Gulf Construction Online

Saudi Focus

In brief

01 April 2017

Design ready for Land Bridge

Saudi Arabia has completed the detailed design of its 950-km Land Bridge which will transform the existing rail network in the kingdom into a world-class freight and passenger rail link across the country. The railway will connect the port cities of Jeddah, Dammam and Jubail and will pass through the capital city Riyadh and serve its dry port.

“We have finished the design … we anticipate also building this project. This will most likely have a private-partnership participation building it and operating it,” Rumaih Al Rumaih, the chief of Saudi Railways Organization (SRO) was quoted as saying by The National newspaper.

Top 10 projects worth $92bn

Saudi Arabia’s top 10 construction projects are worth a collective $92 billion, said a report.

Religious facilities, entertainment venues, and new housing developments are all part of the mega projects that are driving the market forward in 2017, according to a BNC report on Ongoing Mega Projects released ahead of The Big 5 Saudi exhibition, which was held in Jeddah last month.

The urban construction and transport sectors constitute approximately 68 per cent of the total projects value in the country, estimated at $700 billion.

Top 10 projects are the $1.8-billion kilometre-high Jeddah Tower, due for completion in 2020; the $3.5-billion Abraj Kudai development in Makkah, due for completion by end-2017; the $17.2-billion Grand Mosque expansion, to be completed by 2019; the $6.7-billion expansion of the Prophet’s Mosque in Madinah; the $20-billion Dahiyat Al Fursan housing development, to be completed in 2020; the $3.2-billion Mall of Saudi; The Avenues, a $1.9-billion shopping mall; the $24-billion Riyadh Metro; Saudi Aramco’s $7-billion Jazan oil refinery which is set for completion later this year, and the $6.6-billion Fadhili gas plant.