Concrete effort: ACTS shores up Jeddah airport project role

Advanced Construction Technology Services (ACTS) says it is playing a key role in ensuring that the large concrete volume being produced and poured daily in Jeddah's new airport project is closely monitored for all the important quality parameters.
ACTS, a consulting organization in construction materials and geotechnical engineering, has been commissioned to carry out the quality control and third party testing works on this project, which involves the testing of a total of 3.5 million cubic meters.
ACTS says it has completed testing of two million cubic meters of concrete under the management of Dar Al-Handasah (Shair and Partners), the construction manager at Jeddah's King Abdulaziz International Airport Development Project.
To ensure the timely completion and adherence to the highest quality standards, ACTS is deploying over 200 competent ACTS staff members.
The landmark project involves evaluating six different quarries, four different sources of cement and evaluating and monitoring over 100 concrete mix designs from 32 concrete batch plants.
Maher Chabaklo, project director, Saudi Bin Ladin Group (SBG), said, "SBG has an unwavering strategy to maintain quality irrespective of the size and timeframe of the project. Given the sheer magnitude of the King Abdulaziz International Airport project there were several challenges that had to be overcome, such as assuring that concrete production is never interrupted, maintaining tight quality control throughout the site and pouring a total concrete volume of 3,500,000 cubic meters in a short period of time. However, ACTS was up to the task and its team of highly trained and expert inspectors and technicians have been ensuring that the large concrete volume being produced and poured daily is closely monitored for all the important quality parameters."
Khaled Awad, chairman of ACTS, said: "We have been fully leveraging our strong background in concrete technology and our long experience in quality control and testing to deliver the most reliable results for such a prestigious project."
ACTS has been involved in large infrastructure projects around the Gulf and has been providing a range of quality control services including inspection and supervision, monitoring of mass concrete, testing and evaluation of various materials as well as audit for asphalt and concrete production facilities.