US-based Turner has been appointed as the project manager for the 1,000-metre-plus Jeddah Tower in Saudi Arabia.

Turner was the project manager for the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, which at 828 metres tall has been the world’s tallest building since 2010.

The appointment comes amid other signs of progress on Jeddah Tower. The concrete pouring works for the tower began on 20 January, marking the official recommencement of construction works. The project’s contractor, the local Saudi Binladin Group (SBG), has received a payment of SR712m ($190m) for work on the tower.

READ MORE: Exclusive interview with Kingdom Holding CEO Talal Ibrahim Almaiman

Last year, the project development company, Jeddah Economic Company (JEC), signed an estimated SR8bn, 42-month contract with SBG to resume construction work on the tower. SBG then began engaging with the supply chain to work on the project. SBG awarded Beijing-headquartered Jangho Group a facade works contract that involves engineering design and technical services for the project’s structural glass and adhesive curtain walls. 

At the time, Jeddah Tower’s superstructure was about one-third complete, with 63 floors out of a total 157. SBG was the main contractor on the project in the early and mid-2010s. Germany’s Bauer completed the tower's piling work.

The architect is US-based Adrian Smith & Gordon Gill, and the engineering consultant is Lebanon’s Dar Al-Handasah (Shair & Partners).

Jeddah Tower is the centrepiece of the Jeddah Economic City development. The project’s first phase, which includes the main tower, covers an area of 1.5 million square metres.

The shareholders in JEC are Kingdom Holding Company with a 40% stake, Bakhsh Group with a 40% stake, and Sharbatly Group with a 20% share.

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