Porr's Qatar chief sets goals after Doha Metro win

Porr Qatar Construction managing director Thomas Stiegler
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Civil engineering contractor Porr Group has said that it hopes its the $79m win it secured as part of a joint venture to complete enabling works on Doha's Metro system will be the first of many it delivers in Qatar.

The managing director of the Austrian company's Qatar operations, Thomas Stiegler, told Construction Week that the firm and its joint venture partners had begun mobilising staff and resources with a view to starting on site for enabling works on the first phase of the project "immediately".

He could not give a completion date for the enabling works, which will involve tunnelling and preparation work for all of the stations on the red, green and yellow lines. 

However, he said that a scope of works had been agreed with client Qatar Rail, which included a timetable for works to be completed. Work on sections in the busiest areas are set to get underway first.

Mr Stiegler also said that Porr and its joint venture partners HBK Contracting and Saudi Bin Ladin Group are currently working on finanlising the amount of labour that will be needed to deliver the project.

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The project is the first the partners have worked on together, although Porr and HBK have tendered for other projects in the Qatar market.

"They are one of the excellent contractors in the market," said Mr Stiegler."They have a strong track record".

He added that there was "a good synergy between the partners", with Porr Group offering its tunnelling expertise and HBK and SBG providing local market knowledge.

The Porr Group is a Vienna-headquartered company which began trading in 1869 and moved into the GCC market just over two years ago. It already has offices in Qatar, Oman and the UAE, and is planning to open in Saudi Arabia by the end of the year.

The company is working alongside the University of Vienna as part of a panel of consultants providing strategic planning advice to Oman's government on its infrastructure, but is keen to leverage its tunnelling expertise to secure other large civil engineering contracts in partnership with GCC contractors.

"PORR has an excellent track record in constructing high speed tracks, tunnels and underground railways. We built Vienna’s metro and are expanding the network right now," said Mr Stiegler.

"Today, Vienna’s metro is Europe’s fifth largest underground railway – larger than Berlin and still growing. We are proud to significantly contribute to its success and would like to bring in our know-how and resources in Doha.”

Stiegler said it would also like to bring its expertise to bear in delivering football-related projects - the firm built several large-scale stadia in the run-up to the 2008 European Football championships in Austria and Switzerland - as Qatar prepares for the 2022 World Cup.

"The main challenge for host countries of such major events is to have the entire infrastructure – stadiums, transport etc. – up and running on time.

"You have less than 10 years to build it and that is a challenge.

"PORR is currently preparing for Russia World Cup 2018, together with its strategic partner the Renaissance Group. We would like to assist Qatar to make the 2022 Football Championships a success story.”