The RTCC- Barclay Mowlem (the Laing O'Rourke Rail Company)-Mitsui joint venture that is developing the $765 million phase A of a railway project in Saudi Arabia is relying on Dynapac vibratory compactors to prepare railbeds, a report said. 

The JV is using a fleet of 24 Dynapac CA280 vibratory compactors to flatten 818km of soil for preparing railbeds on the first phase of the North South Railway Project, being constructed by the Saudi Arabian government.

The giant North South Railway Project in Saudi Arabia is the largest railway line to be built in the Middle East and one of the largest rail projects in the world.

The RTCC- Barclay Mowlem (the Laing O’Rourke Rail Company)-Mitsui phase of the North South Railway Project (NSR) is the first of four phases of a massive $2 billion initiative to develop a 2,300 kilometre north–south railway system that will link the northern mineral mines of Al Jalamid and Az Zabirah to processing facilities in Ras Azur on the Arabian Gulf.

The Dynapac CA280 model, supplied by the equipment manufacturer's Saudi Arabian distributor, Middle East Development Co, is a medium heavy machine, designed to compact all types of base and reinforcement courses.

Crossing the hot and remote An Nafud desert, this first phase of the project is known as Phase A and is awarded by (Public Investment Fund) of the Saudi Arabian Ministry of Finance.

The railbed is being laid on an embankment raised on average 3m from the desert floor and 3m wide, using either in situ materials or granite and limestone excavated from borrow pits at various locations in the desert and trucked to the required section of line.
 
Saudi Arabia is a large producer of ores, including phosphates and bauxite. The mines of Jalamid contain reserves of 313 million tonnes of phosphates, and the Az Zabirah mines contain reserves of 250 million tonnes of bauxite.

Saudi mining company Ma'aden already has a project in place for building an industrial complex to the east of these provinces, so that ore from the region can be transported and refined. The complex will also include an aluminum plant and a large energy generator.

Three locomotives and 150 railway cars will transport the ore, each train 3,000m in length and weighing an average of 19,400 tonnes, from the mines to the refinery.

The railway will also be extended to serve general freight and passenger services, both northerly and to the south from Hail to Riyadh. The line will be a single track with passing loops. It is the most important land transportation project ever built in Saudi Arabia.

The Public Investment Fund (PIF) of the Ministry of Finance, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, is the owner and has the role of implementing the NSR.

A multi-national consortium led by the Berger Group, and including Canarail of Canada, Systra of France and Khatib and Alami of Saudi Arabia is carrying out construction supervision.

Construction phases of the NSR each relate to the four major geographic segments of the project and have separate milestones for completion.

Phases A and B relate to the lines that will support mineral traffic. Phase C covers the main passenger and general freight segment of the project between Riyadh and Az Zabirah. Phase D covers the extension to the Jordanian border.

The Phase A contract won by the consortium consisting of Barclay Mowlem of Australia, Al Rashid Trading and Construction Company (RTCC) of Saudi Arabia and Mitsui and Co of Japan starts from the Al Jalamid phosphate mines, passing through Al Jawf, Hail, and Az Zabirah. From Az Zabirah it will connect through a direct link to the processing facilities at Ras Azzawr.

This phase crosses 818km of remote desert, with RTCC’s role covering the earthworks and the civil works. The earthworks include 10.3 million cu m of excavation and 26.95 million cu m of embankment.

RTCC