What role can digital technology play in infrastructure projects? Recently, our reporter visited the Jeddah Central Comprehensive Development Infrastructure Project (referred to as the "Jeddah Comprehensive Development Project") undertaken by Chinese enterprises in Saudi Arabia. Here, there are numerous lifting equipment and construction operations are thriving. In the future, a smart new urban area will be built, integrating museums, opera houses, sports halls, oceanariums, high-end hotels, and apartments. During the construction process, Chinese digital technology has shown great potential. Full process digital simulation - optimizing design schemes to improve construction efficiency. The Jeddah Comprehensive Development Project is an important project of Saudi Arabia's "2030 Vision", constructed by China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. and implemented by CCCC Fourth Harbor Engineering Co., Ltd. After the completion of the project, a Binhai New Area with a total area of 5.7 million square meters and a coastline of 9.5 kilometers will be built locally. Project manager Zou Jingdong did not rush to take the reporter to the scene, but first asked the reporter to wear a virtual reality helmet in the exhibition hall. Zou Jingdong introduced, "This is our 'weapon' for construction. We are responsible for building a 1507 meter comprehensive service pipe gallery, a 324 kilometer pipe network system, an 18 kilometer municipal road, and 6 service buildings. We also need to collaborate with other contractors to construct landmark buildings and supporting projects. By establishing and continuously improving the building information model, we can achieve a 1:1 modeling of all elements. We can detect and avoid engineering collisions in advance, reduce rework, and provide site development and planning simulation support for the owners." In the next few hours, the managers of various departments of the project rotated to the reporter to introduce the collaboration between the building information model and various applications - this experience is completely different from the reporter's previous interviews with engineering projects. The reporter couldn't help but wonder: "Isn't general contracting of civil engineering just about operating excavators to excavate, lay pipelines, backfill and restore on site?" Zou Jingdong explained: "Of course, there are these construction processes, but the procedures are completely different. Now, before starting construction on site, all construction processes have been simulated on the computer through relevant applications, forming digital information and optimizing the construction plan in advance." "" Our model has achieved full lifecycle application: from design, construction to operation and maintenance, each stage is refined and positively mapped in advance in the model. Ultimately, it will serve as the core foundation of digital twins for the construction of smart cities. ”Project design manager Huang Zixiong added. Zou Jingdong also shared a typical case: in project construction, the installation of comprehensive service pipe gallery pipelines on critical routes requires extremely high precision and safety. To verify the feasibility of construction and ensure construction quality, the owner requires a 3D animation simulation of the installation process. Zou Jingdong said, "Our engineers completed the animation production within a few days. Through simulation, we identified and solved the spatial conflicts and process connection problems in the original plan in advance, greatly improving installation efficiency and safety factor." In the end, the pipeline was successfully installed in one go and won the recognition of the owner. The project of accurately locating pipelines and quickly troubleshooting with augmented reality devices has also introduced a batch of augmented reality devices. This device, combined with mobile or tablet terminal applications, relies on satellite positioning and cloud platforms to achieve the upload and display of large-scale infrastructure building information models, as well as on-site precise positioning, calculation, and measurement functions. At the construction site, simply aim the flat camera at any area, and the screen can instantly overlay and display the location of inspection wells, pipelines, and other facilities, distinguished by different colors and shapes, with a positioning accuracy of ± 5 millimeters. The system supports rapid switching between real-world scenarios and building information models, providing support for precise pipeline positioning, common trench excavation, construction process optimization, and efficient acceptance. Huang Zixiong introduced that the application prospects of this device are very broad. Due to the complete entry of the geographical location and other information of the project into the building information model, once the underground pipeline has problems after the project is put into use, the augmented reality equipment combined with the smart city platform monitoring system can quickly display the location of the fault. Maintenance personnel are like having a "perspective eye", greatly improving the efficiency of troubleshooting and maintenance. The project leader Chen Hui