Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa), awarded the Strabag Dubai LLC, Strabag AG, Andritz Hydro (Austria) and Ozkar Insaat (Turkie) consortium the EUR340 million (AED1.437 bn) design, build and commission contract for the Hatta pumped storage power plant, located in the Hajar Mountains, 140 km southeast of the city of Dubai.

The project includes:

-              a turbine shaft with a diameter of approximately 36 m and a depth of almost 70 m to house two Francis turbines with a power output of 250 MW;

-              a 1.2 km long pressure tunnel connecting the existing lower reservoir, to be upgraded, to the new upper reservoir.

-              the upper reservoir to be constructed with two roller-compacted concrete dams with a height of approximately 35 m and 70 m.

-              two road tunnels, length 470 m and 440 m, to be built by drill & blast.

-              the reinforced concrete outflow and intake structures;

-              several ancillary buildings as well as their extension and E&M systems.

The project, the first of its kind in the region, will generate 250 MW and it is scheduled to be commissioned by February 2024. Visit https://www.strabag.com, https://www.andritz.com/ and http://www.ozkarins.com.tr/Default.aspx. 40/19.

Dubai’s Roads and Transport Authority (RTA) has announced the award of the EUR2.6 bn contract (AED10.6 bn) to the ExpoLink Consortium, led by France’s Alstom and including Spain’s ACCIONA and Turkey’s Gulermak for Route 2020 project. The  15 km Route 2020 line will start at the Nakheel & Harbor station on Red Line: 11.8 km on a viaduct and 3.2 km underground, with 7 stations (one interchange station, one station at EXPO site, 3 elevated stations and 2 underground stations).Visit https://www.acciona.com/pressroom/news/2016/june/acciona-design-construct-dubai-metro-extension-project-worth-26-billion/.

26/16.

Lane Construction Corporation (60%), a U.S. subsidiary of the Salini Impregilo Group, with the National Contracting Transportation Corp of Sharjah (40%) has won contracts in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) related to the Al Maktoum International Airport Expansion Project in Dubai. Value of the project is EUR117.5 million (USD125 million) project. The project entails new terminal facilities, concourses, runways, roads and tunnels. Once completed, the expanded airport is expected to accommodate more than 220 million passengers a year, making it the world’s biggest in terms of size and passenger capacity by 2050. Visit http://www.salini-impregilo.com.50/16.

Dubai Municipality  has awarded to Parsons Overseas Ltd (USA) the contract for consultancy and supervision of the EUR3.01 billion (AED 12.5 billion) Dubai Strategic Sewerage Tunnel project. The contract includes feasibility studies, preliminary design, tender preparation and support followed by project management of detailed design and construction supervision once the main contractor is appointed. The main construction contract will be tendered within the next 12 months. However, the scope and number of packages will not be clear until after Parsons finishes its early designs.

The project includes construction of two deep wastewater tunnels and associated link sewers. The total combined length of the tunnels will be 75 km, reaching depths of up to 90 m and supported by 135 km of link sewers and key pumping stations. Visit https://www.wam.ae/en/news/emirates/1395295489854.html and https://www.parsons.com. 20/16.

Invitation for expressions of interest with outline proposals, deadline 13.04.2009, for consultancy services for concept design, feasibility study, design review and preliminary engineering, preparation of tender documents, and awarding and formalizing construction contracts for Abu Dhabi Metro Rail Study. Contact Department of Transport www.transportabudhabi.ae, or download 160 pp pdf file of development plan at www.upc.gov.ae. Consultants for the Surface Transport Master Plan are Mott MacDonald www.mottmac.com and Steer Davies Gleave www.steerdaviesgleave.com. 09/09.

The Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) as a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA) is stepping up efforts to implement the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) during the next six years to establish a tunnel that will cater to the immediate, short and long-term needs of Abu Dhabi's wastewater and drainage issues. The outline design of the STEP project comprises two new huge pumping stations in Al Mafraq and Zakher located 70 metres underground and designed to deliver 30 cubic metres per second (1.6 million cubic metres per day) and 40 kilometres of 5.5 m-diameter tunnel up to 40 m deep with 30 km of link tunnels up to 3 m deep. There will be at least six complementary design-build contracts with the first set of documents ready for issue next October. CH2M Hill is the programme manager. The project will be tendered under a build, own, operate, transfer (BOOT) scheme. Visit www.ch2m.com 32-33/08.

International contractor Impregilo has been awarded the first of three lots of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP), value EUR167million, for construction of 15 km of segmentally-lined 6.3 m-diameter EPB tunnel and six access shafts to depths of 40-50 m, completion late-2013. The main feature of the STEP project is a 40 km lined gravity tunnel to collect wastewater on the Abu Dhabi island and mainland and convey it to the treatment plant in Al Wathba. Visit www.impregilo.it. 38/09.

