Ground Engineering Contractors (GEC) is a leading piling works entity in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region, providing services on large-size projects. Recently, it successfully completed a challenging piling contract in record time for a multi-million-dollar ilmenite-processing smelter being built in the kingdom.

Cristal Global, the world’s second-largest producer of titanium dioxide and a leading producer of titanium chemicals, is the owner of the plant, which is being built in Jazan Economic City, a fast emerging industrial hub in the kingdom’s south-west region.

It is being constructed by Finland’s Outotec under an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract worth €350 million ($470 million).

Scheduled to be operational in 2014, the plant will have an initial annual capacity to produce 500,000 tonnes of titanium slag, while its design will enable expansion to one million tonnes. Additionally, it will produce 235,000 tonnes of high purity pig iron as a valuable co-product.

“GEC won the $30-million piling contract in the face of stiff competition from other pilings specialists in Saudi Arabia and the Middle East,” said general manager Parvez Naushahi, adding that the company was chosen on the basis of its value-added engineering services, which not only enabled the completion of the construction of 3,673 piles ahead of schedule but also helped provide “significant savings” for the piling work, based on its 20 years of experience.

For the diverse project, GEC used a state-of-the-art piling technique called Fundex piles, and achieved a record production rate of 45 piles a day. Originally designed bored piles of 30 m depth were replaced by 14 m deep Fundex piles by GEC.

“The Vibrex pile, also called Fundex pile, is more economical than other forms of cast in-situ piles,” explained Naushahi, adding that GEC has been successfully using this technique on large-size industrial and commercial projects in the kingdom since 1994. “Our state-of-the-art piling equipment can perform both pile driving and cast in-situ pile construction works. The same machine can also install raking piles up to 45 degrees, which are suitable for transmission line and pipeline foundations.”

He continued: “Vibrex or Fundex piles are more economical than other types of cast in-situ piles because they are of the ‘large displacement’ type, formed in-situ by driving a closed-ended tubular section to form a pile hole and then filling it with reinforced concrete while withdrawing the tubular section.

“Since no soil is taken out from the ground, the site remains clean and does not pose the problem of soil disposal. Furthermore, the driving of closed-ended section helps compaction of soil, and this results in higher end bearing for a given pile capacity and a reduction in pile length, as compared to other types of cast in-situ piles. Vibrex piles can be completed in about 60 per cent of the time taken to install other types of cast in-situ piles.”

A view of the piling works.

Naushahi says that it was a challenge for GEC to meet the deadlines of such a huge and diverse project at the initial stage of Jazan Economic City’s development. It was a daunting task just to procure the construction materials itself, from markets located far from the project site.

“GEC managed to pour over 43,000 cu m of concrete into the pile holes in this remote location while the procurement of steel was also a big challenge for GEC but managed efficiently,” he explained, adding that more than 7,500 tonnes of steel was used on the project and transported from the Eastern Province to the project site over a distance of 1,600 km.

An operation of such massive proportions also posed higher safety risks. But here too, “GEC proved its worth and successfully achieved two million safe man hours on the project,” said Naushahi, adding that quality checks including high-capacity load tests of 850 tonnes were successfully preformed by GEC.

Other major projects in which GEC has successfully used this technique included a commercial mall in Al Khobar near the Bahrain-Saudi Causeway where it constructed 6,093 Fundex piles.

In conclusion, GEC has once again proven its superior capabilities by successfully completing yet another “landmark project” in Saudi Arabia.

“This success is truly a reflection of the greater vision of GEC’s management and our journey of engineering excellence towards greater goals will be followed,” he stated.

Based in Al Khobar, GEC is one of Saudi Arabia’s largest specialised engineering and contracting firms, offering a wide range of piling and ground improvement services. It operates an extensive array of equipment for piling, sheet piling, dewatering and ground improvement works in Saudi Arabia and across the Gulf region.

Mega projects completed by GEC in Saudi Arabia include 30,000 stone piles for King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaust) in Thuwal, 27,000 stone piles for the Wasit gas plant project in Khursaniyah and 1,000 sheet piles for the Ghazlan power plant in Ghazlan. It has the relevant in-house expertise in providing foundation solutions for civil and industrial infrastructure developments.

GEC’s hydrohammers are among the most advanced on the market and can be used on-shore and off-shore, above and below water, which makes them ideal for harbour and jetty works. Electronically controlled and capable of full adjustment and control of driving energy, the rig can have a range of safety, monitoring and indicating devices to be incorporated.

The company also has range of ICE vibrohammers and impact hammers which are particularly suited for the installation of permanent and temporary sheet piles, pipe piles and H-piles.