stated that the integration of virtual reality, augmented reality, and building information modeling is a concrete manifestation of intelligent construction. At the current stage, the project has independently built a smart construction site and portal platform, deeply integrating the building information model with more than 10 subsystems such as progress simulation, environmental monitoring, safety and quality inspection, visitor management, etc., to achieve "visible data on one screen, controllable problems, and traceable responsibilities", accumulating experience for the construction of smart city platforms. He said, "In the future, the project will integrate big data and artificial intelligence to achieve dynamic management and resource coordination of the smart city platform, enabling the city to perceive, think, and evolve." Fayez Subai, the representative of the project owner of Jeddah Central Development Company, said that the Chinese project team has significantly improved the efficiency and intelligence of management collaboration through building information modeling and related applications, combined with big data and IoT technology, providing an example for Jeddah urban management. The successful application of the Chinese solution is expected to be promoted to other cities in Saudi Arabia, providing new opportunities for innovative cooperation between Saudi Arabia and China. The intelligent water fertilizer integration system, which improves soil structure and efficiently cultivates seedlings and garden landscapes, is an important component of the Jeddah comprehensive development project. The new urban area plans to plant 93 types of seedlings, including Phoenix Tree and Ficus microcarpa, with a total of over 500000 plants. For this purpose, the project department specially built a nursery on the outskirts of Jeddah. Walking into the nursery, phoenix trees and flattened logs are surrounded by moist water mist, and their leaves become increasingly green. This is the intelligent sprinkler system and wet curtain device equipped in the nursery. Through this system, the high temperature of 50 degrees Celsius outside can be effectively reduced to below 28 degrees Celsius, while achieving dynamic balance between soil moisture and air humidity, providing an ideal environment for plant growth. The local climate and geological conditions are not conducive to large-scale greening. The chief engineer of the project, Shen Changzhou, introduced that the salt and suspended solids content of the local water source in Jeddah exceeded the standard by up to 17 times. If directly used for irrigation, it would corrode the roots of seedlings and threaten the survival of green plants. The team has gone through more than 10 rounds of argumentation and more than 20 types of fertilizer compatibility tests, and finally developed an intelligent water fertilizer integration system: the water supply pipeline is connected to the raw water, and the pump room and water treatment device are equivalent to the "heart" of the system, responsible for converting raw water into fresh water; The intelligent irrigation network is like a "blood vessel", accurately delivering water and fertilizer to every seedling; The system inside the control room is the 'brain', which coordinates and directs the entire irrigation and fertilization process. The team also pre-set 256 sets of programs for the system to develop irrigation plans based on different seasons and types of seedlings. The team designed three fertilizer channels and equipped them with flow meters to monitor the amount of fertilizer applied in each area in real time, thereby preventing nutrient imbalance and soil structure damage. Shen Changzhou introduced, "We have not only doubled the cultivation efficiency, but also effectively avoided the problem of soil salinization and compaction, ensuring the survival of the first batch of more than 2000 experimental seedlings. Currently, the nursery has successfully cultivated more than 30000 seedlings, with a survival rate of up to 95%. This intelligent water fertilizer integrated system is jointly developed by the project team and domestic professional manufacturers. Shen Changzhou stated that the relevant core technologies have applied for patents and are expected to provide reference for greening in arid and saline alkali areas in the Middle East. The practice in the nursery has also laid the foundation for the upcoming large-scale greening planting of the project. Saudi urban planning expert Ahmed said that the Jeddah Comprehensive Development Project is committed to building a smart city. "The participation of Chinese enterprises provides digital support for project development, and Saudi Arabia and China have broad prospects for cooperation in urban infrastructure and digital construction." Yang Zhiyuan, general manager of the China Harbour Middle East Regional Management Center, said that green and smart are important directions for Saudi Arabia's economic diversification and transformation. Chinese enterprises actively participate in high-level cooperation and challenge difficult projects, which will add more impetus to the high-quality joint construction of the "the Belt and Road" between China and Saudi Arabia. (New Society)