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.