Red Sea Gateway Terminal, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Located on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, the city of Jeddah is the commercial capital of Saudi Arabia and features the country’s largest port, the Jeddah Islamic Port. Jeddah is the largest and most important city on the Red Sea Basin.

The Port serves as a major gateway in the Red Sea region, with more than 70% of Saudi Arabia’s imports going through its quays. 

The need for a third container terminal was felt for easier facilitation of the next generation of container vessels, and additionally increasing the port’s capacity by 45%.
 

The Challenge

The pier would consist of 865 concrete caissons. The large aggregate was a task that demanded a great deal of attention and innovation.

The Solution

Al-Tawi Readymix (Al-Tawi), a leading Saudi Arabian concrete manufacturer, was selected to supply and place concrete for the new pier, which would comprise 865 concrete caissons. 

Despite owning a large fleet of truck-mounted concrete pumps, including 22 Putzmeister boom pumps ranging in size up to 70-Meter, Al-Tawi chose to use their new TB 130 for this project considering the endless benefits offered by the machine. This is where the first Telebelt® in Saudi Arabia, a Putzmeister Telebelt TB 130, proved its mettle by conveying more than 392,000 yd³ (300,000 m³) of concrete. 

Various concrete pumps put through the tests demonstrated extremely high levels of wear of the pumps. Pumping the large quantities of composition of concrete required for the project would result in high wear costs that were beyond justification. The Putzmeister Telebelt TB 130 withstood all these tests and emerged as the clear winner, once again proving the superiority of Putzmeister equipment. 

Hossam Abdel Aziz, Al-Tawi’s site manager was highly impressed with the performance of the equipment. This is what he had to say about it, “We are impressed by the TB 130’s capabilities. It easily handles aggregates from sand to 4" (10 cm) rock. In addition, the Telebelt can convey a multitude of different materials including pervious concrete, roller compacted concrete, gravel, sand or even wood. This allows us to diversify the types of jobs we can do.”

The TB 130’s five section telescopic boom that features a horizontal reach of 126' 6" (38.56 m), reaching the point of concrete placement for the caissons has been deemed seamless. 

The tremendous output, on site mobility, ability to fit into confined spaces and operations aiding in maintaining a clean job site are the added advantages of the Telebelt TB 130. 
 

Concrete Takeaways 

• Apart from its strategic positioning for world trade Jeddah also serves as the gateway to the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.
   
• The Red Sea Gateway Terminal is a fully automated terminal featuring the best in class terminal facilities and equipment, at par with the highest international standards.
   
• A 70,000 TEU stacking yard, it is serviced by the world’s largest state-of-the-art cranes and the most advanced terminal equipment.
   
• Over 30% of the world’s container volume passes through the Red Sea Basin every year. Putzmeister by helping build the third terminal at RSGT ensured the volume is maintained, even enhanced.

Project Partners

The Saudi Trade and Export Development Company awarded the project, to China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). Al-Tawi Readymix (Al-Tawi), a leading Saudi Arabian concrete manufacturer, was selected to supply and place concrete. The Middle East Development Company (MEDCO) was the local Putzmeister dealer.