German firm in dredging deal

German civil engineering major Ed Zublin has won a Dh76 million ($20.7 million) contract from Abu Dhabi's National Marine Dredging Company (NMDC) to construct a 500-m gravity block quay wall at its new base in Mussafah industrial city, a report said.

Ed Zublin project manager Mohammed Itani said work on the project has started and would be completed by October next year. China's Harbour Engineering Company is acting as marine sub-contractor for the project.

NMDC's new base and office facilities in Mussafah New Industrial City spans 208,000 sq m, adjacent to the Mussafah channel.

"It is a complete base which houses a 500-m-long and 11-m deep wharf to receive the NMDC dredgers, head office, workshops and stores, canteen, clinic and other facilities plus the infrastructure," Itani said.

Frederic R Harris of the US is the project consultant and Canada's Cansult is the project manager.

Oman signs $8.5m road deals

Muscat: Oman has signed five agreements worth a total of RO3.29 million ($8.5 million) to design and construct several roads around the Sultanate.

The agreements were signed by Transport and Telecommunications Minister Malik bin Sulaiman Al Maamari.

The first agreement will be executed by Oman Gulf Company and will involve the designing and construction of the 54-km-long Tanaam-Hamra Al Duru road in Dhahirah region. It will take 675 days to complete.

Under the second agreement, the Arab Projects and Transport Company will design and build a 19-km paved road from Izki to Al Qariatain in Dhakliyah region in 140 days.

Under the third agreement, the appointed consultant will prepare the relevant initial and final designs and tender documents and will supervise construction of the Wadi Andam road project.

The fourth agreement concerns the design and construction of a flyover across the dual carriageway Seeb-Al Aqhar road to provide access to Sohar Port.

Under the fifth deal, the consultant will carry out the design work and prepare tender documents covering the construction of the Rustaq-Maskan road.

Sharjah awards signage project

Sharjah: The Sharjah Planning and Survey Department has signed a contract with Picolite Industries for installation of alphanumeric street and community identification signage for the city of Sharjah, a report said.

The whole project was expected to be completed within 18 months, the report said. The alphanumeric system can also be incorporated into a future UAE or Gulf-wide postal zip-code system.

10 in race for bridge project

Abu Dhabi: Ten international contractors are vying for the third and biggest package of Abu Dhabi's Third Crossing project, estimated to cost between Dh550 million ($150 million) and Dh750 million.

The bid submission is to close this month, officials said.

A local newspaper said the third package of the project, for a bridge connecting Abu Dhabi to the mainland, involved construction of an 850-m long road plus bridge over the waters to almost run parallel to the existing Maqta bridge.

There will also be a 1.3-km long dual carriageway including lighting, drainage and other related works, an official at Abu Dhabi's Public Works Department said.

It said the selected bidder is expected to complete the project in 36 months.

The 10 companies in the race are Ed Zublin, Bilfinger and Berger and Philiph Holzmann from Germany, Six Construct of Belgium and South Korea's Hyundai Engineering & Construction Company, Britain's Skanska Cementation International, Archirodon Construction of Switzerland, Dumez GTM and Campenon Bernard from France and Interbeton and Ballast Nedam of the Netherlands.

This will be the third crossing linking the island with the mainland leading to Dubai and Al Ain. The other two crossings are Maqta bridge and Mussafah bridge.

The alliance of UAE's Al Jaber Transport and General Contracting and Six Construct is executing the Dh150 million-plus package one of the Third Crossing.

Bahrain signs power deal

Manama: Bahrain has signed a $300.4 million contract with French group Alstom Power to build a 700 MW power plant in Hidd, the Electricity and Water Ministry said.

Under the deal, which was first announced in August, Alstom will install three gas turbines and a steam turbine to produce 700 MW and desalinate 60 million gallons of sea water, the statement said.

The Hidd power and desalination Phase II plant, the biggest in the country, would be built in three stages and be fully operational in 2004.

In 1997, Bahrain awarded the Swiss-Swedish ABB and Fisa Italimpianti of Italy a $458 million deal to build the first phase of the Hidd plant.

Spotlight on contracts strategy

Dubai: The delayed seminar on "Contracts and Tenders" will now be held from October 27-31 at the City Centre Hotel in Dubai.

The seminar, being organised by Euromatech, will highlight the need for effective contract strategy and management, the organisers said. Fees for the seminar are $2,450.