Jeddah Municipality has re-tendered a contract to construct the King Abdullah Road-Falasteen Road (Kafa) tunnel within the Jeddah city area in the Mecca region of Saudi Arabia.

MEED understands that the tender was issued in late September with a bid submission deadline of 16 November.

The Kafa tunnel is being developed in two phases. The first phase involves the construction of two tunnels.

The three-year scheme involves constructing 5.33 kilometres (km) of tunnels with an internal diameter of 7.2 metres using tunnel boring machines (TBMs) and another 3.43km of tunnels with a diameter of 3.5 metres driven by pipe jacking or TBMs.

The scope of phase two includes constructing a terminal pumping station, a marine outfall and all necessary online and offline shafts.

In March last year, Jeddah Municipality invited contractors to prequalify for the contract to build the tunnels. It is understood the client received responses to the request for qualifications in June.

US-based Aecom is the consultant for the project.

The works for Kafa package one will be located along King Abdullah Road and the surrounding roads, including Prince Majid and part of Bani Malik.

Ground conditions have been an ongoing issue for contractors working in Jeddah for many years. The client has cautioned that TBMs must be “suitable for highly variable ground conditions from stable very-hard rock to soft water-bearing ground or vice versa without any addition”.

It added: “The TBM shall be flexibly designed to adapt to changing ground in terms of supporting and excavation methods, requiring short conversion times within the tunnel alignment, ensuring optimum safety and flexibility during the entire tunnelling process.”