Few companies can boast of the distinction that Ahmed N Albinali & Sons has notched up in Saudi industry. It has been in business nearly since the start of the oil era. It was in 1937, only a few years after the first geologists arrived to search for oil in the Kingdom's Eastern Province, that the company registered itself with the Arabian American Oil Company (Aramco) as one of its first four civil contractors.

More than six decades later, the company has expanded phenomenally, its services covering vital areas of Saudi Arabia's industrial life including petroleum, petrochemical and civil construction.

"The company's pioneering traditions are evident today through its commitment to providing high-end contracting and engineering services as well as manufacturing facilities," says a company spokesman.

The range of manufactured products includes high-quality bituminous construction materials, liquid asphalts (cut backs), emulsions and hot-mix asphalts for applications in road maintenance, construction, roofing and waterproofing as well as a protective coating known as Roof Guard for the maintenance and construction sector.

Ahmad N Albinali was also one of the first Saudi companies to undertake specialist telecommunications contracts in the Kingdom in the early 1990s.

"The company continues to broaden its expertise and build on its recognised strengths through strategic joint-venture partnerships that further enhance its engineering and contracting expertise," he says. The expansive scope of operations is reflected in its divisions Ñ civil engineering, telecommunications, electrical, mechanical and industrial manufacturing -- and joint ventures, one of which is with Kvaerner John Brown and the other with Entrepose.

From the time of its 1930s work on site preparation and cold-mix paving for Aramco, the company has advanced to more sophisticated levels, performing specialist roads sector jobs for Saudi Aramco, other government organisations and the private sector.

Road works it has undertaken include earth works, asphalt paving, pipe culverts, street lighting and road marking, road maintenance and slurry sealing.

The company is a major builder of office and commercial complexes while still maintaining site preparation and grading services within urban areas and the desert environment. Specialist equipment including earthmovers, bulldozers and loaders are housed in a 50,000 sq m yard along with maintenance facilities and workshops.

Over the decades, the division has worked in Ras Tanura, Abqaiq, Riyadh, Jubail and Khafji on important projects, one of the recent ones being the East-West pipeline that crosses the length of the Kingdom.

Ahmad N Albinali's new eight-storey headquarters and commercial complex, located midway between Dammam and Dhahran, will centralise the company's various operations and serve as the nerve centre for its growth in the years to come.

Its telecommunications work includes organising much of the laying of the fibre optic network in the Kingdom. One of the first Saudi companies to develop contracting expertise in telecommunications, it has handled the trenching, digging, splicing and the pulling of cables stretching from Dhahran to Jeddah, a distance of more than 2,000 km. The infrastructure facilities it has helped build include microwave transmission towers for the East-West pipeline.

Ahmad N Albinali's electrical division handles all aspects of electrical and power supply systems ranging from general contracting through to the installation of infrastructure.

Operations include cable-laying in trenches, cable ploughing and splicing as well as jumpering and testing. Recently the division commissioned a 115 KVA power transmission line at the Hawiyah gas plant.

Its mechanical division's operations are growing fast with complex and specialist project work in the petroleum and petrochemical sector."With its proven capabilities, this division is well placed for providing single-source contracting services to hydrocarbon processing industries and the manufacturing sector with high-level engineering, procurement and construction management," the spokesman says.

Helped on by a highly qualified staff of project managers, engineers, designers, draftsmen and technologists, the company has undertaken a range of contracting projects including grassroots energy -related facilities through to plant upgrades and expansions.

Ahmad N Albinali's manufacturing division has relocated to Dammam's second industrial city as part of its plans to meet market demand. The company undertook a rolling contract in the Eastern Province for both slurry sealing and ongoing road maintenance.

In partnership with Kvaerner John Brown, Ahmad N Albinali has undertaken many large-scale engineering turnkey projects throughout Saudi Arabia over the past decade.

Kvaerner John Brown provides specialist petroleum engineering services including evaluation, design, project management, procurement and inspections services, on structures on-shore and offshore, pipelines, tank farms and terminals.

Kvaerner John Brown has worked on oilfield development in central Arabia and on special engineering technology for Samad as well as at the Al Jubail Fertiliser Company, the Ibn Zahr poypropylene plant in Jubail, Petrokemya (Arabian Petrochemical Company) and at Kemya phase IV for the expansion in Jubail and other subsidiary companies.

The other joint venture, Entrepose Arabia, combines resources with Albinali & Sons for specialist work involving pipelines, mechanical work, plant shutdowns and the fabrication and installation of tank farms.

Entrepose has expertise in the long-distance transportation of liquids under pressure including oil, gas and water. Pipeline construction covers a range of materials such as cast iron, cement and polyethylene. Pipeline rehabilitation is also undertaken.