海角视频

Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City

Al Khiran, Ahmadi, Kuwait

海角视频鈥檚 long鈥憈erm involvement in Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City has helped transform a remote stretch of salt marsh and tidal creeks into one of the most ambitious waterfront developments in the Middle East. From the earliest feasibility studies in the late 1980s through to today鈥檚 ongoing infrastructure delivery, our multidisciplinary team has been central to realising the client鈥檚 vision for a thriving new coastal city in southern Kuwait. 

The scale of the ambition is exceptional. With Kuwait鈥檚 natural coastline almost entirely developed, the project seeks to create 273km of new beach and coastline within a vibrant urban environment. Located 85km south of Kuwait City and only a short distance from the Saudi border, the development spans 6,400 hectares and is being delivered over multiple decades. Its defining move is the creation of a vast network of inland waterways that extend up to 9km into the desert landscape before returning to the Arabian Gulf. These waterways not only enable extensive beachfront living, they also underpin the city鈥檚 microclimate, ecology and sense of place. 

Our work began more than thirty years ago, when the project team won an international competition to return coastal access to the people of Kuwait. Following delays caused by the invasion of Kuwait and the Gulf War, development began in earnest in 1998. Since then, 海角视频 has provided continuous engineering, environmental and site supervision support, working as the client鈥檚 trusted advisor throughout every phase. Today, the city has evolved from a series of excavated lagoons into fully functioning neighbourhoods, complete with villas, apartments, open spaces, bridges, utilities and a growing commercial centre. 

We engineered a naturally flushing waterway system that delivers clean, safe lagoons using tidal action alone, removing the need for energy鈥慽ntensive pumps.聽

Our team transformed hyper-saline creeks and salt marsh into thriving waterfront habitats through precise modelling, reshaped聽channels聽and continuous monitoring.聽

Our experts delivered resilient infrastructure from deep sewers to highways and bridges, ensuring long term performance for a city of more than 100,000 people.聽

We provided decades of on-site supervision, safeguarding construction quality and giving the client trusted, consistent technical oversight throughout every phase.聽

Challenge

The creation of a new waterfront city in the desert required advanced engineering solutions and a long鈥憈erm commitment to delivery. Our team faced three core challenges, each fundamental to the project鈥檚 success.

The first was the management of water. The site contained two natural hyper鈥憇aline creeks and extensive salt marsh, which originally supported almost no marine life. To create a healthy, tidal waterway system without relying on energy鈥慽ntensive pumping, we needed to use the Gulf鈥檚 limited two鈥憁etre tidal range to drive natural flushing throughout an intricate network of channels. The risk of stagnant, poor quality water was significant. Leisure use also brought safety considerations, since water current speeds needed careful control to allow for swimming, boating and waterfront recreation.

The second challenge was the sheer scale of earthworks and land formation. More than 250 million cubic metres of material had to be excavated, graded and reused. Creating the inland lagoons while working entirely in the dry demanded a precise sequence of cut鈥慳nd鈥慺ill operations, ground improvement measures and dynamic compaction techniques. Excised material was used to raise land levels across the site, ensuring long鈥憈erm resilience to sea level rise and future climate impacts. The site鈥檚 remoteness added complexity, with limited existing infrastructure and a need for the client to establish its own construction operation with over 3200 people from 20 countries to deliver early phases efficiently.

The third challenge was the delivery of a complete urban infrastructure in parallel with the waterway system. A city of this scale requires far more than new coastline. Our team needed to design deep gravity sewers, major stormwater systems, potable water networks, pumping stations, highways, bridges and public utilities. Some sewers extend more than 20m below ground, while potable water distribution is served by a combination of ground鈥憀evel reservoirs, water towers and long rising mains. The limited gravity head available from elevated storage demanded careful hydraulic modelling to achieve reliable service across the entire development.

These engineering demands were compounded by the need to future鈥憄roof every element for a 50 to 100 year horizon. Long鈥憈erm flood levels, climate projections and patterns of occupancy all had to be factored into the design. As the development evolved, new phases required further adaptation, including increasing commercial space, integrating new public amenities and responding to the rapid pace at which villa plots were taken up.

