The Kingdom is awash with new projects - both from the public and the private sectors. And an even wider spectrum developments are on the drawing boards, right from mega cities to hospitals and road construction.

The government launched major projects last year including a meaty contracts on the port and the industrial area in Hidd and the $140 million Formula One race track which is expected to put Bahrain firmly on the world map for this leading international sporting event.

The country is looking at investing a further BD150 million ($400 million) on the third phase of the Hidd power and desalination plant, while plans are on for further expansion of Bahrain International Airport. Among the latest developments announced for the airpor is a striking shopping, business and leisure complex.

The private sector, of course, will be increasingly called upon to participate in mega ventures.

Bahrain has launched ambitious plans for a financial city, inviting local and international investment in this futuristic development. The BD378 million ($1 billion) will house 10,000 workers in a string of landmark buildings.

The Kingdom had also announced plans to build a 'sky city' along the Shaikh Isa bin Salman Highway, which investors have been urged to help build. A blueprint for the city, featuring shops, offices and homes in rows of skyscrapers rising to more than 50 storeys, has been approved, following directives from the King, HM Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. The project is expected to generate more than BD2 billion ($5.3 billion) in real estate investment over the next 50 years.

Bahrain's tallest tower, the Almoayyed Tower, has risen dramatically to its full height of 172 m within a span of less than one year - and appears to be the forerunner of several other high-rises earmarked for the capital city.

Real estate development is currently a major area of growth, with many investors in the region having called back their funds from abroad in the post 9/11 scenario and given the poor interest rates globally. Mega projects such as the Durrat Al Bahrain and Amwaj Islands have been making considerable progress while other similar ventures have also been announced.

Bahrain is making concerted efforts to boost family tourism. While recent measures affecting two and three-star hotels may have created uncertainty in the sector., the country remains confident that it will ride through this phase stronger and better.

Bahrain is also looking at streamlining its construction industry with more transparency now being introduced in the tendering process. Some engineers are now pushing for a change in the current procedure of registering engineers operating in the country.

On the industrial front, Bahrain's giant aluminium smelter, Aluminium Bahrain (Alba) has announced plans for further expansion involving as fifth potline, which is estimated to cost $1.5 billion. In July, the US firm Bechtel won the engineering, procurement, construction and management (EPCM) contract for the Line 5 project.

Work is under way on a massive library which has been named after the late Amir Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa. The BD14 million ($37.13 million) library being built in Juffair is scheduled for completion in October 2004.

Power & water

The Bahrain government is to invest more than BD150 million ($400 million) on the third phase expansion of the Hidd power and water plant.

The Ministry of Electricity and Water has recently extended the bid deadline for the consultancy contract for Phase III expansion. The project entails the installation of 60 million gallons per day (gpd) of desalination capacity. It also calls for the construction of an extensive water transmission network and a 220-kV transmission station. Work on the third phase is expected to start by early 2005.

The total cost of the first and second phase of the project was BD285.6 million.

The first phase of the project was commissioned in late 1999, with a capacity of 280 MW of power generation and 30 million gallons of desalinated water daily.

Under the second phase, three steam generators, three gas turbines, and one steam turbine are being installed to produce a total of 720 MW of electricity and the steam required for the desalination of 60 million gallons of seawater per day, in addition to the installation of two seawater pumps.

The project is being commissioned in three stages, with 140 MW having come on line last year, followed by additional 280 MW for this summer, and finally a further 300 MW in the summer of 2004. Water production is not included in the second phase of the project.

Airport

A $115 million (BD43.47 million) shopping, business and leisure complex has been announced for Bahrain International Airport. Paris-based Optimum Development, which has a regional office in Bahrain, will oversee the project named Bahrain International Gateway. The company's subsidiary, Europtima Rome, has provided the architectural blueprints.

Work on the project, which is expected to spread over an area of 40,000 sq m, is expected to begin this year. The five-storey structure will be located in the current airport parking area between Gulf Air headquarters and the passenger terminal. The facility will include an executive business centre, a shopping arcade, restaurants and food court, several cinemas, an entertainment and play area, and covered parking for 4,000 vehicles.

