Panoramic view of the King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services project under construction.

Workers operating in front of a 500-ton gantry crane about to be installed.

　　The King Salman International Complex for Maritime Industries and Services project in Saudi Arabia (hereinafter referred to as the "Saudi King's Port project") is located on the coast of the Persian Gulf in eastern Saudi Arabia, in the Ras Al Khair industrial zone, 180 kilometers north of Dammam, Saudi Arabia's third-largest city. The project is contracted on a general basis by Shandong Electric Power Construction Co., Ltd. of Power Construction Corporation of China (PowerChina). Construction began in December 2019, and overall handover is expected this year. Once completed, the project will mainly engage in the manufacturing, maintenance and repair of ships and drilling platforms. It is expected to drive US$17 billion in Saudi economic growth, create 80,000 jobs, and boost Saudi economic and social development.

　　Installing giant gantry cranes with "embroidery-level precision"

　　At 6 a.m., the sun had just risen above the horizon, and the Saudi King's Port project site was already bustling. Project safety manager Musawar Rasool put on a reflective vest and safety helmet, got into a pickup truck and began a day of inspection work. The project site is 4.5 kilometers long and 2.5 kilometers wide, and at peak construction more than 18,000 employees were working simultaneously. Based on the daily work progress, Rasool selects sections with high safety requirements and difficult construction for inspection.

　　Beside the dry dock stands a 130-meter-high gantry crane — the 1,600-ton gantry crane that has already been installed. Three 500-ton gantry cranes will be installed next. Approaching the installation site, the taut steel strands rub against each other in the wind, making a "chirping and chattering" sound. Rasool said the gantry crane installation procedure is complex and involves multiple safety risks, so safety staff are responsible for supervising every installation step to ensure nothing goes wrong.

　　"The gantry crane is a giant, but we have to lift it with 'embroidery-level precision,'" said Wang Yi, deputy manager of the engineering management department and professional manager of mechanical equipment. He introduced that the project's combined lifting capacity reaches 2,100 tons, ranking among the top in the world. Among them, the 1,600-ton gantry crane was lifted using a tower hydraulic lifting scheme, with a total lifting weight of nearly 6,000 tons, taking 26 days.

　　"For the 500-ton gantry crane currently being lifted, the pile foundation beneath the tower is 36 meters deep. There are 183 steel strands on the tower, each capable of bearing 18 tons of tension. The two towers exert force simultaneously to slowly lift the gantry crane," Wang Yi said. During the lifting process, uniform force must be ensured, and after each lift of a certain distance the load must be held static for a period to conduct load tests and check various data, ensuring that the tower, ground anchors and other equipment work normally. "Although the 500-ton gantry crane is lighter than the 1,600-ton one, completing the lifting still takes about 25 days, because according to the operating procedures, not a single step can be skipped."

　　"Smart eyes" support safe construction

　　During the inspection, Rasool checked his phone's message group from time to time. A message with text and photos popped up: "There is a sand pit opposite the camp without a safety warning tape." Rasool immediately went to the site and found that the sand pit had also collapsed. Rasool said the situation needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. As he spoke, the on-site safety supervisor and safety officer arrived. Workers immediately put up safety warning tape around the sand pit.

　　Rasool was able to spot safety risks earlier than on-site safety officers thanks to the application of the smart construction site system. Because of the large work area, the many people involved and the complicated work processes, the Chinese company has independently developed a smart construction site system that comprehensively uses sensors, 4G mobile internet and positioning systems, which can track site conditions at any time and respond promptly. Staff in the information center control room can view more than 30 "smart eye" cameras on site. Once a safety risk is found, a prompt is sent in the work group asking on-site safety officers to correct it. According to reports, this smart construction site system has been highly recognized by the owner, Saudi Aramco, which has required it to be promoted to all contracted projects.

　　Next, Rasool brought the "safety publicity vehicle" to the site. The "safety publicity vehicle" shuttles back and forth around the construction site to spread safety, health and environmental protection knowledge to workers.

　　Ma Lixing, deputy general manager and safety director of the project, said the project attaches great importance to employee safety, health and environmental protection. This is not only necessary to meet the owner's strict standards, but also reflects the Chinese company's practice of the "people-oriented" concept overseas, laying the foundation for safe production on the project.

