- Entrants were tasked with providing creative, sustainable solutions for $500bn giga-project in Saudi Arabia’s northwest
TABUK: A submerged floating bridge could be built in the $500 billion megacity NEOM after it won a competition to contribute to the giga-project’s construction, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) reported.
NEOM, backed by the Kingdom’s Public Investment Fund, will operate as an independent economic zone that is powered solely by renewable energy sources and has its own laws and regulations.
Dozens of young Saudi men and women entered the “Dream NEOM” challenge, which was organized in conjunction with Crown Prince Mohamed bin Salman’s Misk Foundation.
Entrants were tasked with providing creative solutions to the challenges facing NEOM in the fields of energy, health, sustainability, environment and technology.
The winning team created a “Submerged Floating Tunnel Bridge” that will be kind to marine life and help limit air pollution while operational.
Second place was awarded to “Magna Storage Park” team that designed a pumping system to store water and compensate for the energy fluctuation that may result from cloud cover and breaks in the wind.
The third place went to the “NEOM Assist” team for presenting a solution for three health care challenges in the city of NEOM. It is based on providing assistive technologies for people with special needs, while conducting advanced health care and development research.
“NEOM is not seeking ideas from outside the box. It wants to go above and beyond to find innovative and unique ideas,” said NEOM CEO Nadhmi Al-Nasr. “We will consider all the projects that have been put forth to properly incorporate them in our national project that longs to integrate Saudi men and women.”
Misk Foundation said its Fellowship and Training Initiative sought to attract the best young minds to help accomplish NEOM’s vision, create opportunities and achieve the impossible.
The competition saw the participation of 12 teams that showcased their best innovations and solutions for the NEOM project.
The “Renewable Beauty” team presented technologies to identify energy sources in a way that complemented the megacity’s natural landscapes.
“NEOM Hot Rocks” devised a sustainable and carbon-free project that focused on using energy from rocks to strengthen the economy and improve the quality of life, while “Eco-Clusters” found a way to transform waste through a vertical farming facility.
“Cybuild” set up a pioneering architectural project allowing robots to undertake construction tasks from start to finish. “NeoMe Fit” team found a solution that includes health in the city’s future lifestyle.
The entire NEOM project encompasses 26,500 sq. km of land, ranging from scenic coastline to desert to snow-capped mountains.
There is a plan to establish a network of airports in NEOM that will include an international airport with world-class standards. Project planners have identified 16 economic sectors to create a sustainable economy which are expected to eventually generate an estimated annual income of $100 billion.