DAS Island

Adgas is a subsidiary of oil giant ADNOC, headquartered in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It operates a facility 160 kilometres off the coast of the Island of Abu Dhabi. To make the island larger and add protective structures and industrial elements such as jetties and related infrastructure, Adgas engaged BESIX for all aspects of the marine construction project – from fabricating the concrete blocks, transporting them and installing them.

The vast amount of materials needed to add significant volume to Das Island required specialised marine transport. With several successful large-scale marine civil engineering works under its belt, the client was confident that BESIX was up to the challenge of extreme conditions. For example, weather on the island is unpredictable, with just over half of the year calm enough for the undertaking of major works. Coordinating the transport, unloading and assembling of large quantities of water, cement, aggregates and other concrete elements would prove a challenging undertaking.

BESIX fabricated all required reinforced concrete blocks of various sizes off-site at a production facility in Ajman. The blocks weigh as much as 100 tonnes each, and were loaded onto barges and transported to the island. Each block was unloaded with precision and placed using a Differential Global Positioning System and an underwater camera to guarantee ideal installation. The BESIX team made sure that enough spare parts were available in case of breakdowns, keeping the supply chain running smoothly and completing the project on time.