Riyadh awards 900 kilometers long fence deal along Iraqi border

Monday, 23 Jun 2008

MEED reported that a JV of Al Rashid Trading & Contracting Company and the European Aeronautic Defense & Space Company has won the SAR 3.4 billion contract to build a 900 kilometers long security fence along Saudi Arabia's northern border with Iraq. The JV received a letter of intent in mid June 2008 from the interior ministry and expects to sign the contract in July 2008, with site mobilization due imminently.

The contract covers two packages of work that the ministry had considered offering as 2 separate contracts. It had asked firms to bid for the separate packages. The first package covers the 900 kilometers, double lined fence and includes surveillance equipment, watch towers and electronic gates. Package two covers the civil works, including command centers, training centers and accommodation for border guards.

The original bids were submitted in October 2007, with the expectation that a contract would be awarded by the end of the year. However, the decision was delayed by the proposal to split the contract because of the rising cost of raw materials, which has increased the level of risk for bidders. The delay was also due to Riyadh seeking to standardize the systems it uses across a wider proposed network.

The northern border fence forms part of a multi billion dollar project by the interior ministry to install a radar based system for detecting incursions along the entire length of the kingdom's 6,500 kilometer border.

Other firms that bid for the northern border fence contract include the local Al Arab Contracting Company and the local Al Mabani with the US' Raytheon. El-Seif formed a consortium with the US' DRS technologies for its bid.