RIYADH — The Red Sea Development Company (TRSDC), the developer behind one of the world's most ambitious tourism initiatives, has contracted Saudi construction firms, HUTA Hegerfield and Saudconsulting Services (Saudconsult), to undertake a major ground-work improvement project for the Coastal Village at the Red Sea Project site. HUTA Hegerfield's contract involves land raising and ground improvement for the 1.5 million square meter Coastal Village area. This will house the workers, staff and management of The Red Sea Project, and will include corporate offices, housing and high-end facilities. The contract awarded to Saudconsult will include construction supervision consultancy services, to ensure all elements of the design and construction remain on schedule, whilst observing and monitoring the quality of all construction works, to guarantee that all works are fit for the intended purpose. "We're very pleased to award these contracts to HUTA Hegerfield and Saudconsult. With their in-depth knowledge and local expertise, both are extremely well placed to work with us on this project," said John Pagano, CEO of The Red Sea Development Company. "The Coastal Village will be home to 14,000 employees from The Red Sea Project community when the first phase of the destination opens and we will provide the highest quality accommodation and a wide range of facilities, whilst meeting our own stringent environmental standards. Partnering with HUTA Hegerfield and Saudconsult will help us meet these ambitions." To raise the ground at the Coastal Village site to 3.52 meters above sea level, HUTA Hegerfield will transport 2.6 million cubic meters of fill by extracting soil and other material from a nearby hill. In addition to raising the land, a process of ground improvement, known as Dynamic Compaction or Rapid Impact compaction, will also improve the existing soil around the Coastal Village. It is expected the project will be completed in five months and will begin in September 2019. To meet TRSDC's strict sustainability targets the ground improvement work includes measures to reduce the environmental impact for both the land and sea. This includes minimizing the underwater noise impact on marine life, and restoration of the hill. In a small area of the Coastal Village set aside for corporate offices, ground improvement has already been completed and construction is already underway under a separate contract. The offices are scheduled for completion by Q2 2020. The buildings are set to accommodate 500 people and provide supporting amenities including a 160-seat restaurant and 100-seat auditorium. The Village will also provide temporary housing for 25,000 workers who will be building the infrastructure and assets. Since announcing the commencement of operations at its Project Base Camp earlier this year, TRSDC has announced the commencement of construction for its 1 km2 landscape nursery, a 3.3 km crossing to a hub island and 10,000 residential units for construction workers.
