Developing a Mega Port for Kuwait
UK based HR Wallingford has helped build one of Kuwait’s most important ports.
K
uwait has made huge steps to develop its transport infrastructure and important progress with key ports has been made in recent years. Several of Kuwait’s planned industry upgrades and new construction projects are already taking shape, including the $1.2bn Mubarak al Kabir (MAK) Port initiative on Boubyan Island, which was launched in 2011 and should substantially increase domestic handling capacity. Four key stages of the project, including dredging to allow access for super tankers and the construction of 24 new berths, are set to be completed this year. According to reports, the government plans to privatise MAK and other ports and has taken steps to begin this process. Kuwait’s drive to upgrade its
ports has provided opportunities to multi-national construction companies and other sector players.
Developing a port master plan UK-based research and
consultancy in civil engineering and environmental hydraulics firm HR Wallingford has been instrumental in developing the Mubarak Al-Kabeer port.
With
expertise in complex water-related challenges faced by a number of international clients, the company was well placed to assist in this major undertaking for Kuwait. The firm first became involved in the port project in Kuwait in 2006,
supporting the development of the port master plan. The port plan was part of an
overall master plan for Boubyan Island, the largest of Kuwait’s islands at approximately 850 square kilometres, which would include residential and industrial developments, with a new improved bridge link to the mainland and on to Kuwait City within the master plan. Half of the island was to be designated as a nature reserve due to its environmental sensitivity. The project to create a port on Boubyan Island is complex, not only because the island is uninhabited and composed almost entirely of soft muddy flats called Sab kha, but also because of its proximity to the nearby international border.
Designing and confirmation HR Wallingford worked on the
detailed design studies for phases one and two of the port and the confirmation studies for the design concept of the completed layout, supporting the main contractors Hyundai and their design and environmental consultants Royal Haskoning DHV. HR Wallingford provided a programme of modelling and assessment services for the port design and environmental impact assessment. This support was provided through a series of dark assessments, expert analysis and modelling studies looking into
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siltation, dredging and metocean studies as well as specific, key issues for the operation of the port, such as vessel movement at berth, wave overtopping of the quay and flushing of the small vessel harbour.
Fast track approach To enable the project to be
delivered on time, the modelling studies were conducted in parallel. The modelling tools were used to refine the layout of the port, to reduce the predicted siltation and maintenance dredging requirements. These tools were also to formulate longer-term predictions of the environmental conditions at the site, both with and without the port development. The extent of the development meant regional scale investigations were required to understand the primary environmental forces, their
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HR WALLINGFORD
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