Gulf Construction Online - TRSDC awards key Red Sea development deals

Saudi Focus

Officials sign the deals for the Construction Village.

TRSDC awards key Red Sea development deals

01 August 2019

The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind one of the world’s most ambitious tourism initiatives in Saudi Arabia, has awarded key contracts for the construction of a management hotel and the residential village for the workers at the proposed destination. This follows the award of a contract early last month to Archirodon, a leader in marine infrastructure projects, to provide enabling marine infrastructure at the project.

The Red Sea Project will come up over a 28,000-sq-km area of pristine land on Saudi Arabia’s west coast and includes a vast archipelago of more than 90 pristine islands and lagoons.

Saudi Amana Contracting, a subsidiary of UAE-based Amana Contracting Group, has been appointed to design and build a management hotel at the project site.

The 150-room hotel is due for completion within 12 months and will be owned and operated by TRSDC. The hotel is intended to provide accommodation for staff and third parties visiting the site during delivery of the first phase of the development. The building of the hotel will be sub-contracted to DuBox Precast Products Industrial, based in the UAE, another subsidiary of the Amana Contracting Group.

The contract award, which followed a competitive tender process, is part of a wider Coastal Village initiative to provide accommodation, office space and supporting civil amenities to around 40,000 workers and staff who will work at The Red Sea Project during and after development.

“As we progress with construction of the first phase of The Red Sea Project, we are not losing sight of the need to provide a high standard of living for the workers and employees who will deliver and work at the destination,” said John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company.

Meanwhile, the contract for the construction of a residential village for the workers was awarded in two parts – the first one to a UAE-based joint venture comprising Al Raeel Engineering Construction & Development Company (Arcco) and Speedhouse and the other to Saudi-based Al Majal Al Arabi Group.

As per the deal, each group will construct 5,000 units over the next 10 months to house the initial 10,000 construction workers engaged on the site, said TRSDC.

A further 25,000 construction workers will be housed in the upcoming Coastal Village, which will be awarded later this year, it added.

TRSDC said it will maintain operational control of the Construction Village once completed, ensuring that the facility is managed in adherence to the highest living standards. All construction workers at the site will be housed in the village, whether employed directly by TRSDC or by contractors, it added.

The Construction Village will feature residential buildings positioned to form neighbourhoods around a centralised area that will be equipped with a range of recreational facilities.

The Archirodon contract awarded early last month includes the construction of a 3.3 km crossing to Shurayrah, the main hub island for Phase One of The Red Sea Project, as well as two coastal jetties, and four island jetties. The crossing will connect a hub island, that will feature nine hotels as well as retail, leisure and entertainment amenities, to the mainland. It will comprise two causeways linked by a bridged span. The work is scheduled for completion by November 2020.

The marine infrastructure is key to progressing the development, which is on track for completion by the end of 2022.