Zueblin Australia of Perth has been awarded two major contracts, value EUR365 million, as part of the STEP project by Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company. Contract 1 is for the 35.7 km-long Link Sewer network, with diameters ranging from 200 mm to 2.8 m, and 247 manhole shafts of depths 8-20 m. Contract 2 comprises a 15.4 km-long sewer network with 95 manholes of up to 26 m-depth. Pipejacking is the favoured method. Contract duration is 39 months. For project description and history visit tunnelbuilder archive ae/16, and for contractor profile visit www.zueblin-international.com. More from Erhan Oguz or Stefan Nalbach in Perth, tel +61 (0)893259399, e-mail erhan.oguz@zueblin-international.com. 03/12.

Drake & Scull Water and Power LLC (DSWP) secured a EUR99.09 million subcontract for the design review, procurement and construction of mechanical, electrical, plumbing and instrumentation works for the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP) pumping station in Abu Dhabi. Developed by Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC), STEP will be one of the longest gravity-driven wastewater tunnels in the world, designed to reduce the pressure on the current Emirate sewerage system and to expand its future capacity.

The tunnel pumping station will be located at the termination of the new deep tunnel sewer at Al Wathba area. Construction will be executed in partnership with the main design and build contractor Construtora Norberto Odebrecht. The execution of the MEP package will commence immediately after the civil works have been completed. Visit www.drakescull.com/PJSC/MediaCorporateNews.aspx?News_ID=355#NEWS_DETAIL and http://en.adssc.ae/SitePages/Home.aspx. 20/12.

Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) awarded to Impregilo the USD200 million T-03 contract for the third and final lot of the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Programme (STEP), a 40 km-long hydraulic tunnel in Abu Dhabi. Using gravity, the tunnel will collect wastewater and convey it to a treatment plant in Al Wathba. Under the new contract, Impregilo is to construct 10 km of the hydraulic tunnel, with a 7 m-diameter excavated section, four access shafts to depths between 60 and 80 m, and the links to the main tunnel.

For the first time in Abu Dhabi two TBM EPB for pressures up to 8 bars, will bore and simultaneously line the tunnel with prefabricated concrete segments.

The hydraulic tunnel and the access shafts will be lined with a special membrane to ensure the concrete structures are fully protected from the aggressive environment, for a minimum term of one hundred years. Click ae/16 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit www.impregilo.it. 49/10.

Samsung C&T Engineering & Construction Group signed the T-01 contract with Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company worth USD270 million for the construction of Deep Tunnel Sewerage System (DTSS) in Abu Dhabi. Samsung C&T will design and build 16 km portion of a 41 km DTSS as well as four operating shafts and 3 access shafts. Click ae/16 for tunnelbuilder archive. Visit http://www.secc.co.kr/eng/html/pr/press_view.asp. 08/11.

Preliminary work for the construction of a traffic diversion route system has begun at the entrance of Abu Dhabi to pave the way for three years of construction work that involves the 3.1 km Al Salam tunnel, which is set to be the longest road tunnel in the Middle East. A joint venture of South Korea-based Samsung Engineering and Abu Dhabi-based Saif Bin Darwish has won the contract for the main construction works. The tunnel will run 15 metres underground below Al Salam Street from Abu Dhabi's northeast entrance to near Port Zayed and other coastal areas in the southern part of the city. The tunnel box structure width is 45 m, the width of roadway in each direction (four lanes, shoulders and walkways) is 20.6 m and the height from top of road to ceiling is about 6 m. The tunnel is expected to divert a significant amount of traffic from the congested city centre. The tunnel will include state-of-the-art safety and management system. The system will coordinate ventilation, fire detection and suppression, lighting, public address, environmental management, electrical power supply, emergency broadcasting, radio re-broadcasting, security and surveillance, traffic detection and control, and traveller information. The tunnel safety and management system will be monitored and controlled by the personnel at the southern and northern portals of the tunnel. Fibre optic links to the Abu Dhabi municipality traffic control centre will allow the centre's operators to control tunnel operations in case of emergencies and communications failure at the local tunnel control rooms. The tunnel is expected to be finished in 2011. View computer renderings of the project here. Visit www.samsungengineering.co.kr/eng/main.jsp or www.secc.co.kr/e_secc/index.asp The client, Abu Dhabi municipality, has set aside AED3 billion for the project, which also includes construction of a 500 m flyover connecting the city to the 900-hectare Al Reem Island, around 500 metres off the coast, which is undergoing massive development and is expected to be inhabited with more than 200,000 people within five years. The Al Salam tunnel from Al Mina Road intersection to Al Falah Street intersection will be the longest among the four tunnels in a 13.7 km project, costing AED4.6 billion, which started in November 2007 and will be carried out in three phases. Construction of the second major tunnel, 1.5 km in length, is in progress. The tunnel will connect from Al Reem Island intersection and Sea Palace intersection, and will also support uninterrupted traffic flow. Two more tunnels have been planned at Khalifa Park.In January, Abu Dhabi revealed a major master plan involving the construction of an advanced transport system within its long-term development plan that also involves the expansion and extension of the city itself. It includes the construction of more than 20 tunnels in the capital and the new part of the city, which will house government offices, another town centre, houses, shopping malls and other facilities. 32-33/08.

