Home / Projects / Power & Energy / 95,000 sqm Desalination Plant Space Frame in Saudi Arabia: Marine C5-M Corrosion Resistance and Large-Span Equipment Shading
95,000 sqm Desalination Plant Space Frame in Saudi Arabia: Marine C5-M Corrosion Resistance and Large-Span Equipment Shading
Fabricated with heavy hot-dip galvanization and fluorocarbon sealers to resist severe chloride salt spray in the coastal Red Sea atmosphere.
Project Overview
Situated directly along the Red Sea coastline of Saudi Arabia, this massive seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination complex provides municipal potable water for urban expansion. Constructing industrial shading infrastructure adjacent to coastal marine water introduces severe environmental challenges. Facility operators must ensure long-term structural integrity while handling extreme operational conditions. They face three primary technical concerns: resisting continuous airborne chloride attack and salt spray from the sea, providing wide-span column-free protection to shield sensitive high-pressure membrane racks and pumping stations from desert UV degradation, and withstanding intense thermal expansion in summer temperatures. Shijie Heavy Industry addressed these coastal challenges by designing an engineered space frame canopy structure. We utilized bolted spherical node space trusses fabricated from structural steel to achieve expansive spans without internal column interference. Every bolt ball, pipe strut, and purlin was treated with a hot-dip galvanizing base and a marine-grade fluorocarbon topcoat system, providing C5-M atmospheric corrosion protection against saline moisture. The prefabricated modular grid was assembled using dry-bolted mechanical nodes, eliminating field welding in salt-air environments. Handing over the structural canopies 45 days ahead of schedule allowed mechanical teams to install high-pressure piping and membrane vessels on time.
| Location | Red Sea Coast, Saudi Arabia |
| Application | Desalination Space Frames |
| Scale | 95,000 sqm Shading Canopies |
| Structure | Bolted Spherical Space Frame |
| Clear Span | 54m Column-Free Module Spans |
| Corrosion | C5-M Marine Coating System |
| Sun Protection | UV-Reflective Aluminum Roofing |
| Assembly | 100% Mechanical Bolted Nodes |
| Tolerance | Millimeter Precision Machining |
| Schedule | Handover 45 Days Ahead |
Marine-Grade Barrier System
Fabricated with heavy hot-dip galvanization and fluorocarbon sealers to resist severe chloride salt spray in the coastal Red Sea atmosphere.
Wide Equipment Clearance
The 54-meter clear-span space frame provides unobstructed floor clearance for high-pressure pump skids, manifold lines, and maintenance cranes.
Thermal Stress Dissipation
Multi-directional slide bearings accommodate substantial linear thermal movement, eliminating joint fatigue caused by desert temperature swings.
Weld-Free Node Erection
High-precision bolted spherical nodes enabled crane crews to assemble extensive roof sections mechanically without generating field sparks.
Turning Site Challenges into Engineered Certainty
Proven technical interventions to keep your project on spec, on budget, and on schedule
Proximity to the Red Sea exposes steel to heavy airborne chloride salt spray, causing premature pitting corrosion.
Applied a complete C5-M marine duplex coating system, combining hot-dip galvanization with chemical-resistant epoxy primers.
Internal columns obstruct complex subterranean seawater intake pipes, brine headers, and high-pressure manifold routes.
Utilized a bolted spherical space frame to achieve 54-meter clear spans, keeping the ground layout unobstructed for mechanical equipment.
Anyone maintaining heavy equipment thirty meters from the Red Sea knows that airborne salt crust settles on surfaces within twenty-four hours. When moisture condenses overnight, it turns that salt into an electrolyte soup that eats untreated threads for breakfast. During the technical review, my chief concern wasn't crane schedules; it was long-term maintenance overhead. I did not want my crews re-coating corroded bolts on an elevated space canopy three years into commercial pumping operations. When the first batch of structural nodes arrived at the coastline staging yard, we took thickness gauges directly to the bolt balls and inner sleeve threads. The hot-dip zinc layer was dense, uniform, and cleanly sealed by the marine-grade fluorocarbon topcoat, with zero pinholes around the chamfers. On the scaffolding, their dimensional machining accuracy proved itself: pipe struts lined up flush into the spherical sockets without workers having to force angles or hammer nodes into place, keeping the protective seal intact. Seeing the membrane arrays operating beneath that continuous 54-meter span without structural interference confirms this canopy was engineered specifically for real marine plants.
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Predictable delivery, certified compliance, and direct engineering support for zero-risk execution
Pre-assembled in our factory and 3D-nested for containers to cut ocean freight and site delays
Fabricated strictly to CE EN 1090-1, AISC, and ISO 9001 / 14001 / 45001 with full NDT traceability
Work directly with senior structural engineers from Tekla 3D modeling to on-site erection
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