The next stage will be a detailed conceptual design, to be followed by preparation of tender documents.

Waterfront
Marine works are under way on the KD48 million ($161 million) fifth phase of the Kuwait waterfront project at Salmiya. The client, United Real Estate Company, is developing the prime stretch on a  BOT basis. The project includes a shopping mall, a 210-berth marina and a marina club.  When completed, the project will offer retail, food and entertainment facilities over an area of 63,000 sq m.

Phase five involves two stages. The first, involving onshore works, saw the construction of the shopping mall that opened in November 2002. The second stage is the marine works which is scheduled for completion by mid-2004. The marine works include the construction of a marina crescent linked to the inland mall by a bridge.
The development will also have a three-storey hotel and a 70 to 80 m tower, below which will be a sports building for jet ski and sail boats. There will also be a helipad, VIP lounge, multipurpose hall, a park and a boat repair yard.
The local Ahmadiah Contracting & Trading Company is the contractor on the project. The dredging consultant is SSH/Dredging & Marine Contractor and the marine contractor is Gulf Dredging Company.

Towns & islands development
Kuwait has presented a structural plan for an ambitious investment project aimed at transforming its Failaka Island into a state-of-the-art tourist attraction. A government-appointed team has invited potential local and foreign investors to participate in the development which calls for the construction of a holiday resort complete with hotels, shops, and restaurants.
Failaka lies 20 km east of Kuwait City and is home to Kuwait's most important archaeological site. It is 43 sq km in size with 38 km of coastline.

Progress is also being made on the other mega island development planned at Bubiyan. HOK Architects, Gulf Consult and Mouchel of the UK are close to completing the consultancy contract for the master plan and environmental impact study for the development.  The build-operate project with an area of  530 sq  km is for one of the two Gulf islands northeast of Kuwait bay. The project entails construction of hotels, chalets and recreational facilities and also includes a $928 million causeway to mainland Kuwait.
The Al-Khiran new township project has been revived and the Central Tenders Committee (CTC) has awarded two contracts worth a total of KD 48.3 million ($161 million) for the infrastructure works package on the first phase of the project. Al-Khiran is close to the border with Saudi Arabia.

The larger of the contracts, worth KD 27.9 million ($93 million), went to the local Mohamed Abdulmohsin Kharafi and Sons. It calls for the construction of a 3,300-cu m per day sewage treatment plant, freshwater storage tanks and stormwater drainage facilities and water and irrigation networks. It also includes the construction of access roads, overall landscaping and the installation of 132/11-kV substations and 132-kV overhead transmission lines.
Consolidated Contractors Company (Conco) has the other infrastructure contract worth KD20.4 million ($68 million)  which entails the construction of internal roads and landscaping and the installation of 110-kV transformer stations, communication lines and ducts. Both packages will take about 30 months to complete.

A team of Gulf Consult and the UK's WS Atkins International has carried out the design work for the proposed development, which will be constructed in phases. Under phase 1, housing units and infrastructure facilities will be built for 13,000 residents. The township, when completed, will be home to 250,000 people.
Another project planned at Al-Khiran is the Pearl City development. The mixed-use project calls for the development of the seafront city. The project, to be built in stages over a total area of 6,500 hectares, is planned to house 50,000 people.

Commercial & residential projects
The KD34 million ($112 million) Oil Sector complex, which has suffered a number of setbacks,  is now due for completion in the second quarter of next year. The project comprises a 15-storey headquarters for the Kuwait Ministry of Oil and a 21-storey tower block for the Kuwait Petroleum Corporation (KPC).
Work is also under way on the Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) headquarters at an estimated cost of $50 million.

Two major projects which opened this year were the Petrochemical Industries Company's (PIC) new headquarters in South Sabahiya, eastern Kuwait and the 155-m-tall Arraya Centre, at Al Shuhadaa Street in Kuwait City, which houses the Courtyard by Marriott hotel.
Among the major government building contracts awarded recently was the KD22.4 million ($74 million) deal to build a new headquarters for the State Audit Bureau (SAB) in Shuwaikh. The local Combined Group is the contractor.

A large project in the offing is the new KD30 million ($100 million) headquarters complex for the Interior Ministry on the sixth ring road in North Sabahan.  Industrial and Engineering Consulting Office (Inco) is the consultant on the project, which involves the construction of a seven-storey main administration building and four smaller buildings. The main building will have a built-up area of 87,000 sq m and will cover a 250,000 sq m site.

Design work is under way on the proposed new headquarters for the Central Bank of Kuwait which is expected to be a new landmark in the city. Rising 40 storeys,  the triangular-shaped tower will be built at an estimated cost of KD30 million ($100 million) along Gulf Street.   HOK Architects of the US in association with local Pan Arab Consulting Engineers (Pace) are responsible for the designs. DMJM International of the US is the project manager.

Kuwaiti A'ayan Leasing & Investment Company is building a number of high-rises in Kuwait including the 17-storey Nakheel Tower in Shaab, the seven-storey Sidr Tower in Hawalli and the nine-storey Al-Naweer Residential Tower in Salmiyah.
Other striking commercial building projects include the Rakan Office Tower which will be 30 storeys.  Work on the project was launched in August and is scheduled for completion by September 2005 (see page 48).

The private sector is developing at least four new hotels in Kuwait. These include three new Le Meridien hotels which are in the design stage and the $64 million Messilah beach hotel. 
Meanwhile, the existing Le Meridien Kuwait at Qebla area in Kuwait City has been refurbished. The 12-storey four-star hotel consists of 70 deluxe rooms.
Work on the Four-Points Sheraton, located adjacent to an existing Sheraton property in downtown Kuwait City, is due for completion this month (see page 52).

