Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) has announced that it has won a contract to carry out geotechnical and geophysical works on Lines 1 and 2 of the Riyadh Metro.
The deal is part of the subcontract packages in support of the BACS (Saudi Arabian Bechtel, Almabani General Contractors and Consolidated Contractors Company WLL and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft) consortium.
A total of 65 ACTS employees have already been deployed on the project, the company said, including geotechnical engineering experts to oversee the drilling and logging works, and to conduct testing and analysis. In addition, six drilling rigs and a range of technically advanced geotechnical and geophysical equipment have also been mobilised for the project.
Commenting on why ACTS was chosen for the project, Mike Hann, engineering director from the BACS consortium, said: “ACTS was selected because of their demonstrated ability to perform to the project’s technical and schedule requirements. We are satisfied with their contribution to this critical project which demands outstanding performance from all the engineering parties and subcontractors.”
Engr. Khaled Awad, chairman of ACTS, added: “These are exciting times for ACTS. The region is undergoing a massive infrastructure boom and ACTS has become the preferred choice in inspection, testing and geo-engineering works in critical and large-scale projects. Our involvement in the geotechnical engineering works of Riyadh Metro reinforces our commitment to excellence in all our services and our strategy of partnership with our clients for a successful completion of their projects.”
Currently ACTS is working on the north of Line 1, with the work encompassing drilling of boreholes, logging them using optical and acoustic tele-viewers and other advanced techniques, as well as assessing the subsurface ground layers. A scientific testing programme is being carried out simultaneously on the extracted cores to assess soil properties.
ACTS is also undertaking quality control work for other megaprojects in Saudi Arabia, including the King Abdulaziz International Airport and Kingdom Tower, both in Jeddah. Kingdom Tower is set to become the world’s first kilometre-high skyscraper.
