Construction dewatering and ground engineering across the GCC
ACTION designs, installs and operates construction dewatering and ground engineering systems across the GCC. Our engineers and hydrogeologists design each system, and our own operations crews install and run it, backed by the largest specialised fleet in the region.
For 30 years, from residential basements to giga-projects such as NEOM, The Palm and Qatar Rail, ACTION has been the team contractors call when the ground is at its most difficult, on some of the most demanding sites in the world. That record is why our name has become synonymous with groundwater control.
Once a system is running, it runs day and night, through the summer heat, until the structure can safely resist uplift on its own. Our crews stay with it whatever the hour, and AURA, ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer, predicts where intervention is needed, so our engineers act before a change reaches your programme.
30
Years in the GCC
8000+
Projects
6,000+
Assets
Construction services
What Construction services does ACTION provide?
From groundwater control to excavation support, ACTION delivers ten specialist construction services across the GCC. Each is designed in-house, or to your consultant’s design, and delivered with our own fleet and crews. Take one service or combine several under one contract, with one team accountable from design to close-out.
Ground Dewatering
Keeping excavations dry and stable, with the right pumping system for the ground.
ACTION designs, installs and operates construction dewatering systems, from sump pumping and wellpoints to deep wells and ejector wells, on projects from residential builds to city metro lines. Our engineers and hydrogeologists model the groundwater from the site investigation, permeability data and, where needed, pumping tests, accounting for excavation depth, groundwater levels, construction sequence, uplift on the excavation base and settlement risk to neighbouring structures.
Where drawdown could reach neighbouring foundations, recharge wells return water to the ground to hold levels beneath them.
Once the system is running, AURA, ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer, reads live data from connected pumps and water levels against limits set by our engineers and predicts where intervention is needed, so our engineers can act before changes affect the programme.
One team, from the first ground model to the final switch-off.
Discharge Treatment
Taking the sand and silt out of pumped water before it leaves site.
Every litre a dewatering system pumps has to go somewhere, and it has to arrive clean enough to be accepted there.
ACTION runs discharge through settlement tanks on the discharge line. The flow slows, sand and silt settle out, and cleaner water moves on. That protects drains, outfalls and marine environments, helps hold turbidity within the permit limits, and reduces wear on downstream pumps and pipework.
Where fine silts and clays won’t settle in the time available, we add lamella clarifiers or filtration. Sand in the discharge also tells our engineers something: a well drawing fines is drawing ground, and that gets checked before it becomes settlement.
We design the discharge route alongside the dewatering system, whether the water ends up in a holding pond, in tankers off site or in the sea, and can take on the discharge permit and work to its conditions. On NEOM, discharge lines were anchored to the seabed so the water entered the sea without stirring up the bed.
Where the water needs more than settlement, such as removing hydrocarbons from contaminated groundwater, or desalination so the water can be reused, our Environmental team takes it on.
Fluid Transfer (Overpumping & Bypass Pumping)
Keeping water and wastewater moving while the work gets done.
You can’t simply switch off a live sewer, stormwater line or water main for repairs. ACTION designs and operates overpumping and bypass pumping systems for contractors and municipalities across the GCC, keeping flows moving during construction, maintenance and network upgrades. We also clear standing water from flooded or waterlogged sites.
Our systems combine self-priming centrifugal pumps and hydraulic or electric submersibles with HDPE pipework, capable of extremely high flow rates when the job demands it, with single pumps rated up to 6,500 m³/hr. Systems are sized to peak flow, with standby pumps ready to take over if a duty pump trips.
On connected pumps, AURA reads flow and pump status against limits set by our engineers. If a pump starts to struggle, our engineers know before the network feels it.
Behind it all: an extremely diverse fleet and qualified engineers with years of hands-on overpumping experience.
Sheet Piling & Shoring
Keeping the ground in place so construction can move ahead.
Sheet piling provides a stable excavation edge, retaining soil and reducing groundwater inflow. ACTION installs interlocking steel sheet piles for excavations, retaining structures and seawall works, and extracts them once temporary works are complete.
On seawalls, the piles often stay in as permanent structure. Where caprock or cemented layers would stop a pile short, we pre-drill along the line so it reaches its design depth. On deeper excavations, ground anchors tie the wall back where the piles can’t hold the load on their own, and grouting closes off the paths water would otherwise take through or beneath the wall.
Our engineers check pile section and toe depth against the ground and groundwater, and where the toe can’t reach a low-permeability layer, design dewatering alongside to guard against base heave and piping. With one team covering the piles, anchors, grouting and dewatering, excavation support and groundwater control are designed as one system.
