The northern drive of Jeddah's Eastern Tunnel broke through in July 2026 after 6.88 km. The tunnel is a 14 km sewer that the National Water Company (NWC) expects to hand over by the end of 2026. Whether it does will be the first hard test of the utility's 15-project, over SAR 2.3 billion wastewater package, launched in May 2025.
Where the works stood
In January 2026 the tunnel was 60% complete overall, with its northern drive at 70% and its southern drive at 45%, according to Al-Eqtisadiah. Its execution cost was put at SAR 800 million, up from more than SAR 774 million when the package was announced. The tunnel runs to Lift Station 2 at the airport and is to serve about 1.1 million beneficiaries.
The lift station follows in 2027
The tunnel feeds a new airport sewage lift station with a capacity of 611,000 m³ a day. It was 50% complete in January 2026, with operation expected in 2027 and a cost of up to SAR 1 billion. Together, the tunnel and lift station account for about SAR 1.8 billion of the wastewater package.
More sewers to the north
NWC has also moved on northern Jeddah. In February 2026 it awarded Civil Works Company two contracts worth SR 536.3 million (USD 143 million) for about 133 km of sewers plus tunnels. Each runs 32 months from site handover. Two smaller items from the May 2025 package, Samer 1–4 sewerage at over SAR 54 million and surface-water lowering at over SAR 620 million, were last reported under construction in May 2025.
What the rest of Jeddah's pipeline holds is covered in the report, including the unsigned KAFA stormwater tunnel at about USD 175 million per phase, the Prince Fawaz drainage tender and the SWPC plants serving the city. The full report, Water Infrastructure Investment and Project Pipeline in Jeddah, is available for USD 249.