WORK on the Light Rail Transport (LRT) project in Lusail, Qatar, is on schedule with all the excavation and work on 7 km of tunnels having been completed, according to Qatar Rail, its developer.

HILL International, a global leader in managing construction risk, has secured a contract to provide project management services in connection with the construction of the Mall of Qatar in Doha, Qatar. The three-year contract has an estimated value to Hill of approximately QR35 million ($9.6 million).

UK-BASED international consultancy and construction firm Mace has been appointed as project and cost manager for the development of the iconic Oman Cultural Complex (OCC) in Muscat, Oman.

RENAISSANCE Services has awarded two main construction contracts for the development of a permanent accommodation for contractors (PAC) within the Sezad development of Duqm in Oman.

BIDDERS shortlisted for a key contract to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for the Oman National Railway project have been instructed to extend their bid bonds by a further two months, according to a newspaper report.

HOCHTIEF ViCon, a leading service provider for virtual construction and building information modelling (BIM), has extended its service portfolio in Qatar by adding laser scanning and associated as-built documentation on select projects.

QATAR’S construction sector is projected to expand by 14.1 per cent this year, up from 13.6 per cent in 2013, and may well accelerate faster in 2015.

WORK on Bahrain’s first school integrating modern green technology is 60 per cent complete. Education Minister Dr Majid Al Nuaimi recently unveiled the world-class project at Wadi Al Sail, in the Southern Governorate. The state-of-the-art primary intermediate school for girls will cover 28,673 sq m in a project costing BD3.7 million ($9.

FULLY online courses from reputable universities can provide a solution for filling the gaps at the senior level in the Middle East’s construction sector, said an academic expert, referring to the study, “Citing the Regional Workforce Study 2013: A Skills Gap Analysis” which was commissioned by Dubai International Academic City an

THERE is renewed optimism in the region’s construction sector, according to PwC’s (PricewaterhouseCoopers) latest Middle East capital project and infrastructure survey, which indicated that about 75 per cent of the respondents expect an increase in spending in the next 12 months.

FORMWORK and shoring supplied by RMD Kwikform is being used to overcome key design challenges on the 162,500-sq-m Mall of Egypt, which is set to join the ranks of the world’s five-star super malls. The mall, which is currently taking shape in the western half of the Cairo metropolis and the 6th of October City, will open in September 2015.

Bahrain signs storage tanks deal BAHRAIN has signed BD13-million ($34.48 million) contracts with two local companies for the installation of ground storage tanks as part of the second phase of its water transmission development project, which is financed by the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development.

LEADING contracting firm G P Zachariades has been awarded a contract to build a BD32-million ($84.87 million) national oncology centre at King Hamad University Hospital, Muharraq, in Bahrain. Work on the centre is scheduled to start this month (August) for completion in February 2017 in a package costing BD31.8 million ($84.34 million).

THE National Aluminium Products Company (Napco), one of the leading extruders of aluminium profiles in the GCC, is planning to tap into new markets and introduce more products and services as part of an expansion programme. The expansion initiatives will be implemented in three key phases starting this year.

GREAT Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation, a US-based dredging services provider, has won a $35-million contract from Bahrain’s Ministry of Works for reclamation work at Hidd.  The contract encompasses phases one and two of a development project within Hidd Port, the company said. Under the contract, Great Lakes will dredge 5.

BAHRAIN’S multi-million-dollar Manama Central Market revamp project could now get off the ground with investors stepping in to give the stalled scheme a new lease of life.