.

Haj Operation Huge Success: Prince Naif

Ali Hawash, Arab News

MAKKAH, 23 December 2007 — Interior Minister Prince Naif, who is also chairman of the Supreme Haj Committee, declared yesterday the success of this year’s Haj operation and commended security officers for their excellent work in managing the world’s largest gathering. “Thanks be to God, there was not a single accident and the Kingdom and all pilgrims are free of diseases and epidemics and this is, of course, a great blessing from God,” Prince Naif told commanders of security forces that took part in the Haj operation. The minister had only praise for the security forces for their efforts to ensure the security and safety of the guests of God who came from more than 180 countries. Nearly three million pilgrims, including 1.7 million from abroad, performed Haj this year. “You have won the satisfaction of the pilgrims. You have also received appreciation from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah and Crown Prince Sultan for work well done. The people of Saudi Arabia are proud of you,” the prince told the officers. Prince Naif said it was a great honor for Saudi security officers to serve the guests of God. “We thank God for helping us to do our duty. We have also proved to the world that we are capable of carrying out this mission,” the minister said.

The Jamarat Bridge was 30 years old. Following the accident at Jamarat Bridge in 2004 - Crowd Dynamics Ltd. modelled the elliptical pillars at the Jamarat Bridge and advised on several safety improvements to the site (increasing the width of the Al-Kubra stoning area, changing positions of the exit barriers (al-Kubra area) and pillar locations (ground floor). The main element of our analysis related to the change of shape of the Jamarat Pillars - from small circles to large elliptical walls. The Haj of 2005 passed without accidents as a result of these changes and the increased awareness of Crowd Dynamics by the authorities.

We modelled and validated the high density build up at the Jamarah pillars and used these models to assess the aspect ratio for the new elliptical Jamarah pillar/wall design. The behaviour of the pilgrims, waiting until noon in a vast crowd, puts an enormous load on the Eastern Entrance. The width is 45 metres, the crowd can exceed several hundred thousand which exceeds the safe capacity of the entrance.

We advised on the dangers of this "hard start" to the event (a "hard start" is when the crowd waits until a signal THEN proceeds to move).

In Jan 2006 an accident occurred at the entrance (see diagram above). In any high density crowded environment the areas of greatest risk are where the crowd change direction (corners) and/or change speed. Using Myriad II software we highlighted the areas of highest risk and documented this in a report to the Ministry in mid-2005. The report was ignored. To avoid repeating previous accidents a new, multi-tiered bridge has 12 different entry points and 5 levels (ground plus 4) which will change the dynamics of the entire valley. This new bridge will not be completed for the next Haj - but two levels (ground and first floor) will be operational for this Haj.

Crowd Dynamics assist in modelling and design of the OLD JAMARAT Bridge (2004) for the Haj (2005)

This project included assessing the crowd dynamics on the bridge and the effect of removing pillars on the ground floor (under the bridge). By using computer simulations we we able to define (value engineering) the optimal size of the Jamarah pillars (devil stones) and the ground floor layout/configuration of the pillars.

In this type of project a close liaison with the structural engineers and construction company is essential. We also highlighted, in numerous reports, the extreme high density problems at Al-Jamarat. The project was completed in 2004 for the 2005 Haj - there were no accidents in the 2005 Haj.

Below - simulation of the crowd density build up at Jamarah Al-Kubra (al-aqaba) the large Jamarah.

Below - new modelling system developed - allowing us to test changes to the geometry and/or barrier configurations