First TBM breakthrough for Riyadh Metro 28 Oct 2015

First project breakthrough is achieved on the US$22.5 billion Riyadh Metro for the FAST consortium, led by FCC of Spain.

Earlier this month the first of two 9.77m diameter Herrenknecht EPBMs procured by FAST for excavation of the 12.9km-long Green Line (Line 5, previously designated the Yellow Line) broke through the headwall of the 25m deep cut-and-cover station at Salah-al-Din to complete the first 1.2km of what will be a total 5km-long drive.

Riyadh Metro first TBM breakthrough

TBM San’ah is excavating the northern section of the Green Line, having launched on June 30 from the new headquarters of the Ministry of Education. From here the machine will continue through to Riyadh Airbase roundabout, where the southern section drive by sister machine Dhafrah – which launched in early June ¬– will also end, to complete the 12.9km tunnel.

The FAST consortium is one of three consortia contracted by the Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA) to construct the Riyadh Metro. The consortium’s partners are FCC, Samsung C&T, Alstom, Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Atkins, Typsa and Setec. As part of its construction contract with ADA, FAST will also be building Lines 4 (Orange) and 6 (Pink), a mixture of grade level and elevated lines which do not include any TBM bored alignments.

FAST Consortium Project Director, Jaime Freyre, said: “I congratulate my colleagues in FAST, our engineers and our partners from ADA.”

9.77m diameter Herrenknecht TBM

Ian Redmayne – Atkins’ Project Director for the FAST Consortium, added: “We are committed to meeting our deadlines and we are proud that both our metro TBMs have been the first in their achievements – Dhafrah being the first to be launched and San’ah the first to break through in the Riyadh Metro Project.”

The US$5.2 billion Line 3 (Red Line), which includes 6km of bored alignment along its 40km length, is being constructed by the Ansaldo-led ANM (Arriyadh New Mobility) group, which includes Bombardier (UK and Canada), Ansaldobreda (Italy), Larsen & Toubro Construction (India), Salini-Impregilo (Italy), Nesma & Partners (Saudi Arabia) with designers Hyder Consulting (UK), Worley Parsons (USA) and IDOM (Spain). A 10.16m diameter NFM machine is procured to complete the tunnelling section for this contract.

Underground construction on the US$10 billion Lines 1 and 2 (Red and Yellow Lines – the Yellow Line was previously designated as the Green Line) began in July this year following the launch of the first of four Herrenknecht multi-mode TBMs procured by the Bechtel-led BACS Consortium for excavation of 17.5km of underground alignment. The Consortium also includes Almabani General Contractors (Saudi Arabia), Consolidated Contractors Company (Saudi Arabia), Siemens AG (Germany), with engineering design by AECOM (USA).