Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) has been awarded a contract to carry out testing and analysis on construction materials to be used for the Riyadh Metro Lines 1 and 2.
This is the second deal for ACTS, a consultant specialising in construction materials and geotechnical engineering, on the megaproject after it was awarded a previous assignment to carry out geotechnical and geophysical works on the two same metro lines in support of the BACS Consortium.
Consisting of Saudi Arabian Bechtel, Almabani General Contractors and Consolidated Contractors Company WLL and Siemens Aktiengesellschaft, BACS is one of the three consortia that were awarded the Riyadh Metro Project by Arriyadh Development Authority.
The new three-year contract will see ACTS operating one of the largest site laboratories for infrastructure in the Kingdom with the setting up of an 800 m2 laboratory space to perform the services required under this assignment.
The laboratory is fully-equipped with state-of-the-art field testing equipment to investigate and assess related construction materials, among them concrete, soil, asphalt, shotcrete and grout. ACTS will also integrate the use of its Online Concrete Pouring & Quality Control System, a sophisticated quality control web-based program developed by the company itself, used to track, evaluate and capture data for construction materials testing.
On top of these, ACTS will deploy more than 150 highly-trained professionals on three different site locations to fully complete the diverse technical expertise required under the agreement.
ACTS was first commissioned to undertake geotechnical and geophysical works on Riyadh Metro Lines 1 and 2 under a subcontract package awarded by BACS. The work required ACTS to work on the north of Line 1, which included drilling of boreholes, logging them using optical and acoustic tele-viewers and other advanced techniques, as well as assessing the subsurface ground layers. A scientific testing program was carried out simultaneously on the extracted cores to assess soil properties. To date, ACTS tasks under the first agreement are almost completed.
In addition to the Riyadh Metro, ACTS was also commissioned to undertake quality control work on King Abdulaziz International Airport, Doha Metro and Kingdom Tower, the worlds first kilometre-high skyscraper being constructed in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, among others.
The company has recently opened new branches in Riyadh and Madina, in line with the groups continuing growth strategy and with its continuing commitment to meet its strategic goals.