Gulf Construction Online

Saudi Focus

Update

01 May 2015

Jacobs secures Modon contract

JACOBS Engineering Group has won a two-year contract from Saudi Industry Property Authority (Modon) for supervision consultancy services to support the development of three industrial cities in Saudi Arabia.

As per the deal, Jacobs will manage and supervise several construction contracts for the development of three industrial cities as part of a multi-billion-dollar investment into 40 industrial cities, representing a total area of 178 million sq m across the country.

One of the world’s largest and most diverse providers of technical professional and construction services, Jacobs said the construction works required comprise various integrated infrastructure and services including roads, water distribution, power and telecommunications.

Foster + Partners back transport plan

Foster + Partners has been appointed to develop the architectural vision for Jeddah’s city-wide public transport plan, following an international design competition.

According to the British design firm, the vision for Jeddah’s transport network takes a long-term, sustainable approach, which anticipates growth centuries from now. It includes the design of metro, ferry, bus, cycle, public spaces and nodes of development.

“The comprehensive plan extends from the design of the stations to the trains and branding,” it said.

“In addition, the development of the metro system will create a new urban amenity for the city of Jeddah at key locations below the elevated track,” said a spokesman for Foster + Partners.

Mosque expansion work on target

THE construction work at the Grand Mosque in Makkah is progressing well and the project is likely to be completed before the middle of next month, said a report in the Arab News.

The mega projects, ordered by the late King Abdullah, include expansion of the Grand Mosque. About 73 per cent of the work has already been completed, reported the paper, citing a senior official.

The work, which also includes a mezzanine floor designed for push-chairs for those with special needs, is being implemented in three stages, stated projects administration director Sultan bin Aati Al Qurashi.

Big tourism projects planned

Saudi Tourism authorities are set to develop a key project on a two-million-sq-m area of land in Al Ahsa region of the kingdom, said a report.

The project includes a commercial mall, hotel, tourism, recreational and marketing services, reported the Arab News, citing a senior tourism official.

Earthmoving equipment market grows

Saudi Arabia is fast becoming a major market for earthmoving equipment manufacturers, thanks to the ongoing construction and infrastructure development activities in the country, said a report.

The earthmoving equipment market in Saudi Arabia is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.2 per cent over the next six years, according to a study by 6wresearch.

The growing civil construction market, mining industry and coupled with the rise in spending on construction of public infrastructure have boosted Saudi Arabia’s earthmoving equipment market.

Loaders have prominently fuelled the growth of the overall market followed by construction tractors and excavators. In the forecast period, the construction tractors is anticipated to marginally decline owing to the demand for excavators.

Acwa JV wins big Saudi gas project

ACWA Holding, a regional infrastructural developer in the power and water sectors, along with its joint venture partner US-based Air Products, has won a key contract from Saudi Aramco to build, own and operate the world’s largest industrial gas complex in the country.

The new facility will be majority owned by Acwa Holding (75 per cent), while Air Products – a major industrial gases company – will have a 25 per cent stake.

Air Products said, on completion, the complex will supply 75,000 tonnes per day (20,000 tonnes of oxygen and 55,000 tonnes of nitrogen) for 20 years to Saudi Aramco’s refinery being built in Jazan.

The complex will be designed and built by Air Products using its proprietary technology.

Commenting on the contract win, Seifi Ghasemi, the chairman, president and CEO at Air Products, said: “We consider it an honour and a privilege to use our proprietary technology to design and build the world’s largest industrial gas complex for an outstanding client and the largest company in the world, Saudi Aramco.”

Asian contractors win Tasnee project

Saudi Arabia’s National Industrialisation Company (Tasnee) said it has chosen Taiwan’s CTCI and Japan’s Chiyoda Corp to build a titanium sponge plant for its majority-owned Cristal subsidiary.

The two contractors are expected to finish construction of the plant in Yanbu on the Red Sea coast in the first half of 2017, with trial and commercial operations due in the third quarter of that year, Tasnee said.

The plant, which will cost an estimated $290 million, is to have an annual capacity of 15,600 tonnes.

Titanium sponge is an intermediate product that is purified into ingots and mill products.

Tasnee and Cristal each have a 32.5 per cent stake in the project, while Toho Titanium has 35 per cent.