The Big Projects (Part II)
The region’s most expensive projects
The Big Project, in collaboration with Emirates Tenders, lists the most expensive infrastructure projects currently in development in the Middle East.
Saadiyat Island Development Project
Project budget: $27,000,000,000
Description: Development of Saadiyat island, which calls for infrastructure works, including site preparation and earthworks, roads, bridges, water and electricity grids and possibly a light rail system linking the island with the mainland.
Stats:
Project Area: 2,700 hectares
Built Up Area: 1,800 hectares
General Information:
Opportunities for developers will include the construction of luxury hotels, golf courses, commercial areas and beachfront villas. The project cost has not yet been revealed. The client has invited companies to bid by March 09, 2005 for the project management consultancy (PMC) contract for the overall infrastructure development on this scheme. The selected consultant will be responsible for design work, preparation of tender documents and construction supervision. Design work is due to take about six months and construction about 25 months.
Madinat Rashid Mixed-use Development Project
Project budget: $30,000,000,000
Description: Development of Madinat Rashid mixed-use scheme comprising residential units, office and retail facilities, a hotel and hospitality district, as well as healthcare and recreational facilities, including mosques, museums, theatres and cinemas.
Stats:
Project Area: 5.1km2
Population: 500,00 people once complete
General Information:
This project is in Baghdad, it will be developed on the site of Al-Rashid Military Compound, an old military camp used by Saddam Hussein. Beirut-based Dar al-Handasah has been appointed to carry out the concept master plan.
Kingdom Tower Project
Project budget: $30,000,000,000
Description: Construction of one-kilometre-high Kingdom Tower, comprising of 161 storeys, a 97,000m2 retail mall and underground garages for more than 4,700 cars.
Stats:
Office Space: 339,802m3
Floor Area: 1,076,040m3
Height: 1km
General Information:
This project will be located in Obhur, just outside of the port city Jeddah. On completion, this tower is expected to replace the 828-metre Burj Khalifa, formerly Burj Dubai, as the world’s tallest building. The height will take an elevator 12 minutes to get to the top. An 8.9-square-mile city will also be built around this tower, which can accommodate 80,000 people and an additional one million visitors.
High-Speed Railway Network Project
Project budget: $32,000,000,000
Description: Development of an extensive high-speed railway network across Iraq. The client is working together with the Ministry of Transport to develop the rail network. The network will cross two main routes: the eastern route, which will run from south of the country to the north; and the western route, which will run from south to the west.
Stats:
Project Costs:
The routes with line distance and project costs are as follows:
– Mosul-Duhok-Zakho: 167-km double track – $2.157bn
– Baghdad-Baqoba-Kirkuk-Irbil-Mosul: 555 km double track – $1.674bn
– Baghdad loop: 140km – $2bn. – Baghdad-Kut-Amara-Basra: 504km double track – $6.1bn
– Basra-Fao: 101km double track – $1.2bn
– Basra-Shalamja: 35 kilometres single track – $400m
– Kut-Baqoba: 250km double track – $3bn
– Kirkuk-Sulaimaniya: 118km single track – $1.5bn
– Baghdad-Mussaeb-Karbala-Najaf-Samawa-Nasiriya-Basra-Umqasr: 663 km – $10bn
– Karbala-Ramadi: 132km double track – $1.5bn
– Ramadi-Terebil: 420 km single track – $2.3bn
General Information:
It is understood that these new high-speed lines will not be competitively tendered but rather negotiated on a one-to-one basis with developers. The selected developers will be responsible for financing, procuring and constructing the projects.
The developers will be paid after the assets are operational either as a single payment or in installments under a deferred payment structure.
Capital District Development Project
Project budget: $40,000,000,000
Description: Development of Capital District scheme, which aims to create a civic and cultural centre for the federation peppered with monuments and iconic architecture.
Stats:
Project Area: 4,900 hectares
Total Office Space: 1.9m m2
Total Retail Space: 300,000m2
Population: 240,000
General Information:
This project will be located between Mohammed bin Zayed City to the south and Khalifa City A, and Abu Dhabi International Airport to the north. It is one of the key developments of Plan Abu Dhabi 2030 urban master plan.
The master plan of Capital District has several key elements. The capital boulevard will lead into the heart of the development via a tree-lined thoroughfare with extensive landscaping and botanical gardens.
It is proposed that the boulevard will then pass under seven arches representing UAE’s seven emirates and be flanked by diplomatic buildings. At the centre of development will be a circular area comprising mid-to-high-rise government and civic buildings, together with a central market.
