Concrete worth $1 million has been poured into the east tower foundations of the Bahrain World Trade Centre (BWTC) in a record 20 hours.

This is said to be the largest ever concrete pour to take place in Bahrain. Joint venture firm Nass-Murray & Roberts, which has been appointed as the main contractor for the BWTC, undertook the construction milestone.
The BWTC, a 50-storey, twin tower commercial office development, is currently under construction adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel in Manama and is due for completion in the summer of 2006.
The record, which was set in conjunction with Delmon Readymix Concrete, saw 4,000-cu m of concrete poured in one single operation within 20 hours, a record event for construction in Bahrain.
This improved on a similar pour which was made into the west tower 12 days earlier, which took 24 hours.
To complete the record pour, Delmon Readymix had to handle 1,600 tonnes of cement, 7,400 tonnes of stone/sand and 16,000 litres of admixture.
The volume of water required for mixing the concrete was equal to two years consumption for a large private villa.
Prior to the concreting, Nass-Murray & Roberts had to place 730 tonnes of steel reinforcement in the foundation.
Nass Group managing director Samir Nass said the BWTC was expected to be completed by the deadlines set.
“Over the next two weeks, two climbing tower cranes will be erected, followed by the main tower crane which will be erected 80 m high on the first lift,” he said.
“The control cabin of this crane will be higher than the current office tower – the Bahrain Commercial Complex.
“The vertical formwork for the west tower is already assembled and anyone driving past the site on King Faisal Highway will soon notice the structure rising from behind the advertisement boards.”
As well as the new twin tower commercial office building of over 50 storeys, the tallest in the country, the development will house an extended retail centre doubling the amount of stores in the existing Bahrain Commercial Complex mall as well as adding some restaurants.
The adjacent Sheraton Hotel will also undergo major renovations and will become an integral part of the new complex.
The BWTC will be part of the Word Trade Centre Association established in 1970, which boasts 284 members associations in 77 countries, all involved in the development or operation of World Trade Centres servicing more than 750,000 international trading corporations.