Sabic builds Riyadh houses

SABIC (Saudi Basic Industries Corporation) has signed a contract with Joannou & Paraskevaides (Saudi Arabia) for constructing the Al-Waseel Hills, the company’s staff housing project in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The project covers 685 residential units at the Shams Al Riyadh site including the infrastructure and landscaping along the Wadi Hanifa, which passes through the complex. The project to be completed in about three years also includes mosques, schools, shopping centres, sports clubs and parking areas. It is expected to meet the housing needs of Sabic employees in Riyadh.

Sheraton Park on target

WORK on the Sheraton Park in Doha, Qatar, is on track and the park is set to open by the end of this year.

Work is progressing on schedule, Qatari Diar Vinci Construction (QDVC) CEO Yanick Garillon told the Gulf Times. QDVC is tasked with executing the project.  The park, which extends from Doha’s West Bay to the Sheraton hotel, will ease parking congestion in the area while offering city residents a world-class recreational centre.

The project comprises a landscaped park, an underground four-level car-park for an estimated 2,800 cars, a 66 kV substation for Qatar’s electric power generation utility Kahramaa; two 11-kV sub-stations and a tunnel under the corniche road that will provide access to a new convention centre planned in the area.

It includes 73,000 sq m of public areas including fountains, children’s playgrounds, cafes and at least two restaurants.

Arabtec to open Baghdad office

ARABTEC Holding, a leading engineering and construction group of companies specialising in complex projects in the Middle East and North Africa region, said it will soon open an office in the Iraqi capital Baghdad, to capitalise on the country’s high potential, particularly in oil and gas and infrastructure.

The office will serve as a platform for expansion by Arabtec Holding’s joint ventures and subsidiaries, in what is expected to become one of the region’s most lucrative construction market.

Injaz to promote Al Nada project

INJAZ Development Company has signed a strategic agreement with Almutlaq Real Estate company (AREIC), a part of Almutlaq Group, to especially promote the Al Nada project in Saudi Arabia.

Spread across 120,000 sq m, the Al Nada project is strategically located at the Riyadh-Jubail Road and Abu Bakr Al Siddiq Street intersection to the west of Al Faisaliya District and offers major real estate and construction opportunities.

The project site is a fully constructed residential area that boasts of basic services in addition to a well-developed infrastructure.

Contrack Nass JV installs bridge

A 2,650-tonne bridge has been successfully installed across the Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Highway in Mina Salman, Bahrain.

Installation of the US Navy Flyover Bridge was executed smoothly within 15 hours with the highway closed, according to Contrack Nass, a  joint venture which is the main contractor of the Waterfront Development Project.

The company said it used an innovative “build, lift, move and install” approach to the project which was unlike any other bridge installation undertaken in the Middle East.

“The flyover bridge is approximately 122.5 m long, 16 m wide and 21.4 m tall (from ground 27.5 m), and is a tied arch cable suspension bridge with a roadway and pedestrian walkway. The bridge deck is a concrete post-tensioned construction. The entire bridge was constructed at an offsite facility about 250 m away from the permanent location across Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Highway and was moved to be placed at two end piers with the highway completely open,” said Ghazi Nass, supervisory board member of the joint venture and director of Nass Corporation.

The team of experts from Contrack Nass and Sarens Nass Middle East moved this off-site manufactured bridge from the assembly location to the highway using self-propelled modular transporter technology.

Powerscreen names Turkey distributor

POWERSCREEN, one of the world’s leading providers of mobile crushing and screening equipment, has appointed SIF Is Makinalari as an official distributor of Powerscreen crushing and screening equipment to service the needs of aggregate customers within Turkey.

Conor Hegarty, regional sales manager for Powerscreen, said: “Powerscreen is delighted to work with SIF Is Makinalari to support our customers in Turkey. The country is a fast growing market for construction equipment and SIF Is Makinalari is a long established, successful construction equipment distributor with a strong focus on after-sales support.”

SIF Is Makinalari, which has been successfully growing its business in the construction equipment sector, currently has branches in Istanbul, Bursa, Adana, Ankara, Izmir, Antalya, Diyarbakir, and Trabzon.

EPCC deal signed for Ma’aden project

SNC-LAVALIN, in association with Sinopec Engineering Group (SEG), has signed a contract with Ma’aden in Saudi Arabia to provide engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning (EPCC) and start-up services for a three-line 15,150 tonnes-per-day sulphuric acid plant. Also included in the agreement are two 75-MW power plants that will recover heat generated by the acid plant operations. The total value of the contract is approximately $764 million with SNC-Lavalin’s portion estimated at $500 million.