1) The North-South Railway project in Saudi Arabia faces various environmental challenges due to operating in desert conditions over 2380 km.
2) Key challenges include moving sand dunes, windblown sand, isolation of the route, construction in remote areas, drainage, and protection of wildlife and local communities.
3) Mitigation measures include compacted embankments, gravel blankets, sand fencing, culverts for drainage and wildlife, and fencing to restrict access. Special consideration is given to sabkha areas and reducing energy consumption.
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Gassim Al Gassim - sar environmental challenges
1.
2. SAR - North South Railway
Environmental Challenges
Gassim Al-Gassim
Deputy CEO for Projects
Saudi Railway Company (SAR)
3. Introduction
• The initial studies were carried out over 15 years ago to develop
the North-South Railway.
• Council of Ministers on May 22, 2006 approved the licensing of a
new company named Saudi Railway Company (SAR) a wholly
owned by the Public Investment Fund of the Ministry of Finance,
will manage the Implementation and operation & Maintenance.
• Overall objective of PIF/SAR is to ensure timely implementation of
operating North-South Railway to carry Ma’aden’s mineral traffic
in an economical fashion from mines at Al Jalamid and Az Zabirah
to industrial facilities in RasAzZawr. In addition, it is planned to
operate passenger and general freight between Riyadh and Al
Haditha on the Jordanian Border .
4. • Design JV Contract awarded to CANARAIL, SYSTRA and Khatib &
Alami in March 2004.
• Implementation Supervision Consultant (ISC) Contract – Louis
Berger Group Inc., in association with CANARAIL Consultants Inc.,
SYSTRA and Khatib & Alami Engineering and Construction –
signed on 29th November 2005.
• Contracting Strategy based on International Competitive Bidding
commenced in March 2006.
5. Quantities In SAR Project
Item
No. Item Total
1 Total alignment length 2380 km
2 Concrete-bridges 114
3 Concrete-Culverts 2679
4 Earth work 497 million m
5 Earth work in An’Nafud 0,915 million m /km
6 Sleepers More than 4.600.000 units
7 Rails More than 286.000 tones
6. Railway Expansion Program in Saudi Arabia
Existing Network
Al Jalamid Mine North-South Railway
Al Haditha
Saudi Landbridge
Syria
Western Railway
Iraq Iran Al Jawf
Kuwait Al Basayta
Jordan Ras Az Zawr
Gu
Jubail
lf
Egypt Bahrain Ha’il Az Zabirah Mine
Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia Qatar Dammam
United Arab Emirates Buraydah
Al Madinah Al Hufuf
R
Re
Oman (Medina)
dS
Yanbu Riyadh
Se
Haradh
ea
Eritrea Yemen
Sudan Arabian Sea
Jeddah
Gulf of Aden Makkah
(Mecca)
Ethiopia Somalia
THE KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA RAILWAY EXPANSION PROGRAM
7. Minerals, Passengers and General Freight Alignment
Al-Haditha Al-Jalamid
Station Mines 300 – 750 Km from An Nafud to Al-Haditha,
CTW
Hazm AL – Jalamidcontracts,Basayta
Three major and Al – 7.2 Billion Saudi Riyals,
awarded on 3rd Barclay Mowlem Civil and
Awarded to Al-RashidApril 2007 for the– Mitsui Track
Consortium In (Eastern Region , Al-Qassim ZabirahAl-Jowf , to
Works CTW 200 – 440Km from Az , Hail , Junction
And NorthernNafud – Awarded to the JV of China
An Boarder Region), as following :
Railway 18th Bureau and Al- Suwaiket Co.
Al-Basayta Al-Jowf Station 877 Million Saudi Riyals -
Station An Nafud - 4.2-2 awarded Km from Az Zabirah Mine to Ras Az-
CTW 100 – 576
The total length of–the project is approx. Group.. Km)
to Al-Khodari Co. Awarded to Saudi Binladen (2400
Zawr
The total length of (Mineral)service is (1486 Km)
939 Million Saudi Riyals Hail Station
Ras Az Zawrٌ
An Nafud – 4.2-1 awarded Bauxite Mine/Junction
to Al-Omaier / Al Fahad Co.
CTW 400 – Recently Awarder with Jubail
contract value 2.7 Billion Saudi Al-Qassim
Station
Riyals Majma’ah
Industrial Station
The total length of (Passenger,ganeral freight)
460Km from Az Zabirah Junction to Station in
KKIA – Awarded toKm)
services is (1418 Al Ayuni, Al Sudair
Riyadh Station
Omaier & CCECC.
18. What Are The Environmental Challenges?
1 What the railway carries?
2 Goals and Objectives of Environmental Protection
3 How is the Environment protected from interaction with our freight?
4 Crossing the desert
5 Construction process
6 Drainage
7 Interaction with the local people
8 Protection of wildlife and domesticated animals
9 SABKHA
10 Energy consumption and Environment
11 Reducing energy consumption
12 Operational consideration
19. What does the railway carry
1 Phosphate Ore
2 Bauxite Ore
3 Sulphuric Acid
4 Caustic Soda
5 General Freight
6 Passengers
20. Goals and Objectives of Environmental Protection
• Conserve and protect environment of KSA.
• Protect public health from hazard and environmentally damaging
activities.
• Protect and develop natural resources, minimize use of
environmental planning integral to industrial, construction and
agricultural activities.
