Limitless has received bids from 10 construction companies for the first phase of the major earthworks for its $11 billion (Dh40bn) Arabian Canal project, the company announced yesterday.
Proposals from local and international firms are currently being assessed and contracts will be awarded by the end of August.
"Construction of the canal involves one of the biggest excavations undertaken in the region," said project Director Ian Raine. "The sheer size of the project means it will be split into about 10 packages. This first package involves the excavation of an eight km stretch of the waterway at the northern end of the inland section of the canal. It will run 2.5km to the west of the Dubai bypass and 5.5km to the east."
Earlier this month, Limitless had announced the pilot excavation work on the 75km canal has shifted more than 1.5 million cubic metres of earth – enough to fill 600 Olympic-size swimming pools. Raine said: "Our test excavation has left a hole 700m long, 200m wide and up to 45m deep. Yet this is less than a quarter of one per cent of the total amount of earth to be moved. Overall more than a billion cubic metres will be excavated and reused to form new landscapes along the waterway."