CHEC Completes Preliminary Earthworks for Steel Plant at Ras Al-Khair, Saudi Arabia

The main works of the preliminary earthworks phase for the Ras Al-Khair Steel Plant project were recently completed.

Located in Ras Al-Khair Industrial City, one of Saudi Arabia's four major Special Economic Zones, this project represents the crucial preparatory phase of the overall steel plant development and was constructed by China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd. (CHEC).

Construction Site of the Preliminary Earthworks Project for the Saudi Ras Al-Khair Steel Plant

Faced with challenging geological conditions typical of the region—soft ground composed of saline sabkha soils—the project team found that conventional rigs for installing Prefabricated Vertical Drains (PVDs) were ineffective in draining groundwater from the soft foundation. In response, the team engineered an innovative on-site solution. They retrofitted an excavator by mounting a high-frequency vibro-hammer onto its boom and attaching a custom-fabricated steel mandrel. This formed a mobile and efficient PVD platform. The new "excavator + vibro-hammer" setup achieved an installation rate of 700 drains per machine per day, dramatically increasing efficiency over earlier methods. This achievement marks the first successful application of drainage consolidation for ground improvement in Saudi Arabia.

Working around the clock, a team of over 400 Chinese and international personnel deployed over 300 pieces of equipment. They set a daily earth-moving record of 60,000 cubic meters, ultimately completing 5.66 million cubic meters of backfill and covering a total haul distance of 1.06 million kilometers. This monumental effort transformed a low-lying desert area into a solid industrial foundation, raising the ground level by 3 meters, with specific areas planned to be elevated to 6.1 meters.

As an integral component of Saudi Vision 2030, the project's primary goal was to establish a level and stable foundation for the subsequent main plant construction. Once completed, the facility will be a fully integrated steel manufacturing complex with a designed annual capacity of 2.5 million tons of Direct Reduced Iron (DRI) and 1.5 million tons of steel plate, playing a pivotal role in advancing Saudi Arabia's economic diversification.

(Text/Photos by Zhang Xudong, Zhang Xing)