Gulf Construction Online - Taweel pumps reach greater depths

Pumps & Compressors

The ABS pump used by Taweel ... powerful suction.

Taweel pumps reach greater depths

01 May 2010

BAHRAIN’S Al Taweel Group, a company with a distinction of introducing new machinery from renowned brands into the local market, employed its entire fleet of 6-inch electric-powered suction pumps at the Al Dur Power Plant project.

The company, one of the few in the country having these units, has been using them since 2007. These pumps, which can suck water from as deep as 20 m, are manufactured by ABS of Sweden and have been obtained through a local trader.
“The standard pumps mostly used in the market are diesel operated. But we have been using electric-powered ones for quite some time now,” says Mohsin Al Taweel, service engineering manager of Al Taweel.
Apart from reaching greater depths, another huge advantage of these pumps is that the whole unit can be lowered into the actual excavation pit, and since it is water-proofed, there is no fear of short circuit, he says. “If the machine gets overloaded, it automatically trips, saving the unit from any damage.”

Mohsin ... new machinery.

Power (220 kV) to these pumps is provided through the company’s own generators.
Currently, these pumps are being used at the Al Dur Power Plant project, which will be the biggest power station in Bahrain when completed. These had earlier also been used in the Amwaj Islands and Durrat Al Bahrain projects. Besides the company’s own projects, the pumps have also been leased out to many customers and have a high demand. Al Taweel currently has six of these pumps.
The pumps come with their own mounting brackets, with the help of which they are lifted and loaded on to transport vehicles and taken to the sites. These heavy-duty machines can run continuously for 24 hours, as is the case currently at the Al Dur project.
“The pumps are constantly working round the clock, and will be in operation until concrete is poured and the excavation site waterproofed. Where needed, more than one machines are employed,” says Mohsin.
Besides the suction pumps, the latest addition to the Al Taweel’s wide range of machinery is a state-of-the-art sand-washing plant, acquired from the UK-based Powerscreen, a leading global provider of mobile crushing, screening and washing equipment.
Also a country-first for the company is the Austrian Rubble Master’s mobile compact recycler. “Soon after learning about the benefits of mobile recycling, we placed an order for an RM80 crusher plus a TS3600 screen,” he says. The company now has four units employed at various projects in the country.
The company constantly updates its machinery range – which also includes more than 50 generators as well as welding machines – for work efficiency and meeting market demand.
Al Taweel has been involved in a number of projects across the country. Apart from the Al Dur power station project, where it is responsible for the entire earthworks, it has also undertaken road projects at Riffa Views, Amwaj Islands and Durrat Al Bahrain.
A recent project that was inaugurated last month is the Jasra port, which Al Taweel handled entirely including the marine works, lighting, parking facilities and restrooms for fishermen at Jasra Village. The company has recently been awarded contracts for the construction of three mosques and two cemeteries by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, and five football stadiums by the General Organisation for Sports and Youth.
Al Taweel Group, founded in 1975, is among the big players in Bahrain’s construction industry.
The company has undergone steady growth and diversified its scope of activities to covers a great variety of fields, including excavation, earthworks, drainage, sewerage, civil works and roadworks, besides running an own division for material and heavy equipment spare parts.
Its corporate headquarters covering an area of 150,000 sq ft is based in North Sehla, with two more offices – one for consultancy in Tubli and the other 180,000-sq-ft construction office in Askar. More than 350 people are employed by the company.
Al Taweel has coped well in warding off any negative effects of the global downturn. Business did decrease initially but it started to gain strength later on. “The year 2009 was bad as far as construction was concerned. Although the bigger companies managed to make it through, new entrants were caught in the downturn,” concludes Mohsin.