Construction: tackling extreme challenges in Kuwait's deserts

The Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City project in Kuwait's Al Khiran region is an engineering marvel. Unlike typical artificial developments in the Gulf that rely on land reclamation, this ambitious endeavour carved approximately 300 km of canals directly into the desert and filled them with seawater.

With a projected construction timeline of 46 years divided into ten phases, the project aims to create a city for 250,000 residents. Upon completion, it will include a comprehensive infrastructure network, utilities, and luxury buildings.

A major challenge for such a project is constructing stable structures on desert sand. Dynamic soil compaction has proven to be an effective solution for stabilising loose, non-cohesive desert soils. This method increases soil density and reduces the risk of liquefaction during earthquakes, making it ideal for desert conditions, according to Steffen Fuchsa, head of duty-cycle crane division at BAUER Maschinen GmbH.

How it works

Dynamic compaction involves dropping 25-tonne steel plates, called pounders, from a duty-cycle crane to compact the soil. These plates are hoisted into the air and dropped in controlled free-fall up to 15 times, creating craters and compacting deeper soil layers through kinetic energy. The process is fully automated, with operators inputting target parameters like compaction levels and impact counts into the crane’s intelligent control system.

After the first phase of crater formation, the gaps between the craters are compacted in a second phase to ensure uniform soil stability. The craters are then backfilled and further compacted, creating a load-bearing surface ready for construction.

“In their basic design, our duty-cycle cranes are extremely stable and robust specialist foundation engineering equipment designed for high dynamic loads,” said Fuchsa. This is clear to see in the solid steel construction components of the upper and undercarriages as well as the boom. On the other hand, highly robust and powerful diesel engines are built into Bauer’s MC duty-cycle cranes. The coordinated hydraulic system transfers this power to the hoists. “This alone makes Bauer’s duty-cycle cranes the optimal equipment for dynamic soil compaction.”

^{On the project in Kuwait, six BAUER MC 96 duty-cycle cranes are currently in use.}

Dynamic soil compaction presents significant challenges for specialist foundation engineering equipment, particularly in projects of this scale and environment. In Kuwait, the sheer size of the area requiring compaction, coupled with tight project deadlines, necessitates 24/7 equipment operation. The desert environment adds further complications: extreme heat demands constant cooling to prevent equipment overheating, and pervasive sand poses a threat to machinery. To address these issues, protective measures, such as reinforced sealing and cooler guards, have been installed on the duty-cycle cranes to ensure reliable performance under harsh conditions.

“One of the major challenges when executing this method is to always roll the rope perfectly up and down into the groove of the hoist, otherwise there is excessive wear on the rope, which causes high costs for the operator,” said Fuchsa. “Bauer has developed and in some cases even patented several smart solutions for this problem which are unique features of the MC series. The active rope tightening system and the winding assistant should be mentioned here, they make the difference in daily operation compared to competing products.”