The Jubail Superproject

An instant skyline in the sands of Arabia

As big as the Alaskan pipeline and Hoover Dam are, nothing that Bechtel has ever helped build can compare with the Jubail project. Some 324 miles northeast of the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, on desolate salt flats washed by the Persian Gulf and baked in 100-plus temperatures for much of the year, a whole new ultramodern city is emerging. When completed in 15 years, this megastructure will cover an area as large as Greater London and contain a population as numerous as that of Minneapolis....