Abu Dhabi – Mubasher: Etihad Rail has awarded a package A deal to a joint venture (JV) of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East (CSCEC ME) and South Korea’s SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C).
Under the deal worth AED 1.5 billion ($408 million), the JV will carry out work for the 139 km package A of Etihad Rail’s 605 km stage 2, which connects the UAE’s Ruwais with Ghuweifat with Saudi Arabia.
The package comprises design and build, and civil and track works, Construction Week Online reported, citing Etihad Rail as saying.
Etihad Rail’s CEO Shadi Malak signed the contract with CSCEC ME’s president and CEO Yu Tao and SK E&C’s vice president Hyuntae Nam.
The “Package A’s focus includes the design and construction of rail infrastructure, including earthworks, bridges, tunnels, animal crossings, track-laying, and links to Stage 1 of Etihad Rail,” Construction Week Online said, adding that the 139 km-rout would include a standard-gauge double track built from 1.1 million tonnes of ballast, over 400,000 concrete sleepers, and almost 30,000 tonnes of iron rail.
Commenting on the deal Abu Dhabi Executive Council member and Etihad Rail chairman Sheikh Theyab bin Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan said that with the beginning of the first phase of Etihad Rail’s second stage, “we are reaching a major turning point in the transportation sector in the UAE and GCC.”
He added that the stage or “link” was “just the beginning” as Etihad Rail seeks to expand its network and improve all freight transport aspects across the UAE’s border and around the region, thereby placing the UAE at the centre of the regional goods movement and as a global logistics hub.
Last month, Petrofac Emirates awarded CSCEC ME a $130 million (AED 477 million) contract for the second phase of Abu Dhabi’s Qushawira Field Development.
The deal entailed the delivery of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services, as well as the installation of a network of pipes.
