Jacobs And Atkins New Delivery Partners For Saudi Arabia Project

The Line is a “cognitive city” being built in Saudi’s Tabuk Province.

According to the report, Jacobs and Atkins have been appointed as delivery partners for the project in a five-year contract under a framework agreement for consulting services. Jacobs’ and Aramco’s Saudi-based public investment fund joint venture, Jasara, which provides professional programme and construction management services across the Middle East, has also been appointed.

This will see them work in partnership with Neom and other delivery partner organisations to provide project and construction management consultancy services for the design, procurement, construction, testing, and commissioning of the project. They will also oversee the management of the critical interfaces that the linear city shares with adjacent Neom projects and logistics.

The delivery model for The Line is said to be highly collaborative in response to its scale, complexity, supply chain, and requirements for innovation.

To deliver the vision, the project will embrace a range of new construction technologies, processes, and materials.

Jacobs executive chair Steve Demetriou said, "The Line presents a vision for how people could live in the future." This project is intended to rewrite the playbook on urban development to address some of the major environmental and quality of life challenges we often see in big cities. "We are committed to helping deliver projects that aspire to completely reimagine urban living and rethink what it means to live in a more connected, sustainable world."

Atkins president Philip Hoare said, "The Line is a truly ground-breaking, world-first project, and we are proud to have the opportunity to bring our global engineering, digital, and net-zero expertise to help create a lasting legacy for the Kingdom and its people." As a delivery partner organisation, we will work closely with Neom and our partners to seamlessly connect people, data, and technology to drive innovation, value, efficiency, and certainty on the project. "Our combined intent is to radically transform the way major infrastructure projects are delivered, and The Line, with its vision and complexity, provides a great opportunity to demonstrate what our industry can achieve."

Jacobs People & Places Solutions senior vice president and general manager, Asia Pacific, Middle East, and Europe Keith Lawson commented, "This project is a complex development unlike anything that's been done before anywhere in the world." "We'll leverage our global experience on large-scale infrastructure programmes to create an integrated approach that will realise the project vision and set a new standard for infrastructure delivery worldwide."

Commenting on Atkins' contribution, Atkins chief executive for the Middle East and Africa, Campbell Gray, said: "With over 50 years of presence in the Middle East, Atkins has played a key role in supporting the region’s transformation by delivering some of its most iconic and complex projects."

"Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s most dynamic growth markets, and we are committed to supporting the country’s ambitions through our global engineering expertise, our in-depth local knowledge, and our investment in the Kingdom’s future talent." "As a delivery partner organisation, we will work closely with Neom to drive value and efficiency by adopting innovative technologies and world-class sustainability standards."

Aecom and Bechtel have also previously been appointed to provide project management services for the first phase of The Line, according to the report.

Keller signed a major piling contract worth around £51 million on the project last summer, prompting it to say that other firms with similar skills and reach have the opportunity to earn "hundreds of millions of pounds" if they work on The Line.

The total project is estimated to cost between £83bn and £166bn, but some estimates have placed it closer to £830bn.