Oman Rail’s ambitious prequalification criteria may lead local contractors to form international alliances.
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Controversy has arisen as local contractors have claimed that Oman Rail’s strict prequalification criteria for its national rail project leaves only international contractors eligible to bid.
Local Omani contractors are expected to form alliances and partnerships with the international contractors, who are expected to have the adequate experience required to bid for the Design & Build (D&B) package, covering Segment 1 of the network. Tendering for the same will begin in the third quarter of this year.
Prequalification documents for the civil infrastructure and railway track D&B contracting services package were floated last week, along with those for the prequalification of contractors for railway technology systems.
A critical requirement for contractors aiming at prequalifying for the D&B package is that they ‘have experience in the final design and construction of a single railway infrastructure project in the last give years with a total project construction value of more than $1 billion’. They should also ‘have undertaken the detailed design and construction of at least one railway tunnel or road tunnel of at least 500 metres in the last five years’.
Additionally, prospective bidders are expected to ‘have experience in the final detailed design of railway civil infrastructure for at least one major railway project in the last five years covering at least 200 km of double track (with design speed of at least 160 km/hour)’.
The selected contractor is slated to undertake a detailed design based on the preliminary design submitted by appointed Italian preliminary design consultants (PDC) for the project, Italferr.
According to a report by Oman Daily Observer, the final design will be expected to cover the alignment and earthworks, railway track, tunnels, bridges and other structures, the Operations & Maintenance Centre, ancillary facilities, railway stations and utilities.
Civil works are an integral part of the D&B package, which covers ‘all the required earthworks, track work, switches and crossings, construction of railway depots, freight and operational facilities, railway maintenance compounds, highways and access roads, drainage channels, railway embankments and sand mitigation zones.’
The D&B contractor will also construct structures, such as railway tunnels, under-bridges and over-bridges, camel bridges, culverts and crossings for pipelines and utilities, besides facilities for freight, loading and unloading, operations and maintenance buildings.
The railway technology systems package will be undertaken by a prequalified contractor, who will be nominated and subcontracted by the Main Contractor. The Main Contractor is also expected to undertake ‘integration, testing and commissioning of the network’.