Van Oord completes ground improvement on reclaimed land for Al-Zour refinery, Kuwait
Dredging company Van Oord completed a ground improvement project for client Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) on the 1,320 ha reclaimed land where the Al-Zour refinery will be build.
The project started in 2014 with the reclamation of 65 million cubic metres of sand, raising the natural ground level by 7 meters.
Compact ground
Van Oord used two jumbo trailing suction hopper dredgers with a 15,000 kw booster and a 5,000 kw land-booster. This boosters were required to pump the dredged material over 12 kilometres distances.
To prepare the soil for building the refinery Van Oord has now also completed the compacting.
Dynamic compaction and high-energy impact compaction increased the density of the soil and stabilized the ground layers.
Upon completion the Al-Zour Refinery will produce 615,000 barrels per day and has a strategic goal of supplying low-sulphur fuel. It will be one of the largest oil refining plants in the Middle East.
Original salt plain
The refinery will be constructed on the reclaimed land in a ‘sabkha area’, a salt plain near the coast, 30 kilometres north of the Saudi border.
The reclamation project, executed by Van Oord, was the first phase of KNPC’s investment programme for this new refinery.
Van Oord continues to work for KNPC in Kuwait. The project also comprises land reclamation for the construction of a port and the first phase of a LNG import facility.
This news item was originally published on the website of Van Oord.
Read also on this website
● Van Oord awarded several contracts in Caspian Sea, 9 December 2015
● Van Oord's largest hopper dredger started off dredging artificial island Pluit City, Jakarta, Indonesia, 30 October 2015
● New Suez Canal project finished with record-breaking dredge production, 6 August 2015
● Van Oord awarded 500 million euro dredging contract in Kuwait, 12 March 2014
More information
Van Oord
Rotterdam, the Netherlands
+31 88 826 00 00
www.vanoord.com
Impression of the land reclamation and soil compacting for the Kuwait National Petroleum Company, Kuwait.