Khalid Al-Humaidi and Khalid Al-Jabri Okaz/Saudi Gazette
Thousands of workers are in a race against time to complete the King Abdullah Project for Expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah before the stipulated deadline. Islam's holiest mosque will have a capacity to accommodate as many as 2 million faithful with the completion of the largest-ever expansion in its history.
Featuring environmentally-friendly designs and high safety standards, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah dedicated the expansion to the Islamic world.
Tipped as the project of the century, the SR100 billion expansion project consists of three parts: construction of a new building; expansion and development of courtyards around the mosque, including walkways, tunnels and toilets; and development of service facilities for air-conditioning, electricity and drinking water.
The entire roof of the Grand Mosque and mataf (circumambulation area around the Holy Kaaba) will have air-conditioned sunshades.
The expansion of courtyards covers mainly the northern courtyard, starting from Marwa Gate and ending with the Harat Al-Bab area and Jabal Al-Hind in Shamiya and Talaat Al-Hafayer from the side of King Fahd Gate.
The third and final phase of the mataf expansion is in full swing. The expansion, being implemented in three phases over a period of three years, will triple the capacity of the mataf from the present 48,000 to 150,000 pilgrims an hour when it is completed by the end of 2015. The first two phases of the mataf expansion were completed according to schedule.
The expanded facility can now accommodate 70 percent more pilgrims.
The demolition of the old structure of the Grand Mosque between Mount Safa and the central area facing the King Fahd expansion, including the King Abdulaziz Gate with two minarets over it and three floors, started in November 2014 immediately after Haj.
With the completion of this phase, the total area of the project will increase to 81,567 square meters.
Pilgrims benefited from the first phase of expansion in the area between Safa and Fatah Gate as well as the first phase of the basement, ground, first and second floors last Haj.
The first phase also included the sound, lighting and air-conditioning systems, as well as the temporary mataf for pilgrims with special needs. About 7,000 pilgrims are benefitting every hour from the two levels of the temporary circular bridge built for the elderly and disabled pilgrims. Top standards of safety and quality are being maintained while implementing the project.
The mataf on the second and third floors will be connected with cable cars to carry elderly and disabled pilgrims and there will be direct access to these floors from outside the mosque.
The third phase of the expansion project will include 22 escalators, 12 lifts for the use of elderly and disabled pilgrims and Zamzam water drinking areas. The top floor of the mataf will have an automated walkway revolving around the Holy Kaaba. The mataf structure will be tremor proof. The Abbasid-Ottoman era portico of the Grand Mosque, demolished for the mataf expansion, will be refurbished, restored and relocated once the expansion project is completed.
The Turkish Gursoy Group, a leading international firm specialized in renovation of buildings, is currently finishing the difficult and time-consuming task of refurbishing all pieces and parts of the portico. The new structure will have gates much wider than the existing ones to facilitate the smooth flow of pilgrims and crowd management on a larger scale, especially during the peak Haj and Umrah seasons, when the gates in the southern direction of the mosque are crowded.
The expansion of the Grand Mosque covers all three directions except the masaa (the running area between Safa and Marwa). The infrastructure for central air conditioning of the King Abdulaziz Endowment Project will be used for cooling the Grand Mosque as well once the work of the new expansion is completed and the existing building that houses the mosque's air conditioning system will be demolished.
The total area of the Grand Mosque at present is 356,000 sq. meters with a capacity for 770,000 worshippers, but when the expansion is completed the area will increase to 456,000 sq. meters with a capacity to accommodate 1.2 million worshippers. Courtyards of the mosque's new expansion can hold an additional 250,000 worshipers.
The Ministry of Finance is supervising the project, which is being implemented by Saudi Binladin Group.
Pilgrims benefited from the expanded structure during the 2014 pilgrimage season.
These included the entire ground and first floors of the annex building, and the first and second mezzanine floors. A total area of 167,784 square meters in the annex and 118,790 square meters of courtyards around the structure were opened for pilgrims. The annex's main gate is named after King Abdullah. It has two new minarets, bringing the total number of minarets to 11.
More than 10,000 toilets and a large number ablution areas and Zamzam taps have been built in the courtyards of the mosque.
More areas of the mosque have been air-conditioned and these include the first floor of the first Saudi expansion from Safa staircase to the middle of King Fahd expansion.
With the expansion of the courtyards, a total area of 380 square meters will be added in the northern side of the mosque.
A total area of 300,000 square meters has been devoted to pedestrian tunnels and utility services.
The ongoing expansion work also covers a new network of roads for the transportation of pilgrims and these roads will be separated from pedestrian passages. The project also includes helipads for the evacuation of sick pilgrims and worshippers, especially during peak Haj and Umrah seasons, including Ramadan. The roof of the new expansion will be used as a helipad.
A 1,200-meter tunnel will be constructed from the end of the expansion passing through Jabal Al-Hind while another tunnel with a length of 1,100 meters will be built under Jabal Madafie. An emergency 700-meter tunnel crossing the other two tunnels will be constructed, starting from Jabal Al-Kaaba. High tech devices will be used for the operation, maintenance and cleaning of the expanded facility. The pedestrian passages will have escalators and all safety and security precautions in place. This will facilitate easy movement of pilgrims in the central area around the Grand Mosque, especially the northern and western courtyards, away from traffic congestion.
The project also includes canopies, high tech garbage disposal and security monitoring systems. The project also includes 15,000 new toilets with highly advanced facilities to maintain hygiene, environment protection and prudent use of energy.
The Prophet's Mosque
Also, 2014 witnessed the beginning of the largest ever expansion of the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah. More than 5,000 workers, including engineers and technicians, are working on the project round the clock.
Sheikh Abdul Wahid Al-Hetab, director of public relations at the Prophet's Mosque, said about 90 percent of the expansion work in the eastern courtyard has been completed and now the work is moving toward the northeasterly direction.
King Abdullah laid the corner stone for the project during his visit to the holy city on Sept. 24, 2012. Later in March 2013, the King approved the masterplan for the mosque's expansion, after experts made necessary changes to the plan on his instructions.
The King ordered the expansion of the mosque's northern, eastern and western parts within a period of two years. Once the expansion is completed, the mosque will have a total area of 1.1 million square meters with a capacity to accommodate 1.6 million worshippers.
The first phase of the expansion will cover the construction of multistory buildings within the periphery of the existing northern courtyard and the flat roof of the entire mosque structure. There will be a main gate for the new building with two main minarets and two side minarets at the corners of the building. The first phase will add prayer space for 800,000 worshippers.
In the second and third phases, the eastern and western courtyards will be added to the mosque, thus increasing the capacity to accommodate another 800,000 worshippers. The mosque will have 27 new domes.
A total of 200,000 pilgrims will benefit from 250 sunshades erected in the courtyards of the mosque. Each sunshade, made of fireproof Teflon, covers an area of 576 square meters and is operated remotely.
The expansion project includes a helipad for airlifting patients to hospitals and new roads separated from pedestrian pathways, in addition to a tunnel for pedestrian traffic with escalators. According to sources, the expansion project also covers massive development of the central Haram area and the unplanned neighborhoods, with the holy mosque as the core center. The expansion will feature the rich Islamic heritage of the Prophet's city and the Islamic architectural designs of the mosque. The surrounding buildings will also be developed on the same pattern.