　　"Super-heavy platforms" support super shipyard

　　The Saudi King's Port project includes onshore and offshore works. The onshore works mainly include the construction of workshops, warehouses, gantry cranes and tracks, roads and pipe networks, while the offshore works include dry docks, wharves and related facilities.

　　At around 3 p.m., the wind at the site suddenly picked up. Rasool's phone showed the wind speed had reached more than 9 meters per second. He said: "Under the current wind speed conditions, all offshore engineering cranes need to be suspended. I'll go to the site to check the situation."

　　On the storage yard beside the wharf are more than 10 giant platforms. Zhao Chunliang, deputy manager of the engineering management department and professional manager of marine engineering, introduced that these are ship lift components produced by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC), to be assembled after the wharf section is completed. "At that time, the ship lift will be able to lift ships weighing 24,000 tons. Such an oversized and overweight platform can meet the multiple needs of the shipyard," Zhao Chunliang said.

　　In the dry dock, rows of trapezoidal concrete blocks are neatly arranged. When large ships are built and repaired in the dry dock, keel blocks need to be placed under the ship's bottom for support. The project's original design used cubic keel blocks stacked from hardwood, concrete and stainless steel discs. After research, the Chinese team proposed an optimized design: trapezoidal concrete blocks at the bottom, with steel height-adjustable supports on top and a small amount of wooden padding at the very top. It has the advantages of an attractive appearance, adjustable height and rapid transfer by forklift, greatly reducing the cost. According to estimates, this design optimization can save more than US$30 million in costs.

　　Sun Jichao, deputy chief engineer of the project, introduced that the Saudi King's Port project is the first shipyard-type infrastructure project undertaken by Shandong Electric Power Construction. Relying on the advantages of PowerChina Group, they actively expanded resources from all parties and actively helped capable Chinese-made products go global. As of now, the products from China used in the project include boarding towers, dry dock drainage pumps, dock gates, ship lifts, barges and cooling towers, and a total of 30 manufacturers have entered Saudi Aramco's supplier list.

　　Unity and cooperation to achieve common goals

　　On the northern seaside of the project, an offshore drilling platform is under construction. Not far from the drilling platform is a loading barge designed and built by a Chinese company. The loading barge has a maximum draft of 18.5 meters and a maximum lifting capacity of more than 18,000 tons, and will be used to transfer newly built offshore drilling platforms.

　　Since the beginning of this year, the project has handed over a number of key buildings to the owner, including the hull workshop and the area control office. Relying on the workshops and equipment already handed over, the shipyard operator, International Maritime Industries (IMI), has begun building offshore drilling platforms. Sujith Haridas, asset department manager of International Maritime Industries, said the Saudi King's Port project carries Saudi Arabia's aspiration to achieve diversified economic development. "This will become Saudi Arabia's first and the world's largest shipyard, and will gradually form an offshore industrial chain. We are full of expectations for the project's completion on schedule and full of admiration for the Chinese company's construction capabilities."

　　At 5:30 p.m., Rasool finished a day of inspection work. He took out his phone again to check the message group: "Today the smart construction site system issued a total of 14 prompts, of which 13 have been dealt with. One remaining is a talk with the relevant worker, which I will remind the safety supervisor to complete tomorrow." Rasool is from Pakistan and has undertaken production, operations and safety-related work at various engineering companies in Saudi Arabia. He said the Belt and Road Initiative proposed by China has brought a great sense of gain to participating countries, and he is proud to be able to participate in such a large project.

　　Wang Yuanhui, general manager of Shandong Electric Power Construction and acting general manager of the Saudi King's Port project, said that this year is the year of contract performance for the Saudi King's Port project, and China and Saudi Arabia have determined the project progress tasks. The company will go all out to showcase the brand image of Chinese enterprises and contribute corporate strength to high-quality Belt and Road cooperation.

　　Awad, government affairs coordinator of the Saudi King's Port project and former director of the Dammam Legal Affairs Bureau, said in an interview with our reporter that Saudi Arabia's "Vision 2030" paints a bright prospect for the kingdom's economic diversification. Many Chinese enterprises, with their own technical capabilities and spirit of hard work, are participating in Saudi Arabia's economic transformation process, injecting impetus into Saudi-China practical cooperation. He said: "With the alignment of the Belt and Road Initiative and Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030, Saudi and Chinese employees work together in unity like brothers. For a common bright future, let us move forward together!"