Khalifa Industrial Zone contracts awarded

Construction work on the Khalifa Industrial Zone in Taweelah will begin soon following the award of earthworks contracts worth a total of Dh1 billion to two Abu Dhabi companies.

The developer, Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC), awarded the two contracts for more than 40 million cubic metres of landfill to Al Jaber Transport and General Contracting and Ghantoot Transport and General Contracting Establishment.

Al Jaber and Ghantoot are the emirate’s biggest earthworks companies with decades of experience in these areas. The award of the contracts marks the start of the construction of the zone’s Area A, which covers 53 square kilometres – the entire zone covers 137 sq km.

The contractors will clear and grub 19 sq km of land and then fill, spread and compact the area to a new raised level. Some 300 trucks will move more than 1.2 million cubic metres of fill per month – equal to 1,500 truck movements per day – from an ADPC site on the east of Sheikh Rashid Highway to the industrial zone.

The work will be completed in 36 months and levelled areas will be released progressively for phased development.Taweelah, on the coast between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, will eventually be home to the emirate’s largest port and industrial area, with the new Khalifa Port replacing Port Zayed.

 

 Abu Dhabi’s biggest power and desalination plant is located at Taweelah.When the entire area is developed it will be called Khalifa Port and Industrial Zone (KPIZ).

 

The multi-billion dollar project is designed as a multi-purpose facility that involves the construction of a world-class container and industrial port in addition to the development of more than 100 sq km of industrial, logistics, commercial, educational and residential special economic and free zones.

 

Dredging and reclamation at the Khalifa Port site started on February 17 and consists of dredging 45 million cubic metres as well as reclamation of an offshore port island that will cover a 275-hectare area.

Last October ADPC awarded a Dh5.5bn contract for the dredging to a consortium including Archirodon Construction (Overseas), Boskalis Westminster Middle East and Hyundai Engineering and Construction.

The award was made after two years of detailed engineering studies and environmental assessments and an 11-month tendering process.The port will be completed in phases and the first vessel is expected to visit Khalifa Port by the end of 2010.

 

The initial stage will include more than 3.2km of quay walls able to accommodate a throughput of more than two million TEUs and over six million tonnes of general cargo. Four additional phases will increase throughput to 22 million TEUs and 35 tonnes of general, break, dry, and liquid cargo by 2028.