The project is expected to take around three years to complete once ground has been broken.

Major improvements have taken place at the airport, which has resulted in an expanded duty free area as the country presses ahead with the airport's $700 million expansion programme.

The Dutch firm Naco BV prepared a master plan for the airport expansion which suggests a multi-tier development ranging from immediate to long-term development.

Accordingly, the Civil Aviation Affairs (CAA) has decided to build a new control tower, extend the concourse and terminal building, resurface the present runaway, construct a second runway, upgrade the approximately 2.5 km long and 23 m taxiway to a 45-m wide non-emergency runaway, asphalt overlay of the balance 1.5 km parallel taxiway, construct the executive jet apron to accommodate four Code C type aircraft linked to the taxiway, among other plans.

As part of these plans, a BD7.8 million contract to build an emergency runway was awarded to Haji Hassan Group during mid-2002. A contract is now imminent on the new air traffic control tower. Six companies have submitted bids for the estimated BD2.5 million project, which is expected to be completed in a year. The consultant for the control tower project is the local Ahmed Abubakr Janahi Architects and the construction period is expected to be 14 months (see Regional News).

In addition, both the terminal and concourse will undergo expansion to increase the number of aerobridges from seven to 25 by 2006. On completion of the expansion programme. the airport will be able handle to over 15 million passengers a year from the current six million.

Meanwhile, Bahrain Airport Services is planning to extend of its cargo handling facilities to cover an area of 2,000 sq m.

Port

Contracts worth BD70 million ($185.7 million) are to come into the market within the next two years, as part of the BD170 million ($450.9 million) Khalifa bin Salman Port and Hidd Industrial Area project.

The largest contract in the project, worth BD79.95 million, is currently being completed by US-based Great Lakes. The contract involves the preparation of land for the port and the industrial area as well as a 7 km causeway linking the two areas. Other packages include a BD2 million contract for a sewage treatment plant for the port and industrial area, a BD34 million package for the port's infrastructure, including roads, sewerage and streetlighting, a BD13 million deal for the construction of the port building and a BD16 million package for the supply of port equipment. An estimated BD5 million tender for the supply of marine equipment is expected to be offered in January 2004.

The project is expected to be completed by mid-2005.

Tourism & leisure facilities

Dredging work is under way on the $1.2 billion Durrat Al Bahrain resort city being built in the south of Bahrain. Tenders for the Marina Village and for the infrastructure works which form part of the project are expected to be announced by mid-2003.

Being developed by the Bahraini government and Saudi Arabia's Dallah Al Baraka Group, the 20 sq km island and onshore complex will be home to around 20,000 people when the project reaches final completion in 2007.

Meanwhile, work on the $1 billion Amwaj Islands resort-style city being developed northeast of Muharraq by Ossis Property Developers is expected to gather momentum this month. Contract awards are imminent for the infrastructure works as well as the construction of breakwaters, according to a spokesman for Ossis. Some of the highlights of the project are a floating city called Al Marsa and a beach resort called Fanar Beach featuring five and four-star hotels.

Little progress has been made on the Al Jazair beach, recreation and watersports development in the southwest of Bahrain. The project is being promoted by the Economic Development Board (EDB) as the "launchpad for Bahrain's tourism industry, transforming the country into the recreational and leisure destination of the Middle East.'

Al Jazair Beach is expected to be the only managed non hotel-related public beach in Bahrain when it sees completion.

Another resort set to take shape is the Danaat Hawar Resort to be built on the Hawar Island, by the Southern Area Development Company. A contract has been signed for the first phase of the dredging and reclamation work. The project involves the construction of four islands containing 250 residential and commercial plots, and the extension of the existing shoreline.