Solution

Working in close partnership with the client for more than a quarter of a century, 海角视频 has delivered a suite of integrated engineering solutions that have shaped the project from concept to reality.

To address the water quality challenge, our coastal and water specialists worked with Cardiff University and Imperial College to develop detailed hydrodynamic modelling of the five inlets and the entire waterway network. Through subtle refinements to the alignment, depth and geometry of channels, combined with the strategic placement of tidal gates and flow throttles, the system achieves effective flushing using tidal action alone. This natural approach avoids the need for pumping equipment, reduces operational energy use and ensures the lagoons remain clean and ecologically healthy.

The transformation of the two hyper鈥憇aline creeks is particularly striking. Continuous monitoring shows water quality now matches that of the open Gulf, even at the furthest inland points. The introduction of new intertidal and sub鈥憈idal habitats has supported the return of marine life to the area, including several newly recorded species. Mangroves, oyster beds and shoreline ecologies have begun to flourish along the waterfront edges.

Our earthworks and ground engineering teams provided the technical foundation for the entire development. By building the waterways in the dry, we enabled safe, predictable construction sequencing and efficient installation of utilities. Material from lagoon excavation was reused to raise land levels and shape the urban blocks. Dynamic compaction stabilised areas of reclaimed land, while bespoke precast breakwater units provided durable protection to new inlet channels. This integrated approach ensured that every phase could proceed without compromise to later development.

Infrastructure delivery has been led by our multidisciplinary team over successive phases. Highways range from local streets to major arterial roads, supported by rigorous traffic modelling and ministry鈥慳pproved impact assessments. Deep sanitary sewers, stormwater networks and water treatment systems have been designed to serve both early residents and the eventual full population. We also delivered the city鈥檚 key bridges, including the complex 海角视频 Bridge that carries large diameter potable water mains, electrical services and other utilities between neighbourhoods.

海角视频鈥檚 site supervision team remains embedded within the project, ensuring that every element of the design is delivered to the highest standard. This continuous presence gives the client confidence that construction quality is maintained, issues are resolved swiftly and the long鈥憈erm performance of infrastructure is safeguarded.

To address the issues presented by the site鈥檚 tidal range, our team combined a number of subtle adjustments to the shape and alignment of each channel. This, along with introducing new tidal gates and throttles, created a water system that was beautifully simple in its final design.

Davood Liaghat, Head of Bridge Engineering and Civil Structures

Value

Our involvement in Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City spans more than three decades, creating a consistency of vision, quality and technical rigour that is rare on a project of this duration. By combining strategic advice, detailed design and on鈥憈he鈥慻round supervision, we have helped the client navigate each stage of development with clarity and confidence.

The value we bring is evident in the city鈥檚 performance. Water quality is excellent, the waterfront habitats are thriving and the infrastructure has shown remarkable durability, with little degradation even after many years in service. This is a testament to the technical standards established at the outset and the meticulous supervision that continues today.

Our long鈥憈erm presence has also strengthened the client鈥檚 position in discussions with government authorities. By progressing earthworks and infrastructure across large areas of Phase B, the client demonstrates clear investment and intent, helping safeguard the development footprint and maintain momentum.

Most importantly, the city has become a place where people want to live. Early phases sold rapidly, with one release achieving around a third of its sales within three days. Completed neighbourhoods are now fully inhabited, supported by growing amenities, including a major shopping centre and mixed commercial areas. What began as a bold engineering proposition has matured into a thriving urban community with a distinct identity.

Sabah Al Ahmad Sea City stands as a landmark achievement in coastal transformation. Through its integrated waterways, resilient infrastructure and high鈥憅uality public realm, it sets a benchmark for sustainable waterside development across the region. For 海角视频, it reflects the impact of long鈥憈erm partnership, interdisciplinary excellence and the determination to turn an ambitious idea into a lasting reality.