The US Army Corps of Engineers’ Transatlantic Middle East District (Tam) has awarded a $290m consultancy contract to Madrid-headquartered Typsa for work on a $10bn-$15bn construction project in Saudi Arabia.

The single-award task order deal is for a three-year base period with one two-year option period. It covers work on the P563 programme for Saudi Arabia’s Defence Ministry (MoD).

Typsa’s scope of work includes the preparation and implementation of a programme management plan (PMP), communication, change management, quality management, cost and scheduling tracking, design requirements, codes, standards and submittal requirements, programme guidance, study integration, risk analysis and management, design reviews and programme work breakdown plan.

P563 programme

Located to the northwest of Riyadh, the P563 programme includes the development of facilities and infrastructure to support the overall MoD initiatives developed as part of the kingdom's Vision 2030 strategy.

It covers the construction of:

• A new military city with MoD headquarters consolidation, support and logistics facilities; a residential and commercial community; and other future commands
• A National Defence University with a library, conference centre and academic buildings
• A self-sustaining Joint Forces Command compound located approximately 50 kilometres from the military city

The Saudi MoD headquarters and the university are in the masterplanning stage. The budget for the design alone amounts to $990m and the construction is budgeted at $10bn-$12bn.