Mövenpick
Dead Sea

Mövenpick Dead Sea —
Resort Construction
at the World's Lowest Point

The Mövenpick Dead Sea is one of a Grade One five-star resort properties, positioned in the heart of the Dead Sea tourism corridor at approximately 430 metres below sea level. CEC was engaged as the main civil engineering and construction contractor, responsible for the complete structural, architectural, and civil works of the resort.

The Mövenpick brand represents a specific level of architectural quality, resort amenity, and operational standard that places demanding requirements on construction delivery. CEC's ability to meet these requirements — as verified by the client and brand throughout the construction process — reflects the same engineering discipline that made CEC the contractor of choice for the Holiday Inn Dead Sea, the other landmark property on the same Dead Sea shoreline.

The resort encompasses the main hotel structure with guest room wings, multiple food and beverage outlet buildings, a large pool and spa complex, expansive outdoor amenity areas, and the full back-of-house infrastructure supporting a major luxury resort operation. The construction programme required meticulous coordination of multiple simultaneous work fronts across the resort's considerable site area.

Engineering the Dead Sea Environment

The Dead Sea construction environment presents engineering challenges unique in the world. CEC addressed each with systematic technical solutions:

• Hypersaline corrosion protection: Sulphate-resistant concrete throughout, with enhanced cover and protective coatings on reinforcement in high-exposure zones, protecting the structure against the Dead Sea's 34% salinity atmospheric moisture.
• High water table management: Comprehensive waterproofing systems to all below-grade structures, applied in multiple redundant layers appropriate to the saline groundwater conditions at the Dead Sea shoreline.
• Summer construction management: Pre-chilled concrete mixes, night-time pours for major structural elements, and post-pour curing regimes to manage heat of hydration in summer temperatures regularly exceeding 45°C.
• Resort pool engineering: Multiple resort pool shells constructed with specialist waterproofing systems compatible with the Dead Sea's extreme salinity in the ambient environment, even though pool water is not Dead Sea water.

Scope of Work

CEC's construction scope on the Mövenpick Dead Sea included: complete reinforced concrete structural frame construction; deep foundation works; multiple swimming pool and spa structure construction; landscaping civil works including terracing and outdoor amenity areas; all external works including access roads, car parking, and perimeter infrastructure; embedded MEP rough-in coordinated with the specialist fit-out contractor; and full architectural finishes to Mövenpick brand specification.