Saudi giga project NEOM completed the construction phase of its underground parking and light rail tunnel in July 2024 ahead of schedule, according to a statement issued by Chinese construction equipment giant XCMG Machinery.

The company said 10 high-capacity rotary drilling rigs from XCMG Machinery were deployed with each rig completing three piles per day in the site’s challenging sandy geology, which helped accelerate the project timeline.

XCMG’ said its fleet, comprising four XR500E, two XR600E, two XR320D, and two XR400D rigs, handled pile foundations ranging from 60 to 90 metres deep and 2 to 2.5 metres in diameter.

In April, the FCC consortium announced that 25 percent of NEOM tunnel work is complete.

In June 2022, NEOM had awarded drill and blast tunneling contracts for the lower and upper geographies to two joint ventures, namely FCC Construction /China State Construction Engineering Corporation/Shibh Al-Jazira Contracting Company JV (FCC/CSCEC/SAJCO JV), and Samsung C&T Corporation /Hyundai Engineering and Construction Co. /Saudi Archirodon Company JV (SHAJV). NEOM had said the tunnels work, extending over 28 kilometres, comprise separate tunnels for high-speed and freight rail services.

(Editing by Anoop Menon) (anoop.menon@lseg.com)

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