Contracts awarded for Fox Hills
damac Properties has awarded two contracts that will enable work to commence on site at its Piazza development in Fox Hills, Lusail, Qatar.
Construction Technologies will carry out enabling works on site on site, which will include fencing, ground clearance, rock excavation, dewatering and shoring work plus general site preparation is expected to last several months.
In addition, Damac has appointed the Erga Group as its lead consultants on its maiden Qatari project. Erga will over see the entire construction process including the main contractor once it is appointed later this year. Construction is expected to take around two years with completion due in 2011.

Qatar green council launched
the Qatar Green Building Council (QGBC), an independent non-profit organisation committed to developing a sustainable approach to design and development of buildings in Qatar, has been officially launched.
The QGBC is the second member of the World Green Building Council (WGBC) in the Middle East and the first independent non-profit organisation committed to developing a sustainable property industry in Qatar.
QGBC founder and chairman Issa M Al Mohannadi said the council’s mission is to educate the public, generate and foster awareness among the people, develop a set of environmental and green building best practice guidelines, and to support research and development.
The council will support numerous certification programmes and internationally recognised benchmarks, including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (Leed) of US, Breeam of UK and Green Star of Australia.

Danube poised for Saudi expansion
rubber World Industries (RWI) of the UAE, a leading manufacturer of closed-cell rubber insulation in the Gulf and South-East Asia, is eyeing prospects within the growing Qatari construction market. This is in line with the stability of Qatar’s economy, and amidst recent BMI reports that the country’s construction sector is poised for a 16.28 per cent year-on-year (YoY) growth in 2009.
Senior officials also revealed that efforts are being taken to step up RWI’s production to 1,800 containers per year in order to adequately supply and meet the growing demand for rubber insulation products in Qatar and the rest of the region.

Danube opens Jeddah Buildmart
Danube Building Materials of the UAE has opened a new Buildmart retail complex in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Located on the Makkah Highway, the Dh55-million ($14.97 million) complex marks Danube’s largest expansion initiative into the Kingdom.
The 200,000-sq-ft facility, which includes a warehouse, is part of the Buildmart chain of retail complexes, which was initially launched in the UAE and Bahrain. It offers more than 15,000 products within 24 different sections – from chandeliers, Venetian blinds, light fittings, kitchens, bathroom, tiles, shower rooms, Jacuzzis, to flooring for ceramic and wood, ceilings, doors, wallpapers, designed glasses, marble, wall panelling and different finishes of laminates.

Cement supply exceeds demand
cement production in the GCC will exceed demand by almost 15 per cent in 2009 with largest additions scheduled in Saudi Arabia and the UAE, the the Emirates Business24/7 newspaper reported, quoting a research report by Credit Suisse.
Supply of cement is expected to grow by about 20 per cent in 2009 whereas demand growth would be limited to just five per cent. Given these circumstances, the report says environment, location and cost structure are key to demand. “Geographically, from a cement industry perspective, we prefer Saudi Arabia (Riyadh region), Qatar and Oman to have the most advantageous cost structure,” the report stated.

Bodycote become Exova
bodycote Testing Group has been relaunched with a new name, identity and website. The company will be known as Exova. The new name and identity has been prompted by the sale of the business by Bodycote to Clayton, Dubilier and Rice (CD&R), in October 2008.
The new name Exova and its accompanying contemporary graphics convey the company’s vision of being ‘the number one supplier of choice of testing and advisory services’. The new identity will be implemented through a phased roll out planned to all sites worldwide, with the change over being complete by October.

BWTC shortlisted for a Nova
The Bahrain World Trade Center (BWTC) in Bahrain, the world’s first commercial development to have integrated ‘wind turbines’ in its design, has been shortlisted for the Nova Award 2009. The Nova is an annual award instituted by the Construction Innovation Forum (CIF) to recognise innovations proven to be significant advances that have had positive, important effects on construction to improve quality and reduce cost. The award-winning innovations will be announced at the Nova Award Banquet on November 17 at Buena Vista Palace resort in Orlando, Florida, US.

RSS teams up with MI
Rental Solutions & Services (RSS), a global provider of rental power and cooling has signed a joint venture agreement with Mubadarah Investments (MI), a diverse group of companies based in Muscat, to supply temporary cooling and rental power services in the sultanate of Oman. The agreement was signed by Milan Balac (left), managing director of RSS, and Yasser Al-Barami, CEO of MI.

APC wins gas plant deals
ERG’s APC Process Engineering division has been awarded a €1million ($1.64 million) contract to supply two gas conditioning plants the Qatar Fertiliser Company (Qafco) in Mesaieed, Qatar. The equipment is destined for use on the fertiliser plant expansion project, Qafco 5.
This latest contract continues the company’s unbroken record in supplying gas conditioning plants to the facility, which began with units for the Qafco 1 project in 1973 and continued through each expansion phase to Qafco 4 in 2005. ERG was awarded the contract by the project’s lead contractor, the Italian-based Saipem. Qafco 5 is a $3.2 billion investment and the new capacity is scheduled to come on stream in 2011.

Oman bridge nearly ready
Work on the Khor Al Bath suspension bridge in the wilayat of Sur in Oman is nearing completion. The project, which is being implemented by the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources, will cut short the distance between Al Aijah and Khor Al Bath link villages to the centre of the wilayats.
Work on the project involved inspection and drilling random pits to ensure soil capacity, and the construction of 16 concrete beams, 1.5 m in diameter.
The 170-m-long, 10-m-wide bridge, weighing 3 tonnes, has two lanes for vehicles, two for pedestrians as well as lighting, rainwater drainage, landscaping and beautification works.

Diyar environment plans outlined
Scott Wilson’s Marine & Environmental Department last month gave an technical presentation to an invited audience at the Bahrain Society of Engineers (BSE) about its ongoing environmental monitoring and audit programme for dredging and reclamation activities at Diyar Al Muharraq, one of Bahrain's largest mixed-used master-planned developments. Scott Wilson has been involved with the Diyar development since the outset as scheme designer, concept masterplanner, marine designer and modeler, supervising engineer and environmental consultant.

Bahrain tower on track
bahrain’s Sakana Holistic Housing Solutions announced that the main structure of the 25-storey Nasmah freehold residential tower has been completed. Building block works and finishing works are expected to be completed by September, with the entire project ready for delivery on schedule by December 2009.

Gateway masterplan presented
manara Developments, a Bahrain-based real estate development company, has unveiled the concept masterplan for the new Investment Gateway – Bahrain which was previously known as the Al Hidd Development. This milestone represents an important step towards bringing this project to fruition.
Designed by OBM International, the masterplan is set to create a unique business and investment community through the development of various warehousing and logistics projects and services situated over 600,000 sq m site near the Al Hidd industrial area.
Following the completion of the masterplan, with all design criteria and project components agreed by Amar Holding Company, the project owner, the detailed masterplan is now being developed. The first phase of the project is estimated to cost $130 million.