A $105 million dredging contract of the Durrat Al Bahrain Resort project has been awarded to the US-Bahraini joint venture company Great Lakes Nass.

The joint venture company of Great Lakes Dredge & Dock and The Nass Group, will now undertake the land reclamation of over six million sq m of reclaimed sea starting from next month. The project is expected to be completed in 26 months.
Durrat Al Bahrain, which is equally owned by the Bahrain government and Kuwait Finance House (KFH), has marked another major milestone by appointing the largest dredging contractor in the US and one of the largest in the world, said Durrat deputy general manager Jassim Al Jowder.
Durrat Al Bahrain is the second project in Bahrain to be awarded to Great Lakes Nass, after the reclamation work for the Khalifa Bin Salman Port and Industrial Area in Hidd.
The joint venture combines the dredging expertise of Great Lakes with the proven capability of The Nass Group in carrying out the rock protection works. The Nass Group placed over 3.5m tonnes of rock protection on the Hidd project.
“We will employ state-of-the-art machinery including the Dredge Carolina, which will be transported from Hidd,” said John O’Brien. Great :ales Dredge and Dock Middle East Division manger. “The project is our fourth contract in Bahrain and we are delighted to work within a consortium of world-class contractors and services providers.”
Durrat Al Bahrain, a 20 sq km area of desert and sea, is one-and-half times larger than downtown Manama and is set to become the country’s largest city resort.The design of the resort has been provided by leading international engineering design and consultancy firm WS Atkins.
Durrat Al Bahrain will consist of 13 different islands, with over 2,000 villas and more than 2,000 apartments, luxury hotels, restaurants, promenades, shopping centres, marina, spas, sports facilities and an 18-hole golf course.
• International consultant High-Point Rendel – in conjunction with local firm Ismail Khonji Associates– has won a contract to supervise the construction of a $46 million highway project which will run south from the existing Hawar Highway to the developing resort of Durrat Al Bahrain.
The new 25km dual two-lane highway was designed jointly by High-Point Rendel and engineering consultant Ismail Khonji Associates for the Ministry of Works and Housing, and the two companies will supervise the project on behalf of the Ministry’s  Roads Directorate.
The work includes five grade-separated interchanges carrying local roads over the highway and providing access to existing and future developments along the route and coastal villages in the east.
There is provision for a future additional lane in each direction as traffic levels increase.
The main contractor is Cebarco-WCT and the project is due for completion in June 2006.