The construction industry in Abu Dhabi is regaining its momentum after an initial slowdown in construction in the early part of the year.
Increasing population, emphasis on town planning and a tourism drive are contributing to a growth in construction, maintenance and other industries linked to it. A large number of infrastructural developments are under way, including major projects in the utilities and the roads network sector.
A number of road renovation projects are on in different parts of the city as part of a long-term development strategy stretching until 2020 to enable the city to face a rapid growth in its population and economy and catapult it into the 21st century as a cosmopolitan capital with advanced services and infrastructure.  Among the largest roads projects are the Third Crossing to connect Abu Dhabi to the mainland and the ongoing Corniche development scheme.
Infrastructure projects worth about Dh5 billion ($1.65 million) are being carried out in Abu Dhabi's Western Region, a National Consultative Council (NCC) report said recently. The projects include new housing schemes, road networks, utility facilities and other civic services.
The Public Works Department (PWD) is said to be carrying out infrastructure projects worth more than Dh1.027 billion involving construction of low-cost housing, government department buildings, mosques and schools in Liwa and Delma Island. 
As Abu Dhabi continues its pioneering role in privatising the power and water sector, several projects continue to unfold to boost capacity and the transmission network. These include projects for the Taweelah, Umm Al Nar, Mirfa and Baynouna power stations, the Abu Dhabi Transmission and Despatch Company, the Abu Dhabi Distribution Company, the Al Ain Distribution Company, the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (Adwea) and the Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Company (Adwec).

Major ongoing building projects such as the Conference Palace Hotel and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) Tower have been an important source of revenue to the construction sector which awaits news on the go-ahead of the expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport.
Besides infrastructure, there are leisure facilities being set up. With Abu Dhabi set to host the FIFA World Youth Championship in November, a number of stadiums are being built or renovated including the Sheikh Khalifa Stadium in Al Ain and the Al Jazeera Cultural and Sports Club. Other leisure facilities include the Khalifa Park at the northern entrance of the city, the Disneyland-style Lulu Island opposite the breakwater on the western flank of Abu Dhabi, a nearby palm-dotted tourist village and parks, restaurants, a fun city and other facilities along the Corniche. Delma Island in the western region of Abu Dhabi is also undergoing a multi-million-dirham redevelopment plan which aims at transforming it into a regional tourist attraction.

Work is also under way on a Dh87 million ($23 million) project to develop Al Ain Zoological Park, as part of a master plan to develop Al Ain to meet the emirate's growth until 2015. The zoo, which covers 770 hectares, is one of the largest in the UAE.

Oil & gas
Abu Dhabi continues efforts to boost its capacity in the hydrocarbons sector and among such projects is the Abu Dhabi Company for Onshore Oil Operations (Adco) scheme to develop a new onshore oilfield, Huwaila. The project, work on which is under way, will produce up to 10,000 barrels per day (bpd) of oil by 2006. Veco Engineering, Abu Dhabi, part of the US' Veco, has been awarded the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract for the development of the field.

Adco has also awarded an estimated $300 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to Italy's Snamprogetti to upgrade production facilities at the Bu Hasa field. The Bu Hasa project involves construction of a new degasification plant with capacity of 730,000 bpd and replacement of the existing two-phase gas separators, each of 50,000 bpd, by four new three-phase separators.Work on the project will start soon and completion is set for first quarter of 2006. Parsons International of the US was the consultant for the project.

Total Abu Al Bakhoosh will be constructing a 52-km-long pipeline extending from Abu Al Bakhoosh oilfield to the Das Island Industrial Area, which is an important centre for offshore oil production in Abu Dhabi. Once the pipeline construction is finished, crude oil pumped through this pipeline will be stored in the industrial area, ready for export.

Power & water
According to UAE Minister of Electricity and Water Humaid bin Nasser Al Owais $2.15 billion worth of power and water projects are on the cards in Abu Dhabi alone up until 2010.
In line with the emirate's privatisation plans, the sell-off and expansion of Abu Dhabi's fifth independent water and power project (IWPP), Al Mirfa, has moved forward with the appointment of technical, financial and legal consultants.Germany's Fichtner has been appointed technical consultant while HSBC has been appointed the financial consultant and White and Case has been selected as the legal consultant, confirmed officials.
Both Fichtner and White and Case have been involved in Abu Dhabi's power sector in the past.

While the exact project cost is yet to be finalised, the Al Mirfa IWPP involves the acquisition of the existing 190 MW and 39 million gallons per day (mgpd) brownfield plant in the capital's Western Region and expanding it to reach 1,500 MW of power generating capacity and 100 mgpd of desalination capacity. Currently, the Al Mirfa plant is managed by the Al Mirfa Power Company.

