Study complete on causeway
Manama: A feasibility study has been completed and conceptual designs have been drawn up for the proposed 40 km Bahrain-Qatar Causeway, which is expected to be the longest in the world.

As per the study, it is estimated that the causeway would cost $2 billion (BD756 million) to build and would take four years to complete.

Bapco receives modernisation bids
Manama: Bids for the setting up of a new 40,000 barrel per day (bpd) hydrocracker, a hydrogen plant for the new cracker as well as upgrading the existing 45,000 bpd hydrocracker to produce low sulphur diesel, which will modernise the state-owned oil refinery Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco), were received by the company, recently.

Bids were received from three companies for the engineering, procurement, construction management agreement, part of a $650 million plan to modernise the ageing oil refinery at Bapco. Japan's JGC Corp's bid of $431.6 million, is the lowest among the three firms.

Bapco runs the oil refinery which was built in 1936 and has a refining capacity of 250,000 bpd.
Company officials have said that the project was aimed at reducing the amount of sulphur in diesel oil to 0.05 per cent from the current level of about 0.5 per cent.

Iraq calls to rebuild power sector
Baghdad: Iraq will invite offers to help rebuild its sabotaged power sector, estimated to cost $10-15 billion, at Power-Gen Middle East Conference and Exhibition to be held in Abu Dhabi this month, organisers said.
More than 120 companies from 20 countries, including Iran, China, South Korea and the UK, will participate. Iraq's power sector needs a $5 billion investment over five years to meet the country's needs, Iraq's US overseer Paul Bremer said.

Work begins on $1.7m centre
Manama: Construction work on a BD650,000 ($1.724 million) health centre at Dair in Muharraq, Bahrain will start soon.

Tenders for the project, financed by the National Bank of Bahrain, have been submitted and the best offer will be selected, said bank managing director Hassan Juma.

The 2,255 sq m, two-storey health centre will service the community in Dair as well as the residents of neighbouring villages.

Facilities at the centre will include five consultation rooms, an X-ray section, a pharmacy, laboratories, an emergency section, a child/mother-care section, three dental clinics, a hygienist, ancillary services and administration offices.

HOK Architects, Pace ink design deal
Kuwait City: HOK Architects of the US in association with local Pan Arab Consulting Engineers (Pace) has been awarded the contract to design the KD30 million ($100 million) Central Bank headquarters along the Gulf Street of Kuwait City.

They will be assisted by three companies, Davis Langdon and Everest, quantity surveyor; Hyder Consulting, civil and structural engineer; and Roberts and Partners, mechanical and electrical consultants, all from the UK.
The project entails the construction of a 40-storey triangular-shaped tower, at the top of which is a glass-viewing platform that will be lit to form a beacon at night. The building is set to become a new landmark in Kuwait.

Clay Museum work begins in A'ali
Manama: Work on a pottery museum in A'ali, formally named the Clay Musem, is expected to begin this month. The museum will be built on an area of 3,000 square metres at a cost of BD70,000 ($185,676).
The work on the museum that is expected to revive Bahrain's pottery industry, has been approved by the Information Ministry, and will complete in six months.

Once complete the museum will cover an area of 530 square metres and will include a photo gallery, a cinema showing documentaries on the pottery industry, a wax museum exhibiting the stages of pottery making, a workshop and a showroom where the museum's products will be exhibited for sale.
The Information Ministry will pick up the construction bill, and one of the factories in the area, Nida Factory, will be incorporated into the museum.

Fairmech, Al Minsad join forces
Manama: Bahrain's Fairmech & Intech has joined forces with Qatar's Al Misnad Group to undertake mechanical contracting and road fencing projects worth BD2 million ($5.3 million) in Qatar.