DETERIORATION OF SHUWAIKH PORT IN KUWAIT

Shuwaikh port was constructed in 1960. It is exposed to marine conditions and the extreme hot weather of Kuwait. Additionally, the port is overloaded as ships exceeding the design capacity use the port. There has been no systematic maintenance regime in place and neither a planned and major repair undertaken since the commissioning of the port. Accordingly, the process of degradation and deterioration of the whole of the infrastructure of the port was becoming obvious and apparent. The preliminary visual inspection of the port indicated a widespread existence of cracking, spalling and corrosion of reinforced concrete elements. Subsequently, a number of destructive and non-destructive tests were undertaken for an overall evaluation and the rehabilitation work to be undertaken. This paper reports the investigation undertaken and presents the results of the above testing and the rehabilitative measures recommended to the Kuwait Port Authorities (KPA).