Our specialist fleet also supports trenching for cable and pipeline installation.
Monitoring & Control (AURA)
Acting on small changes before they become big problems.
A water level creeping up. A pump losing a phase. A generator running low on fuel at three in the morning. Most problems give some warning. The important thing is acting on it in time.
AURA ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer, reads live data from connected pumps, piezometers, discharge flow, fuel and equipment status against limits set by our engineers, with remote start and stop. It predicts where intervention or maintenance is needed, so our engineers prevent issues and keep the system performing to the design.
AURA puts 30 years of ACTION site experience together with live operational data, and that experience shapes how our engineers read every signal. AURA signals. Our engineers decide and act. That means fewer people tied up watching pumps, fewer readings missed through human error, and a clear operational record of every reading, alert and response for the project team.
Permeation Grouting
Controlling groundwater where pumping alone isn’t the answer.
Where the ground is so permeable that dewatering would demand very large pumping volumes, or drilling wells would be uneconomical, ACTION uses permeation grouting to reduce water flow and strengthen the ground. Pumpable grout is injected into soil or rock, filling voids and pores to limit water movement.
Our engineers weigh grouting against dewatering at design stage and choose whichever the ground favours, or combine them: grouting to cut off most of the flow, or to limit drawdown beneath a sensitive neighbour, with a smaller dewatering system for what’s left.
Ground Anchors
Keeping excavations, slopes and retaining structures secure.
ACTION installs ground anchors to tie back retaining walls and sheet piling, stabilise slopes and embankments, and strengthen foundations. Steel strand or bar tendons are grouted into competent ground and tensioned against a bearing plate.
Each anchor is designed around the ground it bonds into and the load it has to carry, then stressed and tested before it is locked off.
Hydrodemolition
Removing concrete with precision, without unnecessary damage.
Sometimes the job calls for removing concrete while protecting what’s underneath.
ACTION uses ultra-high-pressure (UHP) water jetting to remove deteriorated or sound concrete, asphalt, grout and coatings with minimal vibration and without micro-cracking the remaining concrete. It works horizontally, vertically and overhead, on reinforced and non-reinforced structures. It’s especially effective around embedded metal, including reinforcing steel, expansion joints, anchorages, conduits, shear connectors and shear studs. That steel is left clean and undamaged, and the surface textured and ready for repair material or new coatings.
From localised repairs to large-area removal ahead of a bonded overlay, we bring the specialist fleet and experience to do the job properly.
Monitoring & Control
Action provides advanced, remote monitoring, control and automation.
Solutions for various fluid applications that could reduce manpower costs and avoid human monitoring errors at sites. These solutions also enhance the visibiity and site awareness among the stake holders of the project.
System Flushing
Clean pipework. Verified results. Ready for commissioning.
Before a system goes live, the pipework needs to be proven clean.
ACTION provides pre-commission flushing and water-quality sampling for chilled water, district cooling and building services pipework, working to BSRIA BG 29. We have tackled some of the most complex flushing jobs in the region. Our purpose-built fleet, with live reporting and remote monitoring, gives commissioning teams clear evidence of system cleanliness.
Ready for inspection, sign-off and handover on programme, with project margins protected.
HDPE Works
From emergency repairs to complete pipeline systems.
Whether it’s a repair in the middle of the night, a shutdown, a maintenance upgrade or a new installation, ACTION delivers HDPE pipeline works as one turnkey package, from design through to testing and handover. Our services cover construction, installation, earthworks and dewatering.
Butt-fusion and electrofusion joints are made by certified fusion operators on ACTION’s own machines, up to 630 mm. Every joint’s fusion parameters are calculated and recorded, each system is pressure-tested before handover, and all work runs under our safety management system.
How we work
How does ACTION deliver construction dewatering and ground engineering?
One team. From design to close-out.
Every solution starts with understanding the ground, the construction sequence and what the programme needs to achieve.
Consult
We get involved early, while ground conditions, excavation design and construction sequencing can still inform the plan. If the site investigation doesn’t give us enough to design on, permeability data especially, we say so and recommend what’s needed.Engineer
Our engineers and hydrogeologists model the groundwater, set the drawdown the excavation needs, check base uplift and settlement, and size the system with standby. Our workshop overhauls the pumps and engines going to site, upgrading parts that wear early in GCC conditions, so many leave built to a higher specification than they had when new.Deliver
Our own fleet and crews install, operate and maintain the system, with standby pumps and power on site, for as long as the job needs it.Control
Our engineers keep the system performing to the design, with AURA predicting where intervention is needed. When the structure can resist uplift, we switch off in a controlled sequence, decommission the wells and hand over the full record, which also informs the next design.
