Among the many things that the world's great monotheistic religions have in common is the belief that, while God is everywhere, certain places have special religious significance. Being a business charged with the duty of placing stone upon stone in such places offers both an opportunity to carry out a sacred duty and the danger of causing serious offense if the work is not carried out with the proper sensitivity and reverence.

Fortunately for its work on the Holy Mosques at Makkah and Madinah, the Saudi Binladin Group has two key advantages. First was a firm foundation in the principles of Islam, so that the faithful could be sure that due observance was implicit in each stage of the work. Second, the company has a meticulous approach to planning and implementation which ensures that every detail of the work was carried out with devotional care.

In the past decade alone, the Saudi government has spent more than $18 billion on renovations in the two holy cities. As host to many millions of pilgrims from across the Islamic world, this is much more than a national project. Although only a part of the Saudi Binladin Group's activities, the company is most proud of its association with the work on the holy sites and has been engaged there since the original order to improve facilities was made by the first King of Saudi Arabia, King Abdul Aziz bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud.

The global presence of the group has expanded since it was founded in 1931 to encompass major civil engineering and infrastructure-building projects both throughout the Arabian peninsula and into much of the wider world. Its other autonomous divisions span industrial and power projects, oil, chemicals, mining, telecommunications and manufacturing. It is fair to say that the group has made major contributions to all aspects of Saudi infrastructure from desalination plants that provide much of the kingdom's water to thousands of miles of road. It has special expertise in road tunneling built up since constructing Saudi Arabia's first road tunnels on the Abha-Jizan highway and culminating in the impressive engineering feat of the eight-lane Al Diwan underpass in Jeddah. This tunnel uses high-tech design and construction in every aspect but especially in lighting and underground water level control.

Several of these divisions of the Saudi Binladin Group have worked within the holy sites. Its Special Buildings Division looks after the main construction work and is engaged with developing large residences and residential complexes as well as work on the mosques and holy places of Makkah and Madinah. The Public Buildings and Airports division undertook much of the electro-mechanical work and the Operations and Maintenance division has an on-site presence round the clock to ensure that things run smoothly. This division alone now employs more than 12,000 people.

In Makkah not only has the Ka'bah itself been refurbished but the space around it enlarged to improve the passage of pilgrims performing the Tawaf — the rite of circumambulation. Escalators now carry 15,000 visitors per hour up to the roof of the mosque in addition to the stairs. Cool marble floors, air filters and fans improve the physical environment for the mass of people making the pilgrimage.

Work on the Prophet's Mosque in Madinah — founded in 622AD by the Prophet Mohammed himself — has enlarged the building and its surroundings so that more than one million worshippers can be accommodated at any one time. The mosque has also been extensively renovated and repaired. Extensions have increased the area inside the building ten-fold to more than 1.7 million square feet and additional prayer space added close by totaling more than 800,000 square feet. Six minarets have been added from which the faithful can be called to prayer and electrically retractable domes installed — a first for any mosque.

According to Khalaf Ahmed Ashoor, private consultant to the president and general manager of Saudi Binladin Group, the work has been guided by the unique character of the sites. "Such an environment is represented in the harmony and consistency of a large group of customs, traditions and skills of the Islamic world, to compose a new vision based on Islamic rules and principles," he says.

Devotion to the act of pilgrimage is an essential part of religious life of a Moslem. There is no injunction, however that the experience need be unpleasant or dangerous. Thanks to the efforts of this devoted contractor, the faithful can attend their duty in security and comfort.

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