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IKK Mateenbar, a joint venture between the Saudi Arabia’s Isam Khairy Kabbani (IKK) Group of Companies and New Zealand’s Pultron Composites, announce on Monday that it has formally opened the kingdom’s first fibreglass rebar facility.
The facility, located in 3rd Industrial MODON City, Damman, was established under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2019 by IKK and Pultron Composites with Saudi Aramco, the company said in a press statement.
The 10,000-square metre facility was inaugurated by Saudi Aramco’s Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Ahmad Al-Sa’adi.
Al-Sa’adi said Aramco has been developing and deploying non-metallic solutions within its own operations for more than 20 years.
“The use of non-metallic, advanced polymer materials has significant potential in multiple sectors. Moreover, technologies such as GFRP rebar, which mitigate corrosion and minimise life cycle cost, have potential to be the real game-changers for the building and construction sector in particular,” he noted.
Saudi Aramco recently mandated the use of GFRP rebar in its engineering standards for reinforced concrete structures in highly corrosive environments [involving extreme temperatures and high salinity levels], enabling designers to replace steel rebar in these high-risk areas.
The oil and gas giant used IKK Mateenbar’s fibreglass rebars in the construction of its 23-kilometre-long and 80-metre-wide Jizan Flood Mitigation Channel, the largest GFRP rebar project in the world. It also used fibreglass rebar to construct a bridge at King Salman Energy Park (SPARK), a first in the country and the only one of its kind in the MENA region.
(Writing by SA Kader; Editing by Anoop Menon)
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