Power, water & sewage
A major contract awarded in the power sector last May went to Germany's Siemens. The $323.8 million engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract calls for the construction of a 1,000 MW gas-turbine plant at a greenfield site west of the existing Al Zour South plant to the south of Kuwait City. The power plant is scheduled for completion in 2005.

Bids are under evaluation at the Ministry of Electricity and Water for two transmission and distribution contracts worth a total of KD19.7 million ($65 million). The first contract is for the supply and installation of two 132/33/11-kV substations at Abdalli A and Raqta near the Iraqi border.
The second contract calls for the supply and installation of three 132/11-kV substations at Ahmed al-Fahed C and D and Khalidiya and the extension of an existing 132/11-kV substation at Ahmadi A. The facilities will take 14 months to complete.

The Ministry of Public Works (MPW) plans to award three contracts, valued at a total of $250 million, to set up treatment plants at Jahra in the north, Bneid Al-Gar in Kuwait City and Salmiya in the south. The contracts are part of the national sewage disposal network ' four  contracts worth $570 million were awarded by the MPW in 2002.
Bids are under evaluation for the estimated $82 million contract to build the Jahra plant. The project entails expanding the capacity of the treatment plant to 140,000 cu m per day from 60,000 cu m per day. 
The 20-month Bneid Al-Gar contract calls for the renovation of about 20 km of existing lines at Bneid Al-Gar, 13 km of microtunnelling and related works.

Educational facilities
A new estimated KD30 million ($100 million) petroleum engineering and school of architecture complex is earmarked for the Shuwaikh campus of Kuwait University.The US' Cambridge 7 Associates along with Gulf Consult have been awarded a contract to design the complex which will comprise single and double-storey buildings, a car-park and related facilities.
Among other projects planned for the university campus at Shuwaikh is the second-phase of a multi-storey car park to accommodate at least 2,000 vehicles.  Bids were submitted recently for the estimated KD4 million ($13 million) project, which will be carried out on a design-and-build basis.

Work was completed at the end of last month on two key projects at the Public Authority for Applied Education and Training's (PAAET) Shuwaikh campus.  These include the Industrial Training Institute building and the College of Health Sciences for Boys (see page 56).
Another PAAET project which is on the anvil is the Special Training Centre.  KEO International is currently working on the designs of the project, tenders for which are expected to be announced next September (see page 52).

Meanwhile, bids are under study for a college of marine science near the coastguard headquarters at Fintas.  The Gulf Consult/Cambridge team is the consultant for the project. The KD11.9 million ($40 million) college calls for the construction of a three-storey building, a 500-slot car-park, infrastructure works, dredging to a depth of 500 m in the sea and backfilling. The overall area covers 30,000-sq m.
Gulf Consult is expected to complete the design for a proposed college of business studies at Ardiya. The project calls for the construction of 23 buildings, a library and related works.

Medical facilities
Contracts are due to be awarded shortly for five new hospitals planned by the public and the private sectors, providing a total of 1,300 beds. The largest of the proposed schemes is an 800-bed facility planned to be built at South Surra.
Next in line is a $115 million 200-bed expansion of the existing Kuwait Oil Company hospital at Ahmadi, design work on which is under way.

The local National Co-operative Projects Committee is planning the construction of a 150-bed cardiac-care hospital at Shuwaikh. Estimated to be worth $36 million, the project calls for the construction of an eight-storey building and a car park.
Two other hospitals on the cards include a 100-bed facility at Jabriya and the 80 to 100-bed Al-Maidan paediatrics and maternity hospital. Design work for both the new hospitals has been completed.

Oil & industry
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) is currently gearing up to expand its oil production capacity. Over the past year, it has awarded contracts for the refurbishment of oil gathering centre and a gas booster station. One of the largest projects in this sector is the 11.4 million-barrel crude oil storage and export facility planned at Ahmadi.  Estimated at $900 million, the project includes significant onshore and offshore works.

Among other developments, KOC plans a complete replacement of its oil and gas pipeline distribution network.
KNPC, meanwhile, is considering building a fourth oil refinery at a cost of KD800 million ($2.66 billion) in Azour, south of Kuwait City. The plant will have a capacity of 350,000 to 800,000 barrels per day and is expected to produce fuel for a new power plant at the same location.

In the petrochemicals sector, Petrochemical Industries Company and Dow Chemical are going ahead with the expansion of an existing olefins plant and the construction of a new styrene complex. The new olefins capacity at PIC's existing Equate Petrochemical Company will boost output by 800,000 tonnes per year (tpy) of ethylene; 600,000 tpy of polyethylene and 400,000 tpy of ethylene glycol.
In addition, the partners will build a 500,000 tpy styrene factory. The latter is expected to be  part of a proposed new $1.4 billion aromatics complex which will produce 650,000 tpy of benzene and paraxylene.
Both projects are scheduled for completion by 2006.

Roads
Among the major road projects planned for Kuwait are the $335 million first ring-road extension in Kuwait City and the fifth ring-road extension project. The first ring-road extension will involve building about 12 km of dual carriageways, bridges and underpasses.

Detailed design work is under way for the estimated KD18 million ($60 million) fifth ring-road extension project which will be carried out on a fast-track basis for completion by mid-2005. 
It involves an upgrade of the 3-km stretch between Fahaheel expressway and Al-Taawin street  into a motorway and modifications to existing intersections and roundabouts.

Other projects