Saudi Arabia was a underdeveloped country in the 1960’s when its ruler, King Faisal, began a scope of high-reach modernization. Faisal initiatives consisted of building all types of infrastructure and the creation of essential industries such as petrochemicals, iron, steel, cement and mining.
In 1975, the Army District Office of Army oversee $ 8 billion ($ 48 billion today), which includes homes, roads, airports, hospitals, schools, office buildings, factories, military installations, electric power plants, wastewater treatment plants, desalination plants, ports and refineries. The specifications requested the installation of teams created by the United States and required all design work to be addressed to American design companies, but construction contracts were open to international offers competition.
One of the main inaccuracies for North -American contractors to make an offer in this work was a Saudi requirement that would put a 10% performance bail on a Saudi bank as a guarantee of all public projects. This contractual requirement drained the lines of credit of North -American companies and discouraged many to enter the Saudi market quickly growing. Following the intercession of North -American commercial groups, the General Associate Contractors of America, the National Builders Association and the International Council of Construction Engineering and Industries, the Saudi Government allowed contractors to launch good security performance. This turned its doors open.
Foreign contractors who began in Saudi Arabia faced serious challenges. All construction equipment had to be imported and, except for the aggregate, asphalt and a little cement, so did all the materials. The equipment and the material could only enter through two ports, and the delays of four to six weeks were common. Local labor supply was severely low, so contractors brought workers from other Arab countries, as well as Pakistan, South Korea and the Philippines.
An cornerstone of the development program was a $ 7 billion desalination network combined with natural gas plants, which would supply water to refineries, industrial plants and new communities. Prince Mohammed al-Faisal, who was in charge of the energy and desalination programs, providing a total of $ 45 billion for five years, visited the United States to launch industry companies on expanding market opportunities. The first American Consortium to compete was formed by Blunt Bros. Corp .; Chas. T. Main Inc .; General Electric Co .; Combustion Engineering Inc .; Chicago Bridge & Iron Co .; and Newport News Industrial Corp.
Jubail, a small fishing village of the Persian Gulf in 1975, was transformed into an industrial colossus of 360 square kilometers, with a significant international port, a steel factory and aluminum plants and fertilizers along with housing, roads, power and water infrastructure needed. Developed by Bechtel, it became one of the largest petrochemical complexes in the world and accommodated 70,000 residents in 1992. A massive land was made for flood protection. In addition, it is needed “ filled to cover large subkah extensions, a weak mixture of clay, sand and clay with a high water table, ” said an ENR article in 1978. ” At times of the three -month wet season, even bulldozers are taken into account in this material. A Saudi engineer recalls to see a car disappear after leaving a road to the subkah. The construction force was expected to grow up to 40,000 in the mid -1980’s. Today, the population of Jubail is 500,000. A 1985 Cover History in the city reported that the Guinness Book of World Records considered Jubail to be the largest construction project in history.
Yanbu, a German Jubail project, was located on the Roig Sea coast and offered much more direct shipping routes to European clients. The Ralph M. Parsons Co. He completed the Master Plan, managed the design and construction of infrastructure, and established the requirements for companies that would build industrial plants. It included two refineries, a plant of natural and terminal gas liquids, steel factory, aluminum casting, deep water oil terminal and airport. Two 800 mile pipes supplied the raw material to refineries: a 48-in-day pipeline with a capacity of 2.4 million barrels daily and a 26 in. Up to 30 in.-Day Liquids of natural gas. By 1981, the construction labor had reached 23,000. An article from 1983 was the cost of the project to reach $ 26 billion in 1985, with the planned population up to 50,000. Today the city of Yanbu is hosting 260,000 residents.
A complete scheme of military projects was conceived, including two naval bases, various academies and four major bases. King Khalid Military City (KKMC), a green field of 220 square kilometers in the northeastern part of the country, became 70,000 military, families and support staff. He housed three brigades and the Saudi School of Combat Engineering. The work was divided into 34 separate contracts, in order to allow medium -sized companies to compete. The world prefabricated concrete plants decreased the elements up to 41 tons and produced isolated sandwich wall panels designed to maintain desert heat. KKMC was 4,500 feet deep to supply water, its own airport and its own port 180 kilometers away from the gulf to provide materials and equipment. The $ 9 million project workforce reached 20,000.
Riyadh’s International King Khalid Airport featured five triangular terminals, designed by Helmuth, Obata and Kassabaum, as well as a hexagonal mosque of 5,000 people and one of the highest control towers in the world. Bechtel managed the main planning, as well as providing a sophisticated logistics system for shipping materials and equipment ordered by the 66 contractors. Logistics control offices in San Francisco, Baltimore, Rotterdam and Tokyo tracked the shipments from the suppliers to the port of Damman, through customs, and finally by truck or railway for the final leg of 220 miles. The labor force reached 12,000 and began to operate in 1983.
Jeddah, in the Red Sea, is the entrance point for foreign pilgrims who participate in the annual hajj in the sacred cities of Mecca and Medina. The volume of international pilgrims grew rapidly, from 100,000 in 1950 to almost 500,000 arriving in air in 1975. The North -American Airways Engineering Corp contract won the airport design contract in 1965 and pledged Edward Durrell Stone to design the main terminal building. The project was latent when the Saudis applied their attention and funds to the six -day war of 1967. Hochtief won the construction contract in 1974, but the international civil aviation authority intervened and recommended expanding the terminal, forcing a redesign. The Saudis agreed and later added an even greater expansion. Skidmore, Owings & Merrill was invited to join the design team and a joint Parsons-Daniel joint company was presented as CM. Minoru Yamasaki was invited to design a royal pavilion. The labor force increased to 10,000 and the price ended with $ 4.3 billion.
The distinctive feature of the airport was a 105 -hectare -covered roof, which offered refuge for pilgrims masses ranging from immigration and luggage manipulation to food services and rest areas and then on the bus terminal. It consists of 210 roof units similar to the Tefló -covered fiberglass tissue tissue made by Owens Corning, every 148 square feet, supported by pylons and cables 148 feet high.
King Saud University, an educational show, was designed by a joint company, Hok + 4. Ability to accommodate 21,500 students, the Campus of 2,400 hectares consisted of densely arranged buildings of low levels built by a repetitive modular system of prefabricated concrete elements. The Chief Gyo Obata designer used elements of Najd’s traditional architecture of Central Arabia, such as grouping together to provide shade and narrow windows to maintain sunlight. The main walkways on the campus are covered by prefabricated concrete arches and palm -like columns. The tanned concrete resembled non -advance clay, used in traditional Najdi buildings. The French-American joint company of Bouygues and Blunt International Ltd. He built 6.7 million square meters of academic buildings in less than 40 months. The project bill was $ 4 billion.
In 1977, the Middle East Division of the body managed a program of $ 17 million from Saudi projects. The division occupied 743 civilians and 67 military, divided between offices in Berryville, Va. And Riyadh. The program opened its doors for American companies to a wide range of private sector work in the kingdom. In recognition of their leadership role in the support of internationally renowned American companies, Edditors chose to give their 1977 Lieutenant General John W. Morris, the 1976-80 army engineers.