FAQ’s
Construction dewatering: frequently asked questions
Not finding what you are looking for? Let us help.
Construction dewatering is the temporary lowering or control of groundwater to keep excavations dry and stable, including relieving water pressure beneath the excavation base so it cannot heave or lift. It involves groundwater modelling, system design, installation, pumping and monitoring until the structure can safely resist groundwater pressure.
It depends mainly on how permeable the ground is, how far groundwater has to come down, and the size and depth of the excavation.
Sump pumping suits shallow excavations in stable ground with modest inflows. Wellpoints suit sands and sandy gravels and lower groundwater by about five to six metres per stage, so deeper excavations use two or more stages. Ejector wells work in lower-permeability silts and silty sands, where flows are small but the water still has to come down. Deep wells suit permeable ground and larger, deeper drawdowns, and can relieve pressure in a confined aquifer below the excavation base.
ACTION International Services’ hydrogeologists review the site investigation, recommend a pumping test where permeability data is thin, and model the drawdown before recommending a system. Many sites use a combination of methods.
Until the structure can safely resist groundwater uplift, often well beyond the excavation stage. That point comes from the structural design, once enough of the structure is in place to resist uplift with the required margin, so ACTION agrees switch-off with the programme engineer.
ACTION designs and operates dewatering systems for the full duration required. AURA, ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer, predicts where intervention is needed for as long as the system runs. AURA signals; qualified engineers decide and act.
As early as possible, before excavation depths, construction sequences and retention methods are finalised.
Early groundwater assessment helps shape the design, avoid costly changes and keep the programme moving. Ideally it starts while the site investigation is still being scoped, so the boreholes include the permeability and groundwater data the design will need.
No. Sheet piling reduces groundwater inflow but isn’t completely watertight. Water can still pass through the interlocks and beneath the toe, particularly where the piles don’t reach a low-permeability layer. In sands, upward flow at the base can cause piping or boiling, and a confined aquifer under a clay layer can lift the excavation floor.
ACTION International Services designs sheet piling and dewatering together, so pile toe depth and drawdown are set as one system.
It can. Lowering groundwater levels can cause settlement that affects nearby structures. As groundwater drops, the soil carries more load, and compressible layers such as soft clays, loose silts or sabkha can settle. ACTION International Services models how far drawdown reaches beyond the site and designs controls to limit it, such as cut-offs, staged pumping or recharge wells that hold groundwater levels beneath sensitive structures, with groundwater levels and settlement checked while pumping runs.
It must be discharged or treated in line with local requirements.
Depending on water quality and site conditions, options include the storm drainage network or the sea under a discharge permit, recharge wells that return it to the ground, tankers off site, or water treatment. ACTION plans the discharge route and permit alongside the dewatering design, removes sand and silt before release, and records discharge quality and flow against the permit conditions.
Yes. ACTION designs groundwater control and ground engineering systems for sites close to existing structures, modelling settlement risk to neighbouring foundations and, where needed, using recharge wells to hold groundwater levels beneath them. We also provide specialist methods such as hydrodemolition, which removes concrete with minimal vibration.
ACTION operates its own specialist fleet, supported by depots and crews across the GCC and a 24/7 emergency response capability. Connected equipment leaves the depot verified ready through AURA, ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer. Mobilisation depends on the site, equipment and scope. Our team will confirm what’s required and how quickly we can respond.
Yes. ACTION International Services combines dewatering, discharge treatment, sheet piling, ground anchors, permeation grouting and other ground engineering under one accountable team, so groundwater control and excavation support are designed as one system and run by the same people.
AURA, ACTION’s Unified Real-Time Assurance layer, reads live data from connected pumps, groundwater levels, discharge flows, fuel and equipment status against limits set by ACTION’s engineers, and puts it together with 30 years of ACTION site experience to predict where intervention or maintenance is needed. AURA signals; qualified ACTION engineers decide and act before an issue reaches the excavation or the programme. Every event and response is recorded, and clients receive it as reporting and a handover record.
Yes. ACTION International Services also delivers Pipeline & Process, Industrial, Environmental and Marine & Offshore services, works with municipalities across the GCC on drainage, bypass and flood response, and its Rental & Sales team supplies specialist equipment to almost any sector.