Earlier this month, Abu Dhabi's second IWPP, the Taweelah A-1, became commercially operational. The third IWPP, the Shuweihat-S1, is under construction, while a developer has been selected for Abu Dhabi's fourth IWPP, the Umm Al Nar water and power plant.
The developer Arabian Power Company is 60 per cent owned by Adwea and 40 per cent by a consortium led by International Power and including Tokyo Electric Power Company and Mitsui. Mott MacDonald has been appointed owner's engineer for the project.

The $825 million combined cycle gas-fired plant will have an installed capacity of 1,550 MW and 25 mgpd of desalinated water. It will help meet the increasing power and water demand in the region and replace an existing 805 MW plant due to be decommissioned in 2008.
The plant comprises five GE9FA gas turbines with supplementary fired heat recovery boilers, two steam turbines, two new multi-stage flash distillers plus a 400/132 kV substation. Seven of the newer distillers installed at the adjacent 805 MW plant will be retained to give a total water capacity of 95 mgpd.

Construction by EPC contractor Mitsui - with Toshiba and Hitachi Zosen as principal sub-contractors for the power and water plant respectively - will begin towards the end of this year. Commercial operation is expected to begin by mid-2006.
The $1.6 billion Shuweihat S1 project, comprising a 1,500 MW plant with 100 mgpd of multi-stage flash desalination plant being developed by Shuweihat CMS International Power Company (SCIPCO), is being built on a new site approximately 250 km west of the city of Abu Dhabi. The first turbine on the project achieved synchonisation with the Abu Dhabi network at the end of June.

International consultant PB Power is acting as the owner's engineer on the project while the EPC turnkey contractor is a consortium formed by Siemens and Fisia Italimpianti. It is scheduled for completion in August 2004.
Adwea has awarded two contracts for an underground cable system and the replacement of an existing substation worth a total of Dh179.9 million ($49 million) to ABB, a leading power and automation technology group.

Under the terms of the first award, worth about $31 million, ABB will design, manufacture and install 85 km of 132-kV-underground cable and accessories on the island of Abu Dhabi. The project is scheduled for completion by the end of 2005.
The second award, worth about $18 million, is to design, manufacture and install a new 132/11 kV substation which will replace an existing facility and employ advanced gas insulated switchgear (GIS) to provide high efficiency and reliability to the grid. The substation is due for completion in mid-2005.

Roads & rail
Major projects are under way as part of Abu Dhabi's efforts to boost its road network and ease traffic congestion. Among projects mooted as an alternative to improve the public transportation system is a state-of-the-art elevated monorail with a frequency of less than five minutes from and to the city, according to municipality officials.
The proposed project is part of a Dh25.8 billion ($7 billion) master transport plan for Abu Dhabi up to the year 2020, which includes construction of bridges, intersections, inner bypass routes, and headways.

Abu Dhabi has experienced a sharp increase in traffic. Previous expansion projects were intended for a population of just 300,000. But Abu Dhabi now has more than 600,000 people compared with only 140,000 in 1980 and the population is projected by the Planning Department to surge to 1.35 million in 2020, a staggering increase of nearly 230 per cent from present.
Abu Dhabi Municipality, Abu Dhabi Public Works Department and the Al Ain Municipality have embarked on several roads, bridges and tunnels projects as per the plan. Many roads are being widened and others are maintained and improved. Key intersections are being modified to ensure better traffic flow while new signals are being installed and underpasses are constructed under busy streets for pedestrian safety.
A key project to build 22 pedestrian underpasses at different locations on main roads will be completed by October next year. Eight subways have already been completed under the Dh90 million ($24.5 million) project.

The municipality is currently pressing ahead with major expansion work covering the city centre, other parts and its outskirts. Abu Dhabi city has an area of around 50 sq km and the present long-term road expansion plans target mainly major streets linking the capital with other areas. Road projects run parallel with a drive to build more car parks.
Construction activity is concentrated on the seaside Corniche road, Khalifa, Hamdan, Electra, Falah, Salam, Airport and Defence roads, which cut across the heart of the busy city and its high-rise buildings.

Work on the ambitious Corniche Road continues apace. The three-phase project, one of the biggest seaside development ventures in the region, is expected to cost around Dh700 million ($190 million).
The first phase of the project estimated around Dh180 million involved reclamation and dredging along the city's shoreline and construction of roads. Apart from road expansion, the project involves building of parks, restaurants, flyovers and underpasses, a heritage village and a museum.
The Corniche on the western edge of Abu Dhabi is around 6.5 km long and 100 m wide, including traffic lanes, parks and pedestrian paths and the new project will expand that width by at least 150 m.
The project will include the expansion of the Corniche Road from Al Khaleej Al Arabi crossroad straight to Mina Zayed instead of its present end. Recreation grounds along the road will be double its present size upon completion of the project.
Engineers have said reclamation along the Corniche has been mostly completed. Dredging was carried out by the National Marine Dredging Company.

