Jeddah Municipality has asked firms to submit their commercial proposals in March for a contract to construct the King Abdullah Road-Falasteen Road (Kafa) tunnel within the Jeddah city area in the Mecca region of Saudi Arabia. The firms are required to submit their proposals on 10 March.  The project was retendered in October last year. The Kafa tunnel is being developed in two phases. The first phase involves the construction of two tunnels. The three-year scheme involves constructing 5.33 kilometres (km) of tunnels with an internal diameter of 7.2 metres using tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and another 3.43km of tunnels with a diameter of 3.5 metres driven by pipe jacking or TBMs. The scope of phase two includes constructing a terminal pumping station, a marine outfall and all necessary online and offline shafts. Jeddah Municipality invited contractors to prequalify for the contract to build the tunnels in March last year. It is understood the client received responses to the request for qualifications in June. US-based Aecom is the consultant for the project. The works for Kafa package one will be located along King Abdullah Road and the surrounding roads, including Prince Majid and part of Bani Malik. Ground conditions have been an ongoing issue for contractors working in Jeddah for many years. The client has cautioned that TBMs must be “suitable for highly variable ground conditions from stable very-hard rock to soft water-bearing ground or vice versa without any addition”. It added: “The TBM shall be flexibly designed to adapt to changing ground in terms of supporting and excavation methods, requiring short conversion times within the tunnel alignment, ensuring optimum safety and flexibility during the entire tunnelling process.” GlobalData expects the Saudi Arabian construction industry to record an annual average growth rate of 5.2% from 2025 to 2028, supported by investments in the transport, electricity, housing, and tourism infrastructure projects and the $850 billion-plus giga projects program. The infrastructure construction sector is expected to grow by 5.2% in 2024, before registering an average annual growth rate of 6% between 2025 and 2028, supported by government investments in rail, dams, and road infrastructure projects.   Contact of Jeddah Municipality:Jeddah 22231 Email:      info@jeddah.gov.sa Tel:+966 12 614 9999 (ICE RIYADH)

Fonte notizia: Meed