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Renewable energy
BUILDING A LINE

IN THE SAND

WHEN IT COMES TO CONSTRUCTION SITES, THEY
DON’T COME ANY BIGGER THAN NEOM

NEOM isn’t just another construction site. It’s the construction site. A $500 Billion
bold, audacious and innovative giga-project. One that will not only challenge how
we see, interact and live in cities, but also how sustainably they can be built.

It is impossible to describe NEOM without using superlatives

NEOM is made up of three core projects. Trojena the machines via Customer Value Agreements (CVAs),
is a destination resort built around a lake in Saudi which include customer technician training, regular
Arabia’s snowy mountain range. Oxagon will be the maintenance at scheduled intervals, as well as around-
world’s largest floating structure and an industry hub the-clock, on-demand field and technical support.
that will service 13% of the world’s trade. And The
Line, perhaps the most impressive of all. A totally Zahid Tractor has supplied many of the 5,000 tractors,
unique city that stretches over 170 kilometres (110 excavators, loaders, graders, and trucks currently on-
miles) long and yet is just 200 meters (660ft) wide. site, and that number is expected to double over the
coming year. All of these will be kept very busy as just
Once built, The Line’s mirrored city walls will be home the preparation for the foundations alone will involve
to 9 million people. Residents lucky enough to live here moving approximately 500 million cubic meters of soil.
will be supported by a futuristic infrastructure that will
give them access to all their basic amenities within a Dealing with such large numbers of machines would
5-minute walk. While a high-speed rail link will run the always be difficult. Still, when you factor into account the
whole length of The Line in as little as 20 minutes. complexities associated with such a remote location, the
logistical challenge becomes even more extraordinary.
With neither roads nor cars and 95% of its
land preserved for nature, The Line will also be Zahid Tractor’s Strategy Department Head, Omar
carbon neutral, with a 0% carbon footprint. Sherif, is understandably proud of how they have
tackled the job. “In a time when supply chains are
As you would expect, with sustainability at its as strange as they are, together with Caterpillar,
core, there is a strong emphasis on renewable we’ve been able to deliver on this absolutely massive
energy, water conservation and reuse, and a project. And that is quite an achievement.”
circular waste management system that promises
zero waste to landfill. While the city itself will And for those wondering why it is called NEOM?
be powered by wind and solar panels. It’s a combination of two words. The first three
letters come from the Ancient Greek neo,
Zahid Tractor, the Cat dealership in the region, was meaning new. While the M comes from the
an obvious partner in this project with its vast network Arabic word, mustaqbal, meaning future. ■
of relationships, local knowledge and expertise in
working in the remotest areas. One of the many
services they handle is ensuring the uptime needs of

14 Cat Magazine