The EUR965 million road project through Abu Dhabi, which incorporates the 3.1 km-long Al Salam tunnel, should be completed by end-2011 according to Samsung Construction. For full background information on this project visit tunnelbuilder archive ae/15 and for current bids visit www.emiratestenders.com. 13/11.

Tenders will be invited in the next two months for the Dubai mass transit project. The project will comprise of a 72 km track, from the American University in Jebel Ali to the edge of the emirate at Salahuddin Road, and from the Dubai Festival City to the vicinity of central Dubai. The project involves construction of two separate lines, the Green Line and the Red Line. The entire project is expected to cost around Dh8 billion. About 30% would be underground and 70% on elevated tracks. The underground section will run in the city centre. There would be a total of 55 stations across Dubai, each one to 3 km distant. The trains would be automated and driverless. The project will be complete and operational by 2010. Read E-News Weekly 50/2003. 06/04.French consultancy Systra will carry out the initial plans for the Dubai driverless metro system. Tenders for construction of the proposed USD3.92 billion project will be invited in May or June. Construction to start by October 2005. The system will comprise two lines, a 50 km Red Line with 35 stations (first phase) and a 19.2 km Green Line serving 22 stations (second phase). The Red Line is estimated at USD2.33 billion. Completion expected by 2009 for first phase and 2012 for second phase. The system will include 18 km of tunnels. Read E-News Weekly 50/2003. Visit www.systra.com 13/04.The Dubai municipality invites companies to prequalify, deadline 1st June, 2004 for the final design and construction of the Dubai light rail project, which consists of two lines of around 70 km, out of which 30% is underground. The remaining portions are elevated. The municipality hopes to award a single turnkey contract. Tender documents should be released in early August. Visit http://vgn.dm.gov.ae/DMEGOV/dm-mp-train-project or contact wmmustafa@dm.gov.ae for technical enquiries and ssqaiwani@dm.gov.ae for contractual enquiries. Subscribe to E-News Weekly 50/2003. 20/04.The Dubai municipality in the United Arab Emirates has extended the final bid submission deadline for its AED12.5 billion light rail transit (LRT) project by one month, from 31st January to 28th February, 2005. After evaluation, the final contract is expected to be awarded in May 2005. The five consortia selected to bid for the project are: Bilfinger Berger, Taisei, Besix and Alstom; Vinci, Hochtief, CCIC of the UAE and Ansaldo; Obayashi, Yapi Merkesi (Turkey) and Mitsubishi; consortium Metro One, which includes Odebrecht, Arab-tec of the UAE, Guris (Turkey), Ghella of Italy, PARsons and Bombardier; and finally the Bin Laden Group of Saudi Arabia, Dywidag and Siemens. All the bidders are negotiating with leading local and international banks to finance the bids. The Dubai municipality will provide only 10% of the project value to the winning consortium. The first round of bids, which involved rail systems and signalling, were submitted on 1st November, 2004.Phase I of the 72 km project includes the entire Green Line from Dubai Airport Free Zone to Dubai Healthcare City, covering the major locations in downtown Dubai, as well as part of the Red Line from Rashidiya to Dubai Marina. Phase I covers 43 km of which about 3.5 km will be underground. Phase II runs from the American University (near Dubai Marina) to Jebel Ali port, covering 29 km. 53/04-01/05.A Dh6.285 billion bid from the Mitsubishi-led Dubai Rapid Link consortium, including Obayashi and Yapi Merkesi, is the lowest offer made for the first phase of the Dubai light rail project. The Metro One consortium led by Bombardier, involving also Odebrecht, Arab-tec of the UAE, Guris, Ghella and Parsons, submitted the highest bid, at Dh10 billion. The difference between the lowest and highest bids was approximately over Dh4billion. The Dubai Star consortium led by Bilfinger Berger and comprising Taisei, Besix, Orascom and local group Al Habtoor, quoted Dh8.854 billion. Finally, the Salsabeel consortium, which includes the Saudi Bin Laden Group as group leader, Siemens, Dywidag and the Chinese Citic Group, quoted Dh8.922 billion. The winner of the first phase of the DLR project will be announced in a few weeks. Works could begin as early as May 2005. 10/05.The Dubai municipality awarded a USD3.3 billion contract to the Dubai Rapid Link (DURL) consortium led by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, including Obayashi, Kajima and Yapi Merkezi of Turkey, to build a fully automated driverless metro network that will consist of two lines and 44 trains covering the main locations across Dubai and will feature elevated and underground sections. DURL also clinched a USD512 million contract to carry out maintenance of the project for 15 years. The first phase of the project comprises a 52.1 km east-west Red Line and 35 stations between Salahuddin Road to the American University of Dubai through Burjuman and Sheikh Zayed Road, and will progressively be extended to Jebel Ali Port in the south and the intersection of Al Nahda and Damascus roads through Al Qiyadah intersection in the north. The 17.6 km Green Line and 20 stations runs from Al Ittihad Square to Rashidiya bus station through Deira City Centre and the Airport Terminals 1 and 3, and will progressively be extended to serve the Deira and Bur Dubai central areas and souks up to Burjuman and Wafi shopping centres. There are two stations at Al Ittihad Square and Burjuman where the lines will intersect. The two lines will run underground in the city centre from the intersection of Sheikh Rashid and Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed roads to just before the intersection of Salahuddin and Abu Bakr Al Siddique roads for the Red Line and from Garhoud to Oud Metha Road for the Green Line. In total, the Metro System will include 55 stations, 18 km of tunnels, 51 km of viaduct Construction is scheduled to start in July. The red line will take 49 months to complete, while the green line will take 35 months. Work on the green line will begin 20 months after the red line's construction starts. The red line is expected to be inaugurated in September 2009. Visit http://vgn.dm.gov.ae/DMEGOV/dm-mp-metro 23/05.Geoconsult's Singapore office received a contract for overseeing tunnelling work on the Dubai metro after being appointed by the Dubai Rapid Link Consortium, whose members include Japanese companies Obayashi and Kajima, as well as the Turkish Yapi Merkezi and Capita Symonds from the UK. Atkins has also been drafted in as an advisor. Visit www.geoconsult.at and www.atkins.comThe first phase of the Metro project will be the 52.1 km Red Line running between Rashidiya and the industrial zone of Jebel Ali. The second phase will run 17.6 km from the airport, through the city centre on both sides of the Creek. There will be over 11 km of TBM-bored tunnels on both lines, with most of the excavation work taking place underneath the Creek, and between Union Square and Rashidiya. Atkins has also been drafted in as an advisor. 12/06.The Japanese-Turkish Metro JV (JTMJV) has appointed Atkins as design programme manager and detailed designer for its design-and-build contract covering phase 1 of the Dubai transit system. JTMJV comprises Obayashi, Kajima and Yapi Merkezi and, together with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI), forms the Dubai Rapid Link consortium (DuRL). The JV engaged Atkins as lead consultant for all works comprising the phase one Red Line, including 26 stations (four underground), 53 km of viaducts and tunnelling and all associated infrastructure and building works. The Red Line forms the first phase of the awaited Dh15.5 billion Dubai metro project and is expected to be ready by September 2009. Visit www.atkinsglobal.com 28/06.

