September 18 2007

Laing O'Rourke was recently awarded a A$1.04 billion major rail contract in Saudi Arabia.

Rail General Manager Rob Boulger said the contract, which is in joint venture with Mitsui and in consortium with Saudi-based contractor RTCC (Al Rashid Trading and Construction Company), was for the 817 kilometre northern section of the country's North South Railway.

"This is a terrific opportunity for Laing O'Rourke to expand its rail operations in the Middle East, and a challenge for our rail crews to deliver on a tight program in a remote environment, much like the Alice Springs to Darwin project a few years ago," Mr Boulger said.

"Sections of the North South Rail Line run through desert sand dunes, with little vegetation and extreme temperatures."

In August, John Jarman, who has many years of international rail experience, joined Laing O'Rourke as the Project Director for the Saudi rail project.

Prior to joining Laing O'Rourke, Mr Jarman was employed by one of the London Underground PPP contractors where he was responsible, as Delivery Manager, for the successful delivery of award-winning upgrade projects to parts of the London Underground network.

He has extensive experience in leading major multi-disciplined civil engineering and rail projects and has worked on international project assignments in Hong Kong and the Middle East.

Under the terms of the project agreement, RTCC will perform the civil engineering and earthworks while Laing O'Rourke will provide specialist expertise in tracklaying, using the company's specialised machinery.