Among the biggest challenges Hassan Allam Construction faced building the seawater desalination plant for the greenfield city, New Mansoura, was groundwater control. This was addressed through construction of a concrete diaphragm wall. Also, poor soil conditions necessitated the installation of 80-m-deep reinforced concrete bored piles 45 m below the foundation of the intake chamber.

New Mansoura is on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, developed by the New Urban Communities Authority. “The city is part of the government’s efforts to accommodate population growth and alleviate congestion” in cities, including Cairo and Alexandria, says Mohamed Magdy Mohamed Labib, the communication specialist for Hassan Allam Holding.

The city is designed to accommodate an eventual population of almost one million. The authority decided to build the plant to meet the population’s potable water needs.

The facility’s offshore components involved the installation of 3.5 km of pipeline, both intake and outfall, trenched below the Mediterranean seabed. The plant’s onshore works include pretreatment facilities, reverse osmosis buildings and post-treatment processes.

Completed production capacity is 80,000 cu m per day.