A video of an epic road-building feat in the Rub’ al Khali desert – also known as the Empty Quarter – in Saudi Arabia has notched up more than one million views on YouTube.
A total of 95 Volvo Construction Equipment machines supplied by FAMCO were used in the construction of the road between Saudi Arabia and Oman. The machines ran 14-hour shifts in temperatures ranging from -1 to 50 degrees, as they dug through 1,000-foot sand dunes.
VIDEO: Building a road through Saudi Arabia’s Empty Quarter
The Volvo CE haulers were responsible for shifting approximately 130 million cubic metres of sand. A mobile service-workshop established at the base camp also ensured the machines were kept running, and provided logistical support.
The Arabic version of the video clocked up more than one million views – making it the most-watched construction-related YouTube video produced in the Middle East, according to FAMCO – and is also available in English. The campaign’s popularity was also evident on Twitter, with over 600,000 impressions.
According to a spokesman for FAMCO, the campaign was designed to inform the construction industry of the supplier’s service capabilities, as well as of Volvo CE’s reliability in extreme conditions.