A BD80 million ($212.4 million) scheme to turn the Marina Club in Manama into a flagship resort has been given the go-ahead. Plans were approved by the General Organisation for Social Insurance (Gosi) board, which has appointed the US-based Wimberly Allison Tong and Goo (WATG) to prepare designs for the resort. The project is expected to be completed by 2006. The complex will include a 300-room five-star hotel, four 12-storey towers, each housing 48 flats and suites, a deluxe Marina Village, with several four-storey buildings, and a mini-shopping mall.

Two major hotel projects, the Novotel Al Dana Resort and the Movenpick Hotel, which have suffered setbacks, are now in their finishing stages.

The BD10 million ($26.5 million) Novotel Al Dana Resort, originally scheduled to open last September, is now expected to open in March. The 174-room resort project is being developed by Al Jazeera Tourism Company along the Shaikh Hamad Causeway, between Muharraq and Manama.

The BD7 million ($18.5 million) Movenpick Hotel, located between the Gulf Air headquarters and Bahrain Airport Services in Muharraq, is due to be completed by July 2003.

Meanwhile, a number of hotels in Bahrain has been refurbished in line with the tourism ambitions of the country.

Plans have been mooted by Al Hajma Group to build a floating hotel in Bahrain. The project, expected to be the first of its kind in the region, will comprise 150 rooms, a residential wing and associated services.

A number of other two to four star hotels are also being built.

Commercial projects

A string of commercial and residential projects are on the cards, including a massive expansion of the Sheraton complex. Among the projects under way are the BD20 million Almoayyed Tower, which is now Bahrain's tallest building at 172 m.

Work is in the early stages of construction on the BD8 million Al Zamil Tower project in central Manama (See page 56) while the new 16-storey headquarters for Taib Bank in the Diplomatic Area is nearing completion.

Construction of the BD6.5 million ($17.2 million) Diplomat Residential Tower, a 14-storey luxury complex to be built next to the Diplomat Radisson SAS Hotel, is expected to begin this summer Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering Bureau (MSCEB) is the consultant on the project for the client National Hotels Company (NHC).

A number of buildings are under construction in the Seef District including a 10-storey office block for Bahrain National Holding (BNH). G P Zachariades is the contractor on the BD3.45 million ($9.15 million) project while MSCEB is the consultant.

Hospitals

At least two major hospital projects are in the offing including a general hospital in Muharraq planned by the government and a proposed development by the Saudi German Hospital Group (SGHG) in the Seef District.

HM the King Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa laid the foundation stone for the new Muharraq hospital last October. Actual construction work on the new BD20 million ($53 million) facility is expected to start at the end of this year and take two years to complete. The French-Bahraini joint venture Ingerop-Aart, in association with Adel Ahmadi Associates, are carrying out the study, design and supervision for the project.

The new hospital, which will be named after HM the King, will have 300 beds, with facilities for geriatric patients.

The Saudi German Hospital Group plans to build its 100-bed hospital near the Seef Mall. The $80 million (BD30.24 million) medical complex will focus on sub-speciality treatment programmes, notably within orthopaedics and traumatology.

The BD17 million ($45 million) Bahrain Specialist Hospital (BSH) in Juffair became operational late last year. The facility - previously designed to accommodate a hotel - has 78 beds, in addition to an intensive care unit, made up of eight beds. There are also four delivery rooms and four operation theatres. The cost of construction of the hospital complex is estimated at BD11 million, and the equipment and furnishing an extra BD6 million.

Construction work is under way on a new diabetes centre that is expected to be the largest in the Middle East. The BD2.5 million ($6.6 million) Gulf Diabetes Specialist Centre will be affiliated with the US Joslin Diabetes Centre. It is due to be handed over by end of June and should open in the second half of next year.

Work is under way on Alba's new BD3 million ($7.95 million) healthcare centre in Askar. The project includes a one-storey, 3,500-sq-m building together with a parking area, walkways and landscaping. The new facility will open in the autumn of 2003.

Causeways & roads

Bahrain massively boosted its infrastructure spending during the current fiscal year to BD338 million, more than twice the figure originally budgeted. Projects have included building and maintenance of bridges, expansion of the sewerage network, improved drainage projects, an increase in electricity and water output and the modernisation of navigation and ports equipment.

