More than three decades ago, Saudi Arabia launched a project to build a city from the sand up. Today, Jubail is an industrial capital with a population of more than 100,000 that accounts for more than 7 percent of the kingdom’s gross domestic product. Wooden dhows have made way for container ships. A single pier has evolved into a bustling industrial port that serves 38 primary and secondary industries including oil refining, petrochemicals, and steel.
Jubail Industrial City, in fact, is the largest civil engineering project in the world today. It also is one of Bechtel’s most remarkable achievements—a megaproject that has required vast resources and logistical planning on an unprecedented scale. Bechtel has managed the project since it began, the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu asked the company to manage Jubail II, a $3.8 billion expansion of the city’s industrial and residential areas.
Jubail has evolved into a major player in the global petrochemicals market, attracting top technical and business minds from 40 countries. Its residents attend two dozen schools, shop at 14 shopping centers, and play golf at the Whispering Sands course.
Jubail II will add a second industrial area to house up to 22 new primary industries. The project calls for the expansion of King Fahd Industrial Port, pipeline refurbishment, increasing capacity of the cooling system, and new desalination plants. The team will tailor plans to meet demand over the next 25 to 30 years.
Jubail took project management to a grand scale. At peak, the workforce reached 50,000. Total installed cost exceeded $40 billion.
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