The project, implemented over five phases at a cost of about SR4.2 billion, primarily focused on providing space for the faithful to carry out one of the major rituals of the Haj in safety.
Planned and conceived to provide high safety for the pilgrims, it also has taken into account emergencies. Apart from the many clinics and singular routes for the Red Crescent ambulances in this area, it has helipads for helicopters to land and take off during rescue and emergency operations.
The project is composed of four stories in addition to the ground floor accommodating more than four million pilgrims. Spacious plazas were built in the Jamrat area to accommodate hundreds of thousands of pilgrims at the same time. The plazas were supplied with an automatic cleaning system.
A frequent train transport system was introduced in the Jamrat area to transport pilgrims from their tents in Mina to the Jamrat Bridge to stone the Satan as part of the Haj rituals. From there, the train takes them to the Grand Mosque to complete their rituals. The bridge was linked to the pilgrims’ tents at the bottom of mountains in Mina. Within the development of the Jamrat area, a number of medical clinics were established to provide health services to the pilgrims. Lifts were also built to take pilgrims to different levels of the Jamrat area that has 12 entry points and a similar number of exits. All five levels are air-conditioned.
In addition, there’s a system to spray jets of water in the air in order to bring the temperatures down when the mercury soars. The cooling system is geared to keep the temperatures at an average of 29 degrees Celsius.
Underground tunnels were also built in the Jamrat area where service vehicles were separated from the pedestrians so as not to obstruct their movement.
The development of the area took into account the growing number of pilgrims. By providing a number of entries and exits, the project has solved the problem of overcrowding which resulted in many deaths by stampede. There are four buildings containing 40 fixed and 16 mobile staircases, which the pilgrims use to climb to the higher levels or come down to the underground level. Two of these buildings were to the north of King Fahd Street and two in the eastern plaza of the Jamrat.
Makkah’s four-faced giant clock, a gift from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to the citizens and the Muslims world over, is the tallest and largest of its kind, dwarfing even the famous Big Ben in London.
It is 400 meters above the ground and can be clearly seen from all parts of Makkah at a distance of 8 km.
The giant clock was built on the top of Abraj Al-Bait Complex that is 601 meters high. It was built under the supervision of specialized engineers from Germany and Switzerland. The clock has four faces. The diameters of the front and the back faces are 43 meters. It is topped by a crescent edifice that has a diameter of 23 meters.
Allahu Akbar (God is Great) is written in bold letters on the top of the clock. The back faces of the clock carry the symbol of monotheism (La Ilaha Illa Allah).
The clock shows the local time according to the UTC that is based in Paris. Saudi Arabia’s local time is three hours ahead of GMT. Designed according to Islamic architecture, the clock’s total weight is 36,000 tons built on a steel structure weighing 12,000 tons. It is composed of 14,000 iron pieces of which some weigh about 16 tons. It has a large base with corridors for pilgrims wishing to see the clock from close.
Each of the three hands indicating hours, minutes and seconds weighs more than 21 tons and are thus the heaviest of their kinds in the world. The clock uses solar energy in addition to electricity.
The new expansion of the Grand Mosque in Makkah, which was launched by Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, will cover 400,000 square meters and will be 380 meters deep for underground facilities. Once completed, the expansion is expected to provide room for additional 1.2 million worshippers. Surrounding lands, which were appropriated for the project have been valued at more than SR4 billion.
The expansion, aimed at increasing the capacity of the Haram plazas, was approved by the king to cope with the growing number of pilgrims and visitors especially during Ramadan and Haj.
It will also reduce the congestion of buildings near the Grand Mosque from the northern, western and eastern sides, ease traffic for both vehicles and pedestrians, ensure pilgrims’ comfort and safety and add to the beautification of the area.
The project will include a modern network of roads consisting of special passes for cars that are separated from lanes to be used by pedestrians. It will also have tunnels for pedestrians equipped with escalators.
All the requirements of the pilgrims will be available at the expansion including potable water, garbage bins and shades to protect them against the sun’s heat.
Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah has given instructions to establish a state-of-the-art project to filter and sterilize the blessed Zamzam water for the use of residents, pilgrims and visitors.
The project, named after the king, was set up in Kudai district at the cost of SR700 million. It filters five million liters of water every day.
Abdullah opened the project, which took 30 months to complete, early in September 2010. It has an area of 13,405 sq. m. and consists of buildings for air pressure, storage, bottling, production lines and packaging. It also contains a power-generation facility producing 10 megawatts of electricity.
The water is automatically pumped from the Zamzam well, located inside the Grand Mosque, to the plant where it is automatically stored, filtered and purified.
It has a storage tank with a capacity of 10 million liters from which purified water is pumped through four stainless steel pipes to the Grand Mosque for the use of pilgrims and visitors.
A total of 1.5 million containers each with a capacity of 10 liters are daily distributed in Makkah for the consumption by its residents. Before distribution, these quantities are kept in a large warehouse that uses the technique of automatic storing and retrieving (AS/RS).
The plant has a laboratory to test water 24/7 with a view to ensuring its purity and suitability for human consumption. After purification, sterilization and testing, the water is transported automatically via special conveyors to Kudai pumping station that has 42 distribution points.
More than 5,000 special containers for Zamzam water are placed in the Grand Mosque for the use of pilgrims and visitors. The capacity of each container is 40 liters and they are automatically cleaned.
The new cleaning system can clean 250 containers in an hour thus saving a lot of time and effort.