Capital District will also have residential zones and a centre for commerce. The project will also have housing for Emiratis (nationals). The residential areas will be low-rise buildings spreading out to the southeast, and will also include sports complexes, universities and medical centres. The scheme will be launched once the master plan is approved in two months’ time.
Yas Island Development Project
Project budget: $40,000,000,000
Description: Development of Yas Island featuring a Ferrari theme park, a motor sports race track and three golf courses, including a water park, a shopping centre, hotels, two marinas, polo clubs and residential buildings.
Stats:
Project Area: 25km2
General Information:
This project will be developed on a natural island, northeast of Al-Raha Beach development in Abu Dhabi. Phase one of this scheme, which is located to the south of the highway running across the island and includes both of the project’s marinas, was completed by the end of 2008. The development of north of the island will form phase two and will be completed by 2014.
The scheme features a Ferrari theme park, a grand prix circuit and three golf courses. Other attractions include a water park, a shopping centre, hotels, two marinas, polo clubs and residential buildings. Construction contracts are currently being finalised for a 10-lane highway that bisects the development, with work expected to commence by end of this year.
Belgium’s Dredging International has started dredging work for the island’s two marinas. UK’s Halcrow is consultant for the highway.
Nuclear Power Plant Project-1
Project Budget: $40,000,000,000
Description: Engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to build a nuclear power plant with capacity of 5,600 MW. This project is in Abu Dhabi. It will comprise four reactors, each with capacity of 1,400 MW.
The client is planning to have the first reactor producing power in 2017, with the other three coming on line at 18-24-month intervals. The contract will be divided into three parts: construction of the plant, its operation, and the supply of nuclear fuel.
Oil & Gas Export Pipelines Rehabilitation Project
Project budget: $50,000,000,000
Description: Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contract to carry out rehabilitation of oil and gas export pipelines.
This project is in Iraq. It will be tendered in three phases. The engineering consultancy contract for first phase of the development is expected to be signed soon. BOT contracts will be tendered in 2012. Phase 1 will include a 1.75 million barrel-a-day (b/d) pipeline from Basra in the south of Iraq to Haditha, in the western Anbar governorate, about 240 kilometres northwest of Baghdad.
The network will then split, with one line going westwards to the Syrian border and the other joining the northern export pipeline from Kirkuk to Ceyhan in Turkey. It will also include a natural gas pipeline to supply the pumping stations and a storage terminal and tanks in Basra, Haditha and Baiji, 200 kilometres from Baghdad.
Client is also planning to rehabilitate the 1.6 million b/d northern Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, replacing the corroded sections of the 30-inch line. Sizes of the pipelines will vary as the engineering has not been done yet, but it is expected that more than 7,000 kilometres of pipelines will be required.
Long-term plans for the pipeline revamp have yet to be determined. Phase 2 includes a 1.5 million b/d heavy crude pipeline from Basra to North Baghdad and then routed to the Syrian port of Tartous on the Mediterranean coast. The client is also considering a gas line from Basra to Kirkuk, running along Iraq’s eastern provinces.
The pipeline programme also includes building at least five new oil depots, with two at Kirkuk and Basra and one at Haditha. There is also the possibility of a trans-Iraq liquid petroleum gas (LPG) pipeline. The final phase of this oil and gas pipeline expansion involves construction of oil product pipelines from Iraq’s current and four planned refineries to depots across the country.
Jumeirah Gardens Mixed-use Development Project
Project budget: $95,000,000,000
Description: Development of Jumeirah Gardens mixed-use scheme comprising seven distinct areas, including offices, residential buildings, retail, leisure and entertainment areas, and hotels.
This project will be located in old Satwa area, west of Sheikh Zayed Road between Al Diyafah Street and Safa Park in Dubai. It will cover an area of approximately 110 million square feet and also include a canal running through the heart of the development. Construction works on Phase 1 have already commenced. US firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill has been appointed as the consultant. Dubai-based CH2M Hill is acting as the project manager.
Al-Raha Beach Complex Development Project
Project budget: $150,000,000,000
Description: Carrying out development of Al-Raha beach complex, to be built on reclaimed land comprising numerous towers and low-rise developments on the waterfront and house about 120,000 people.
This project is in Abu Dhabi. Al-Raha is set to become a new city district with a built-up area of 12 million square metres.
Dredging and reclamation of the existing channel at Al Raha Beach took place over a length of approximately eight kilometres within an area of 450 hectares, involving an estimated 40 million cubic metres of reclamation works arranged on a phased sub-division basis.
The contract also includes design and construction of revetments for the above reclamation works.
Stats:
Total Built Up Area: 12m m2
Population: 120,000
Reclamation works: 40m m3
The Big Projects (Part I) can be found here.