The Public Works Department has awarded the last phase of the Abu Dhabi Third Crossing project to Geneva-based Archirodon Construction under a contract valued around Dh630 million. This will be the third crossing linking Abu Dhabi island with the mainland leading to the inter-emirate highway of Dubai and Al Ain. The other two crossings are the Maqta bridge and Mussafah bridge.

Phase one and two of the project are already under way. Phase three entails construction of an 850-m bridge comprising four lanes over the waters to run almost parallel to the existing Maqta bridge and other related work. Work will be completed in 36 months (see page 31).
The Dh150 million phase one of the project, involving construction of a 350-m-long approach bridge over the Umm Al Nar roundabout and a bridge linking the Maqta bridge, is being carried out by the joint alliance of Al Jaber Transport and General Contracting and Belgium's Six Construct.
The Dh107 million phase two of the project is currently being executed by UAE's Hilal which involves construction of approach roads and the interchange.
Bridges will also be built to connect Abu Dhabi with the islands of Hadhirat, Lulu, Musheireb and Sadiyaat. This will lead to the quick development of the islands in the near future.
Another key project the PWD is handling is the transport service and road network system, which includes construction of the new Tariff-Liwa-Medinat Zayed Road and other internal roads.

Airport
Bids have been submitted for the construction of the $600 million expansion of Abu Dhabi International Airport (Adia).
Phase I expansion involves the construction of a new terminal comprising a two-storey building covering an area of about 4,000 sq m to house the arrival and departure lounges, 11 bays, six remote bays and a 7,000-sq m shopping area. Related facilities will include a cinema complex, meeting rooms, three large lounges and a parking area for 400 cars.
The new terminal will be linked to the existing terminal. France's Aeroports de Paris has designed the new terminal, which will have a capacity of four million passengers a year.
Phase two involves the construction of a second 4,000-m runway parallel to the existing one. UK's Halcrow Group is the consultant and Parsons International is the overall project manager. The expansion will raise the airport's capacity to 7.2 million passengers a year. The project is expected to be completed by 2005.

Commercial/residential buildings
Construction is under way on the Conference Palace Hotel which will house one of the largest conference facilities in the region, as well as entertainment and business outlets. It will be completed by 2004 in time to host the GCC summit to be held in Abu Dhabi.
With 440 rooms and suites, the hotel is located on Abu Dhabi's sandy beach, set within large areas of landscaped gardens, modelled on the intricate design at Versailles. It will feature 10 to 12 restaurants and facilities, a special auditorium, exclusively for GCC summits, as well as additional meeting space for up to 1,200 delegates.

It will also house a separate wing built specifically for heads of state and the leaders of the GCC countries, comprising royal suites each measuring over 1,000 sq m on the top floor, suites for dignitaries and rooms for staff and security personnel.

Work is nearing completion on the Adia Tower on Corniche Road in Abu Dhabi city. The Adia office tower, which touches a height of 185 m, will contain 38 above ground levels and two underground floors containing an auditorium and car-park (see page 32).
An estimated Dh115 million ($31 million) new headquarters building is to be built by the Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank (ADCB). Turner International of the US has been appointed as project manager. Chile's A-4, together with the local Architectural Planning Group, is the consultant. The project will be awarded in three packages: demolition of existing building; piling and excavation; and superstructure. The work involves the construction of a 24-storey tower with a three-level underground car park and related facilities.

Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (Adnoc) is planning to build a Petroleum Institute building at a cost of $100 million. The campus involves the construction of five buildings for academic courses, resource centre, administrative buildings, roads and landscaping and related mechanical, electrical and plumbing works.
The NBBJ Sports and Entertainment Partnership of the US is the designer and consultant for the project.

The Department of Social Services and Commercial Buildings (DSSCB) in Abu Dhabi will invite tenders for 502 construction projects comprising various residential and commercial buildings, according to sources. The projects, mostly residential villas and apartment complexes, are still in the study and design stage and awaiting approval. The department is currently executing 37 projects at a cost of Dh410 million in Abu Dhabi, Liwa, Mussafah and Al Ain.

The department was set up primarily to solve a growing housing problem in Abu Dhabi and Al Ain and offer better accommodation options to UAE nationals.
Arab Engineering Bureau has been awarded the consultancy job for the construction of 100 luxury villas located in the Abu Dhabi breakwater.
The Dh135 million ($37 million) project is a part of the massive development plan in Abu Dhabi breakwater area, comprising a luxury hotel, chalets and extension of the Marina Mall.
Backfilling in the breakwater area to outline the development is in the final stages of completion. The piling works for the villas are now complete and the platform is ready to commence the construction of the villas, clubhouse, lighthouse and associated services buildings.

Other projects