The Saudi Landbridge project will be a double-track railway connecting Jeddah on the Red Sea. It will connect with the existing 450km line between Riyadh and King Abdul Aziz Port at Dammam on the Gulf coast.
The project also includes a new 115km extension between Dammam and Jubail. The Saudi Landbridge project is being developed as a state-funded project by the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Parsons Brinckerhoff carried out the original planning for the project in 1997 as part of the overall planning for railway programmes in Saudia Arabia. The firm will be providing project management services for the Saudi Landbridge in association with Fluor Corporation, which was awarded the management consultancy contract by the Saudi Public Investment Fund. The contract period is approximately eight years.
Parsons Brinckerhoff will provide support for development of complex elements of the new railway, including the tunnels and bridges that will be needed to cross the varied terrain. The project will include several civil and track contracts, at least one design-build civil and track works contract in the vicinity of Jeddah and a significant amount of tunnelling and earthworks.
The new railway will serve primarily as a freight route and the port-to-port connection time will be reduced to approximately 10 hours from the three days currently needed to move cargo by ship between the ports. The railway will also be used for passenger transport in future, potentially serving millions of passengers each year.
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