Looking at the sections of the KAM road (from start of KAM Road till the 90 degree diversion towards the monument) it is noticed that 5 independent roads are running parallel to each other. From inside-out the sequence of roads is as follows;

1.	KAM Road (A 4 lane dual carriageway).
2.	Maintenance Road inside the existing fence on existing KAUST land (sometimes called existing patrol road, but now it is an internal maintenance road).
3.	Proposed Maintenance Road, just outside the existing fence (currently being called the National Guard Road, but it will become outer maintenance road). 
4.	Proposed National Guard Road (New Road just before the MOT for Naval Base).
5.	MOT Road to naval base (4 lane dual carriage way).
Considering that a road can be considered as a part of strategic security measures only if it is outside the fence and we already have 5 parallel roads, 2 for maintenance only, we can safely eliminate the road in point No. 2 above, where KAM can work as an internal maintenance road also. The existing scope of work already requires a chain link fence between the KAM access road and security corridor and we shall maintain it, by adding some chain link gates at 500m distance to access the internal IDAS from KAM road. The above proposal will have the following benefits:

1.	More KAUST land can be available on the inner side of security corridor.
2.	KAM road Construction shall be faster to meet the target date, as we shall avoid construction on mangroves and sea water completely.
3.	Zero negative effects on mangroves, flora and fauna, as no mangrove shall be disturbed. If this proposal is not accepted 20,000 sqm of mangroves will be destroyed with no surety of mortality during replantation or transplantation. Aramco Environmental protection department has raised deep concerns on any mitigation measures for disturbing the mangroves.
4.	Most of the construction in Sabkha areas shall be avoided, making the construction faster to meet the KAUST deadline.
5.	Most of the construction on the sea water shall be avoided, making the construction faster to meet the KAUST deadline as referred in KAUST Letter No. KAUST-M&U-13-0054.
In light of the above, SAPMT believes that this proposal for merging the KAM road and the maintenance road for the area between the start of KAM to the diversion towards the monument will definitely save time and effort, and help in delivering the KAM road earlier than the desired dates.

Should you have any questions, please contract Fahad A. Al-Balawi, Sr. Project Engineer on Tel. No. +966 12 422 4393.
