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Neom tenders Delta Junction tunnel contracts

24 April 2023

This package on Neom also includes:

> PILING WORK: Chinese firm wins Neom marina piling works

> SITE REPORT: World’s largest piling project shifts to The Line’s marina

> INTERVIEW: Neom to fix construction

> ANALYSIS: Neom becomes real-world building project

> MOVIE SET: Neom advances plans to be leading movie destination

> OXAGON: Work to start for $1.5bn Oxagon wind turbine plant

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Neom has invited selected contractors to submit bids by 12 June for contracts to complete tunnels that will serve as the railway junction connecting the Spine with the Neom Connector.

Known as the Delta Junction, the project involves 26.5 kilometres of tunnelling work that will be split into two lots, one for the north and the other for the south.

The works will be completed as five contracts. Each contract involves about 5km of tunnels that will be excavated through hard rock using drill and blast and cut and cover techniques. 

The prospective bidders for the Delta Junction works include Riyadh-based Al-Ayuni Investments & Contracting, Jeddah-based Almabani, Spain’s Acciona and Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas (FCC), Beijing-headquartered China Railway Construction Corporation and China State Construction Engineering, Seoul-based Hyundai Engineering & Construction and Samsung C&T, Mumbai-headquartered Larsen & Toubro (L&T) and Italy’s WeBuild.

The engineering consultant for the project is US-based Aecom.

Spine works

Contractors are also preparing to submit bids for work on the Spine tunnels. The contracts tendered cover the concrete works, known as Type A, and the installation of precast sections, known as Type C. The closing date for both contracts has been extended to 11 May.

The Spine is the infrastructure corridor running below the 170-kilometre-long series of 500-metre-tall, mirrored buildings known as The Line, running from the Red Sea coast inland towards Tabuk.

According to data from regional projects tracker MEED Projects, the local contractors invited to submit offers include Al-Yamama Company, Al-Ayuni Investment & Contracting, Almabani, FMSCO, Shibh al-Jazira Contracting (Sajco), Nesma & Partners and Saudi Pan Kingdom.

Neom is also close to awarding a contract for the Connector railway line known as the Connector South that links to Oxagon.

In addition to building a 75km railway line, the estimated $3.7bn contract involves earthworks and the construction of a 12km regional resource and waste management facility, 14 viaducts 6.25km in length, seven 0.62km roads, nine rail underpasses, 152 culverts, freight line and infrastructure maintenance depots, and associated facilities.

In June 2022, Neom awarded contracts for constructing the mountain tunnel sections of The Line. The drill and blast works are split into four packages, with two contracting teams winning two packages each.

One joint venture is FCC with Sajco and China State Construction Engineering Corporation. The other joint venture is Greece’s Archirodon with Samsung C&T and Hyundai Engineering & Construction.

China Railway Construction Corporation was awarded a contract in 2021 for the adits and portals package serving the bored tunnels.

Tunnels are also planned at the Trojena mountain resort that will host the Winter Asian Games in 2029. One of these tunnels, known as the Time Travel tunnel, will have a funicular railway. The others will be used for transporting supplies up to the mountain resort during the construction period and then later during its operations.

Contractors have also been invited to tender for packages related to the tunnelling works, including the provision of tunnel boring machines.

MEED’s April 2023 special report on Saudi Arabia includes:

> GIGAPROJECTS: Saudi Arabia under project pressure

> ECONOMY: Riyadh steps up the Vision 2030 tempo

> CONSTRUCTION: Saudi construction project ramp-up accelerates

> UPSTREAM: Aramco slated to escalate upstream spending

> DOWNSTREAM: Petchems ambitions define Saudi downstream

> POWER: Saudi Arabia reinvigorates power sector

> WATER: Saudi water begins next growth phase

> BANKING: Saudi banks bid to keep ahead of the pack

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Eva Levesque

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