City update: Manama

Sarah Blackman , March 9th, 2010

Though the land mass of Bahrain is miniscule compared to neighbouring Saudi Arabia, and indeed many of Saudi’s cities, construction work in the Gulf state is far from being in short supply.

The work doesn’t just cover small residential areas and community roads either; it includes mega projects in the form of cities and mixed-used developments, most of which are located in Bahrain’s capital city of Manama.

First off, in terms of infrastructure, the design contract for two new terminals at Bahrain International Airport is expected to go to tender before the end of this quarter, according to Bahrain Airport Company CEO Osama Al Ali.

The new terminals are part of a US $4.7 billion (BD1.8 million) expansion of the airport, which also includes new aprons, separate piers, a people mover system, car parking, road works and infrastructure.

There will also be an adjacent ‘airport city’ with hotels, conference centres, retail and recreational facilities.

As for the eagerly awaited monorail, construction on the green line is set to start in the third quarter of this year. The green line will be a 23km-long section and will extend from Juffair through Manama and to the Seef district.

And, if that’s not enough work to be getting on with, the contract to build Bahrain’s North Manama Causeway could be awarded as soon as April this year, according to Six Construct general manager Phillipe Dessoy.

The Belgium firm is the front runner to win the contract after submitting the lowest bid of $260.4 million in a joint venture with Bahraini contracting firm Haji Hassan.

“If we win the contract, it won’t be before the next few months,” Dessoy told Construction Week.

“It seems likely that the contract will be awarded in the second quarter of this year.”

Other bidders include Bahrain’s Hafeera Contracting with a bid of $311 million, Korea’s Sungwon Corporation with $315 million and Malaysia’s Gamuda Berhad with $338 million.

The project will link North Manama with the island of Muharraq and wind through Bahrain Bay and Bahrain Financial Harbour – arguably two of the biggest projects under construction in the capital city.

Work in and around the Bahrain Financial Harbour, which covers 380,000m2 of waterfront property, has made steady progress over the last 12 months.

And, Kuwait’s Gulf Holding Company’s Villamar Towers is destined to become one of the most iconic projects within the area.

The $650 million mixed-use development includes three towers which vary in height, the tallest being 54 storeys. Each building will have hidden parking levels in the centre, as well as shops, restaurants, villas and apartment. Project completion is expected in the middle of this year.

It’s fair to say that things are looking up for Bahrain Bay as well. A large chunk of civil infrastructure has been delivered at the mega-project, which sits on 430,000 of reclaimed land off the coast of Manama, and the $150 million headquarters for the Arcapita Bank is expected to be finished by the end of 2010.

But, it hasn’t always been easy for Bahrain Bay. By the end of 2009 it was expected that several projects would be well into construction, but two of the main developments, including Raffles City and the Four Seasons hotel, suffered severe delays.

However the development’s CEO Bob Vincent remains positive about the 2010 forecast.

“Everything we expected to deliver, we have,” he said. The thing you have to keep in mind is that you can’t consider 2007 or 2008 as a normal construction and development cycle; it was the peak of a boom period.”

“So while there has been slippage from the expectations of 2007, Bahrain Bay has not fallen behind what would be considered a realistic and normal development programme.

Vincent added that more developers to be active on site by the middle of this year. The Four Seasons is set to start the final tender process for main construction by the end of this quarter and construction could begin within the first half of the year.

Meanwhile, a tender for the construction contract at Raffles City is expected to be released in Q2 2010.