South al-Mutlaa: 400,000 residents, 12 suburbs, 28,363 buildings – by 2023, a whole city and its infrastructure will have emerged out of the desert sands of Kuwait. This is not only the largest construction project for Kuwait, which is a country rich in oil and superlatives, but the largest project for the GRAF Group to date as well. Since the start of construction in 2018 GRAF, the European leader in rainwater management, has delivered over a million EcoBloc maxx crates. The fifteen infiltration systems, with capacities ranging from 6000 to 55,000 m3, are capable of controlling the seepage of over 200 million litres of stormwater.

Think BIG – this is the driving force behind the Kuwaiti mega-project. The city is emerging in the Jahra Governorate about 40 km from Kuwait City. This housing project is the Kuwaiti government’s response to the national housing shortage crisis, intending to shorten waiting times and reduce the purchase prices and rental costs of living space.

An urban area covering 104 km2 was planned in record time, the area of which is similar to that of Paris. South al-Mutlaa will then provide housing for up to 400,000 people in 28,363 buildings. In addition, there will be 156 mosques, 144 public parks, 116 schools, 48 shopping precincts and 12 public health centres.

Kuwait has a very dry climate with temperatures climbing as high as 47 °C, consisting of 92% desert. With 120 mm of mean annual precipitation, Kuwait ranks among the world’s driest regions. The annual precipitation can fluctuate wildly between 10 and 220 mm.

In recent years, though, there has been a sharp increase in heavy rainfalls. Kuwait’s sewers are unable to handle this unexpected volume, and because this precipitation cannot drain away quickly in the Gulf, there has been flooding in the past with severe damage.

The remoteness of South al-Mutlaa from the sea and the compact, virtually impermeable soil demand infiltration systems that can hold one billion litres of precipitation. Most of these have been installed under the public parks. Owing to the size and the geological conditions, earth coverings as deep as 6 m became necessary, among other measures.

GRAF is the only European manufacturer that the Ministry has commissioned directly to supply the material for the infiltration systems. “The installation depths, the earth coverings, and the ambient temperature demand the highest quality of infiltration crates,” explained Global Sales Director Dieter Kwasny. The quality of the plastic and the system has been verified exhaustively in the form of documentation, certified inhouse inspection standards, and external monitoring and discussed directly in Arabic with the Ministry.

Besides the high product quality, the experience that GRAF has gained over many years in the calculation, planning, and delivery of large-scale projects proved key to being awarded this project. GRAF can plan its shipments on demand thanks to its high and flexible production capacity coupled with the excellent logistic properties of this modular system. The EcoBloc crates were supplied in a space saving, CO2 optimised form.

Furthermore, the GRAF project team has supported its local partners in documentation, system permits, CIRIA standards, site logistics, and the instruction of site personnel. The last of the fifteen infiltration systems were installed in November 2021.

This first involved laying a geotextile on a layer of round gravel in the mounted base, then installing the crates in a block, and finally wrapping the whole with geotextile. The easy-to-assemble crates must be connected on a near horizontal plane. Then they can be combined into a highly stable block. Owing to their low installation height and modularity, they could utilise the available installation space to the optimal effect.