Gulf Construction Online - Aecom wins design deal for Neom infrastructure

Saudi Focus

Neom will be located in the northwest region of Saudi Arabia.

Aecom wins design deal for Neom infrastructure

01 October 2020

Aecom, one of the world’s premier infrastructure consulting firms, has been appointed to design transport and utilities backbone infrastructure for the $500-billion futuristic city Neom, a new model for urbanisation and sustainability located in the northwest region of Saudi Arabia.

In addition to design services, Aecom’s scope will also include environmental and geotechnical support, said the company.

On the contract win, Aecom’s President Lara Poloni said: “We are excited to be playing such a pivotal part in delivering one of the world’s largest and most complex infrastructure projects.”

This contract builds on Aecom’s appointment in July last year to provide project management consultancy services for Phase One of the construction in Neom.

“As the centerpiece of Saudi Vision 2030, Neom will become one of the world’s leading destinations to attract talent and investment and drive economic change in the kingdom,” stated Poloni.

“Our global multi-disciplinary team of experts will bring together a diverse set of skills to deliver a sustainable project that will connect communities and create thousands of jobs across Saudi Arabia,” he added.

Neom’s Chief Projects Officer Brett Smythe said the mega city will support an economy that is oriented to the future. “Providing a new model for urbanisation and sustainability, it will include hyper-connected towns and cities, ports and enterprise zones, entertainment venues and tourist destinations.”

“Neom’s next-generation cognitive cities will support its cutting-edge urban environments, improving the lives of residents and businesses far beyond the capabilities of today’s smart cities,” noted Smythe.

“It will be a beacon for future living. We are pleased to have one of the world’s leaders in Aecom helping to create the primary and base infrastructure to support our ambitious vision,” he added.

Aecom Arabia’s President and CEO Ian Laski said: “We are delighted to have extended our relationship with Neom, to which we now provide project management consultancy and infrastructure design services across this transformational project.”

“We are fully committed to supporting the goals of Saudi Vision 2030 and this agreement is testament to our local presence, global reach and track record of delivering projects that enable economic diversification in the kingdom,” he added.

Bill Price, the Programme Director at Aecom, said: “In order to accelerate the delivery of this transformative project, our global team will be using the latest innovations to deliver a 100 per cent digital design.”

“Digital tools will play a vital role in the collaborative approach and stakeholder engagement, with quickly produced visualisations that are built from live design data that is geospatial accurate, enabling and unlocking the power of a data-driven design.”

According to Price, digital technology will play a key role in delivering the core scope of services within the programme requirements, as well as achieving the vision for technological advancement.

“The delivery team will adopt a data-led process, providing information-rich 3D models and geospatial data. The digital delivery processes will also enable collaboration across global teams and provide them with the tools to efficiently design for construction,” he added.