American engineering firm Bechtel has inked a contract with Neom, a forthcoming $500 billion "smart city-region" that is slated for what is currently mostly open mountain and desert landscape along Saudi Arabia's Red Sea coast.
According to a press release issued by Bechtel, the firm was selected to "oversee and create resource-efficient utilities and a highly advanced transport system to connect NEOM's cognitive cities," among other projects. The scope of work for the contract will involve "integrating sustainable land use, intelligent urban design and multi-modal mobility" as well "simultaneous construction in multiple locations requiring extraordinary engineering solutions in challenging terrain."
Bechtel Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, Brendan Bechtel said via a statement, "NEOM is one of the most complex projects in living memory and we are proud to be part of it. The vision for a futuristic, innovative and sustainable ecosystem is unique and bold, and we believe NEOM will change the way new cities are developed by future generations. We have helped our customers shape the Kingdom's history with many key projects and we are honored to be a partner in building its future."
In the past, Bechtel has worked on a variety of complex infrastructure projects in Saudi Arabia, including the Jubail Industrial City and the Riyadh metro, the firm explains.
7 Comments
Does the plan include a “smart” Deera Square, also known as Chop Chop Square?
That would be awesome, robots to chop heads off...
Good for firms to get Saudi money, but how could you celebrate such an oppressive country.
Who will work in the buildings once the oil money is gone? All of the middle east will become a ghost town. Nothing but sand and heat.
No one will work in any building, cuz its all just a giant Ponzi scheme...
they’ll end up spending about 1b on a few buildings. The hype is just to get American industry to bend the knee
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