Work on the Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa Causeway, a key infrastructure project, is nearing completion and its opening has been slated for November.

Last September, the huge structural steel marine bridge for the causeway - which connects Hidd with the mainland at Mina Sulman port - was lifted into position. The client is for the project the Ministry of Works and the consultant is Hyder Consulting.

Meanwhile, Denmark-based engineering consultancy Cowi has finished its feasibility study for a proposed 45-km causeway between Qatar and Bahrain. The study is now being evaluated by the governments of both the countries. If given the go-ahead, the $2 billion causeway would take up to four years to be completed.

A new six-lane causeway linking Manama and Sitra is on the cards. The plans for the project are expected to be ready within the next three months.

It will comprise a new northern bridge, 216 m long, the same as the existing bridge and a southern bridge, reduced in length from 756 m to 125 m, due to changes in the flows within Tubli Bay. The existing Sitra causeway bridges will be demolished, once the replacements are built.

Bahrain is to spend BD320 million ($851 million) over the next 10 years, to create a world-class road and sewerage network. A series of flyovers will eliminate traffic bottlenecks, says Works Minister Fahmi Al Jowder.

The construction of three major flyovers at Pearl Roundabout, Seef Roundabout and the Seef-Shaikh Khalifa bin Sahnan Highway interjunction is expected to start shortly. The projects, expected to cost BD 11.5 million, will be completed in 17 months. The designer and construction supervisor is Parsons Global Services and client is the Ministry of Works.

High-Point Rendel is working with the local Ismael Khonji Associates on preliminary and detailed designs for a 38-km dual carriageway highway which will provide access to the Durrat Al Bahrain leisure facilities.

A new road network is to be established in the educational area of Isa Town to ease traffic congestion in the early mornings and afternoons.

Work has begun on a new BD2.53 million ($6.7 million) flyover interchange at Wali Al Ahed, north of Madinat Hamad.

Housing

New homes will soon be on the way for 50,000 Bahraini families, following the laying of the foundation stone for a new 1,500 hectare town in the north of Bahrain. The project in Abu Subh area, extending from Bahrain Fort to Budaiya will also cover a series of offshore islands.

The project is the first of four new townships to be built at a cost of BD2 billion ($5.3 billion) and will provide homes for 250,000 people. The other towns have been earmarked for West Madinat Hamad, East Sitra, and East Muharraq. The French Town Planning Group is designing the northern city. In addition, Muharraq is to get 1,000 new homes under a modernisation plan.

Other projects

* The local Habib Ali Awachi & Sons Contracting Company has been awarded a BD4.32 million ($11.47 million) contract to build a sludge treatment plant project in Tubli. The scope of work will include a treatment facility capable of handling 38 tonnes of dry solids and will serve most of Bahrain. The work will take 22 months to complete. The client is the Ministry of Works and Housing. The consultant is Ace Al Moayyed.

* A new BD3 million ($7.95 million) private school is being built in Salmabad by businessman Abdul Rahman Jassim Kanoo. The contractor is Skyline and the school is expected to be open for the 2003/2004 academic year.

* A French firm is to prepare a feasibility study and blueprint on the proposed renovation of the historical Bab Al Bahrain suq. Possible facilities include a market square, seating areas and public toilets.

* Bahrain's fishermen will benefit from vastly improved facilities when three new harbours are constructed in Muharraq, Sitra and Budaiya. Work on the BD5 million ($13.26 million) project will begin this year and take about 18 months to complete.

* Ten new blocks of flats and shops to raise money for charity may be constructed by the newly-launched Waqf Charity Fund. The buildings will be three storeys each and will be built over an area of 175,000 sq m.

* National Motor Company (NMC) has signed a BD2.5 million ($6.63 million) contract with G P Zachariades (Overseas) to expand and develop its Sitra facility. The General Motors (GM) showroom will be extended by 470 sq m to include a dedicated Cadillac area. The development will also include the expansion of the GM parts and service facilities, a three-storey head office complex and a new Honda showroom with a service workshop and parts department.