Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) has begun overseeing drilling and logging work and conducting geotechnical engineering work on the Riyadh Metro project in Saudi Arabia.

The work is being undertaken under a subcontract from the BACS consortium to execute geotechnical and geophysical works on lines One and Two of the metro.

BACS - which comprises Saudi Arabian Bechtel, Almabani General Contractors, Consolidated Contractors Company and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft - has the main contract for the two lines of the six-line metro, which is being developed by Arriyadh Development Authority (ADA), the executive branch of the High Commission for the development of Arriyadh.  

ACTS said it is currently working on the north of Line One, which encompasses drilling of boreholes and logging them using optical and acoustic tele-viewers and other advanced techniques, as well as assessing the subsurface ground layers.

The company has assigned its geotechnical engineering experts to oversee the work and conduct testing and analysis of the extracted cores in order to assess soil properties along the two lines.

ACTS has mobilised six drilling rigs and a range of state-of-the-art geotechnical and geophysical equipment and deployed 65 persons for the project.

Mike Hann, the engineering director, BACS, said: "ACTS was selected because of its ability to perform to the project’s technical and schedule requirements. We are satisfied with their contribution to this critical project which demands outstanding performance from all the engineering parties and subcontractors."

ACTS chairman Khaled Awad said: "These are exciting times for us. The region is undergoing a massive infrastructure boom and we have become the preferred choice in inspection, testing and geo-engineering works in critical and large-scale projects."

"Our involvement in the geotechnical engineering works of Riyadh Metro reinforces our commitment to excellence in all our services and our strategy of partnership with our clients for a successful completion of their projects," he added.

ACTS is also undertaking quality control work for other megaprojects in the Middle East, including the King Abdulaziz International Airport and the Kingdom Tower in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.-TradeArabia News Service