Abu Dhabi Department of Transport (DoT) has invited bids, deadline 30.08.2009, from consulting firms to conduct an 18-month feasibility study of its proposed 340 km Light Rail Transit (LRT) project. The city's Department of Transport and the selected firm will closely study the plan to assess its financial viability, initial design of network and stations, vehicle size and other technical specifications. The LRT project is part of the city's 'master transport plan 2030' to build a rail network connecting areas within the city as well as linking the city to Dubai, Al Ain, the Western Region and Saudi Arabia. The plan also includes a 580 km high-speed rail line and 130 km metro system. The LRT project is expected to be complete in 2014. Tender documents can be collected from the DOT, Abu Dhabi, from 28.07.2009 until 05.08.2009. For further information, contact tender@dot.abudhabi.ae. Visit www.dot.abudhabi.ae/?sel_page=340&lang=en&id=37. 32/09.

Dubai municipality began work on 31st March, 2003 on a 1.5 km tunnel beneath the runway at Dubai International Airport as part of a new Dh686 million road network around the airport. The tunnel, with four lanes in each direction, will connect Beirut Road and Nad Al Hamr Road to Al Twar area. It will be constructed over a two-year period by Consolidated Contractors Company of Greece and local contractor Al-Ghandi. Visit www.ccc.gr 15/03.

Proposals put forward by Sharjah Police Traffic and Licensing Department for establishment of an underground railway to ease traffic jams on the highway linking the two emirates. Sept 1999.