Ten Atlas Copco portable air compressors are being used on a project to build a new Guest Palace adjoining the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Oger, the contractor building the project, says that the palace will serve heads of state and VIPs attending the King Abdulaziz International Conference Centre.
The Guest Palace, which is only just beginning to rise above foundation level, is a low-rise structure with pavilions set in its landscaped grounds, and will draw upon classical Arabic design motifs and rely on craftsmanship to impart an air of luxury, says a spokesman for the developer.
Saudi Oger, which uses solely Atlas Copco compressors for its portable air needs, owns the largest fleet of Atlas Copco portable air compressors in Saudi Arabia, with currently 170 units housed at its Riyadh equipment compound.
Saudi Oger Equipment Department manager Christian Verdes said that the units being deployed on the Guest Palace contract are working on a diverse number of functions on the extensive site, including supplying air power to the site workshops, to the water hoses at the cement mix plant, and to numerous items of equipment and hand tools.
In a separate development, Qatar’s Boom Construction has taken delivery of its latest, purpose-ordered Atlas Copco XA 57 portable air compressor.
The machines will join the company’s two other recently-purchased units, an XA 77 and XA 97 for air power duties on its latest highway contract; and on a 17-km twin four-lane section of the Doha-Abu Samra highway.
All three Atlas Copco compressors, ordered through local distributor Oriental Trading Company (OTC), are providing air for cleaning the surfaces of the asphalt before laying the next course, says the contractor’s spokesman.
They are also being used to power cutters to ensure a clean joint between each asphalted section.
Additional Atlas Copco compressors, two XA 136s from the OTC rental fleet are providing air power for cleaning the on-site 200 tonne-per-hour (tph) Amman batching plant belonging to Boom Construction’s asphalt partner Bahrain Asphalt.
A second asphalt batching plant capable of producing 240 tph is being installed alongside the Amman unit by Boom Construction to meet the anticipated increased asphalt requirement. Here too, Boom is relying on the rental compressors for air power tools throughout assembly, the spokesman concludes.