• Raise level of awareness regarding environmental issues
21. How Is The Environment Protected From The
Interaction With Our Freight?
1 All corrosive materials are carried in modern sealed
wagons
2 all wagons are inspected for leaks before leaving the
loading facility and after the unloading process
3 all wagons are inspected on a regular basis outside of the
transit inspections
22. Crossing The Desert
1 The main desert area is the an Naffud between hail and al
Jawf approximately 300km
2 Issues to be dealt with at this location were
a. Moving sand dunes
b. Wind bourn sand
c. Isolation and inaccessibility of the route in general
inspections
23. Crossing The Desert
1 The majority of the embankments were constructed from
compacted sand protected by a layer of compacted cohesive
soils
2 This caused additional environmental issues as borrow pits had
to be found and the protective material hauled to site
3 The estimated quantity of material to be moved for the
project embankments is 295 million cubic meters
4 While the estimated quantity of material moved for the project
cuttings is 175 million cubic meters
5 Resulting a total of required material of 120 million cubic
meters
24. Construction in Desert
The majority of NSR Alignment will go through remote
locations So, for the construction camps the following had to
be taken into consideration:
• Accommodation for more than 1,000 Inhabitants
• Supply Chain for Daily Needs of Labors
• Supply of Construction Material
• Supply of Construction Consumables
25. Sand Dunes
• NSR Alignment passes through a lot of desert and sand dunes
area.
• Deserts are generally characterized by the severity of sand
blowing resulting in
• Contamination of the Ballast Layer (Impact on System Elasticity).
• Designers can only minimize the problem associated with blowing
sand by understanding how sand moves and applying techniques
tested and found to be successful.
26.
27. Sand Dunes Mitigation
• Providing sand trap areas at the railway toe-of-embankment.
• Applying gravel blankets as a protection layer against erosion.
• Using sand fence.
• Frequent maintenance is required.
28. Construction Process
1 These inaccessible sites required:
a. The construction of access roads from the local
highways
b. Additional width of the construction footprint to allow
adjacent site access roads
C. Provision of general amenities and construction
materials at locations where all provisions had to be
hauled in by road
29. DRAINAGE
1 The rain fall in the desert has serious impact on
earthworks due to its intensity.
2 The majority of embankments have culverts installed to
allow the passage of storm water.
3 Cuttings have been designed to allow the storm water
easy egress away from the railway.
4 Embankment protection has been provided not only to
support the core structurally but from adverse weather
conditions.
30. Interaction With The Local People
1 The route has been designed to cause as little interference
with the local public as possible.
2 where ever possible the route horizontal alignment has
been designed not to divide existing land holdings.
3 where it has not been possible land owners have been
compensated.
4 the railway is fenced along its total route to prevent
accidental access and potential accidents
31. Protection Of Wildlife And Domesticated Animals
1 Total fencing has been the policy of the project
2 Where the route traverses land where livestock has the
need for access to either side:
a. Special sized culverts have been use
B. Camel crossing bridges with high parapets and gentle
approach slopes have been constructed over the
railway
32. SABKHA
• Arabic term that describes a composition of Sand Deposits mixed
with Silt, Clay with the presence of salt.
• Always refers to saline, puffy, crust-surfaced flat basins with the
presence of water.
• Coastal Sabkha found in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia in
low-lying plains and Inland Sabkha found in northern part.
• Special attention is required due to water presence.
• Low load carrying capacity (Settlement).
33. SABKHA Mitigations
• Using Geotextiles in the construction of Railway on sabkha sub-
grade.
• Using rock fill for embankment under the sub-grade, ballast and
sub-ballast.
• Pre-Loading (Additional temporary load but time consuming).
• Soil Replacement.
• Mechanical Compaction (e.g. Stone/Sand columns)
34. Energy Consumption and Environment
• Railways provide efficient and safe transportation for freight
and passengers compared with other transportation systems.
• Railways reduce emissions and pollutions.
35. Reducing Energy Consumption
• Optimize Route Alignment / Geometry: Very few Curves.
• Fuel efficient locomotives.
• Modern Rolling Stock (low roll resistance).
• Streamlined Efficient Passenger Trains design for aero-dynamics.
• Consequent and strict maintenance for rolling stock and
permanent way.
36. Operational Considerations
• Sand Environment Impact on Operation:
Special Sand removal equipment required to keep tracks clear.
• Special “Pulse Filtration System” for Locomotives (EMD SD 70 Acs):
Proven Technology in hot sandy desert conditions
37. Balises
• Due to high temperature in Saudi Arabia specially during summer ,
temperature was measured and found during summer that exceed 80
C and readings from balises will be effected
• For that reason Balises were equipped with covers (Shadow) to
reduce temperature and assure their functionality.
38. Point Machine
• Because of sand problems and in order to reduce maintenance,
Point machines were designed with a special cover. This cover is
IP67 / The where no. 6 means no ingress of dust, complete
protection against contact and no. 7 means Ingress of water in
harmful quantity shall not be possible when the enclosure is
immersed in water under defined conditions of pressure and
time (up to 1 m of submersion).
39. Hot Wheel and Hot Box Detector
• Rolling stock detection devices are integrated with ETCS signaling
system to ensure normal temperature in wheels and box. This is
to avoid wheel damages which may lead to derailments.
