PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Lulu Island Development Project is a residential and leisure development, which includes medium to high-rise blocks, shops, high-end marinas, hotels and leisure facilities. The island is located off the Manama Corniche and close to the Pearl roundabout in Bahrain.

MEDCO's assignment was to source at sea for suitable sands, to reclaim the 600 hectare island and to provide it with the necessary shore protection against wave action.

The dredging and reclamation works were carried out by a new shallow draft, state-of-the-art trailer suction hopper dredger. The works started in September 2004 and were completed ahead of schedule in July 2005.

The project started off with the removal unsuitable material from the seabed of the proposed Lulu Island site, and pumping it into a silt pond using a Trailing Suction Hopper Dredger. Subsequently the TSHD sourced suitable sands at designated borrow areas and used it to reclaim the island up to a finished level of +5.5m CD. In order to mitigate the environmental impact, Middle East Dredging Company installed silt curtains around the dredging pipe outlet at the reclamation site.

Furthermore, a continuous turbidity measurement campaign was carried out all through the project period. Its purpose was to monitor and control the impact of the dredging as well as the reclamation works on the fragile tropical sea environment of Bahrain.

PROJECT SUMMARY