WeBuild will construct three dams as well as facilities for the 2029 Asian Winter Games as part of the wider £500bn Neom mega-development in Saudi’s northwestern Tabuk Province
The three dams will form a freshwater lake for a ski resort, as well as a series of related works. More than 10,000 people, including direct and third-party personnel, will be involved in the construction, the contractor said.
Webuild will also create the futuristic Bow, an architectural structure that will extend the surface of the lake beyond the front of the main dam. It will be shaped like the prow of a ship suspended over the valley, and will house a hotel, as well as a residential area and a large central atrium, with accommodation and hospitality facilities.
The main dam will be made of roller-compacted concrete (RCC) and will be 145 metres high, 475 metres long and holding a volume of approximately 2.7 million cubic metres. The second dam will also be in RCC, while the third will be in rock, with a volume of 4.3 million cubic metres. The artificial lake will cover an area of 1.5 sq km and will have an island reserved for botanical dives and walks.
Webuild chief executive Pietro Salini said: “We are delighted and truly proud to be awarded this important project in Neom. The 2.8 km-long, man-made, freshwater lake will be a key asset in the Trojena masterplan. The project is set to be an international engineering and construction marvel and we believe our team has the global experience and expertise to deliver this exciting infrastructure project.”
Trojena executive director Philip Gullett said: “The appointment of Webuild is a significant milestone in our construction progress. We have already completed around three million cubic metres of excavation at the lake site, and we continue to excavate 90,000 cubic metres of rock per week.”
For Neom, Webuild is already constructing 57 km of the Connector high-speed railway line between ‘Oxagon’ and ‘The Line’. In addition to the Connector, Webuild operations in Saudi Arabia also include Line 3 of the underground in Riyadh, which at 42 kilometres, will be the longest line on the Saudi capital’s underground network, and the ‘Diriyah Square – Package 2 Super-Basement Works’, a 10,500-space underground multi-storey parking facility in the new district of Ad-Diriyah.
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