Ras Al-Khair Dry Dock Seepage Cutoff Wall Design and Construction

The King Salman International Ship Repair and Building Complex, located in Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia, and covering 12 million m², is currently under construction and will be the largest shipyard complex in the world once constructed. The overall project consists of design and construction of three fully equipped dry docks, three piers, and more than a hundred buildings and facilities. The dry docks are constructed in dry within two large temporary construction pits with temporary seepage cutoff walls constructed at pit perimeters. The dock floors were designed to be fully water-pressure-relieved with a sub-floor drainage system provided to prevent the buildup of ground water pressure under the floors. Permanent seepage cutoff walls were designed to limit the amount of water reaching the sub-floor drainage system. This paper provides an overall review of the project and design details of the seepage cutoff walls. Some construction challenges are also discussed in the paper.