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Trojena Lake will be an artificial freshwater lake built in the Tabuk mountains of Saudi Arabia, at an altitude of 2,600 meters. The project includes three dams, an artificial island, and a $4.7 billion contract with the Italian construction company WeBuild. However, the source of the water remains officially unanswered.
Saudi Arabia is building what promises to be the largest artificial freshwater lake in the entire country, in the heart of the desert, at 2,600 meters above sea level in the Tabuk mountains. The project is called Trojena Lake and is part of the NEOM megacomplex, the ambitious Saudi plan for economic diversification outlined in Vision 2030. The reservoir will be 2.8 kilometers long, cover 1.5 square kilometers of surface area, and will be contained by three dams among the mountains. Inside, there will also be an artificial island for recreational use.
The contract for construction was signed in January 2024 with the Italian construction company WeBuild, for an initial value of $4.7 billion. There are already machines operating on the mountain and about 10,000 workers on the construction site. However, the biggest mystery of the project remains officially unanswered: where will the water come from to fill this artificial freshwater lake? There are no rivers nearby, and WeBuild’s statement does not specify the source of the resource. According to Arabian Gulf Business Insight, the water would come from an area near the Gulf of Aqaba, more than 200 kilometers away.
The numbers of Trojena Lake: the most ambitious artificial freshwater lake in the world
The data on Trojena Lake impresses with its scale. The artificial freshwater lake will be 2.8 kilometers long and cover 1.5 square kilometers of surface area, making it the largest artificial body of water in Saudi Arabia.
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To contain the water among the mountains, the project will use three dams: the main one will be 145 meters high and 475 meters long, made of HCR concrete. The second dam will also be made of concrete, while the third will be made of rock, with a volume of 4.3 million cubic meters.
Excavation is progressing at a rate of 90,000 cubic meters of rock per week, with a workforce of 10,000 people. The logistics are extreme: the construction site is in the desert, without prior infrastructure, which requires transporting absolutely everything to this remote location in the Tabuk mountains.
Completion was scheduled for the end of 2026, but leaks from Saudi officials already indicate delays of three to four years.
The Bow: the suspended structure over the lake that challenges engineering
As if the artificial freshwater lake were not ambitious enough, the project includes a structure called The Bow. It is a cantilever construction that will extend the surface of the lake beyond the front of the main dam, like a kind of suspended balcony overlooking the mountain.
The shape is inspired by the bow of a ship and will house a luxury hotel, residential areas, and entertainment spaces.
From an engineering perspective, The Bow is a large cantilever structure suspended over an active reservoir, combining complex structural engineering with continuous exposure to water load.
Building something like this over an artificial freshwater lake at 2,600 meters above sea level, in a desert environment, places the project at a level of technical difficulty that few undertakings in the world have faced. The combination of altitude, extreme climate, and lack of local infrastructure makes each stage of construction exponentially more complex.
The great mystery: where will the water come from to fill the lake in the desert
Saudi Arabia is one of the driest countries on the planet. There are no permanent rivers in its territory, and annual precipitation is minimal. Building an artificial freshwater lake under these conditions raises an obvious question: where does the water come from?
WeBuild’s official statement does not specify the source of the water resource. There are no rivers near the Tabuk mountains, and the only concrete indication so far comes from Arabian Gulf Business Insight, which points to an area near the Gulf of Aqaba as the source.
If this information is confirmed, the water will need to be transported over 200 kilometers and possibly undergo a desalination process before supplying the reservoir. Other possibilities include pumping from underground aquifers or capturing rainwater, both with severe limitations in a desert region.
The fact that the project is advancing without a clear public answer about the source of the water is one of the points that generates the most skepticism among analysts and engineers monitoring NEOM.
The context of NEOM: delays, budget overruns, and uncertainties about the future
Trojena Lake cannot be understood in isolation. It is part of NEOM, the megaproject for urban development that is the most expressive face of Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia’s plan to diversify its economy and reduce dependence on oil.
NEOM aims to be a hub for tourism, technology, and international investment, but in recent years it has faced successive delays and budget overruns. The originally announced futuristic city will likely have its scale severely reduced.
The artificial freshwater lake in the Tabuk mountains is considered one of the most advanced and tangible projects within NEOM. There is a signed contract, machines operating, and concrete progress on the ground. Still, delays have already accumulated: the completion originally scheduled for the end of 2026 has been pushed back three or four years, according to Saudi officials.
The war in the region adds an extra layer of difficulty, with drone attacks already hitting Riyadh, a blockade of maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz, and a reduction in foreign investment amid geological instability in the Middle East.
Engineering at the limit: what makes this artificial freshwater lake so difficult to build
Beyond the water issue, the engineering challenges of Trojena Lake are enormous. The main dam, at 145 meters high, needs to be built on rocky mountain terrain, at an altitude of 2,600 meters, in an environment where temperatures vary drastically between day and night.
The three dams of the project face completely different technical conditions from each other. The excavation of 90,000 cubic meters of rock per week gives a sense of the scale of the operation, which needs to maintain a constant pace despite the extreme conditions.
The construction company WeBuild, responsible for the execution, is one of the largest in Italy and has experience in large-scale projects around the world. But even for a company of this caliber, Trojena Lake represents an unprecedented challenge.
Building an artificial freshwater lake where water should not exist naturally is, in itself, an act of engineering that defies geographical logic. If the project is completed, it will be a demonstration that money and technology can reshape even the landscape of a desert. If it fails, it will be another chapter in the list of pharaonic promises that Saudi Arabia has failed to fulfill.
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