The Jahra Road Development Project in Kuwait has achieved major advancements with the latest milestone being the opening of the Fourth Ring Road last month.  Commenced in 2010, the project is considered to be one of the largest single infrastructure projects in Kuwait and in the Middle East.

Qatar’s Public Works Authority Ashghal has awarded contracts worth more than QR1.25 billion ($343 million) for the construction of 17 new schools and six kindergartens in a bid to boost the country’s educational infrastructure. Work is already under way on 38 schools and kindergartens at a cost of QR1.

Materials washing specialist CDE Global has expanded its team of personnel responsible for the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, which the company said will allow for greater regional focus.

Bahrain had awarded nine contracts worth a total of BD15 million ($39 million) early this year including key road and sanitary works besides inviting bids for seven major projects including the North Manama Causeway, said a senior official.

BASF, a leading supplier of construction chemicals in the GCC, has unveiled its Master Builders Solutions in Kuwait. It also presented its tiling and screeds solutions, along with other technologies such as admixture and construction systems and waterproofing and flooring solutions.

A joint venture (JV) of Shapoorji Pallonji Mideast (SPML) has won a RO85-million ($220 million) construction contract for Package Three of the Oman Convention and Exhibition Centre (OCEC) project, said a report. The two-year contract was awarded by Oman Tourism Development Company (Omran), reported the Muscat Daily.

Oman has started the masterplanning of the second phase of Sohar Free Zone targeting an area of around 1,000 hectares, a two-fold increase over the area developed in the first phase, said a report.

Construction projects worth $103 billion are likely to be awarded this year in the GCC, an increase of 21.2 per cent over last year, according to a study. Projects across all building sectors valued at $67.

Oman authorities have awarded a major contract to build the main road, service road and other related works as part of the Duqm township development plan, said a report.

Construction work on a new multi-million-dinar cardiology centre in Bahrain is set to begin soon. The seven-storey complex in Awali will be associated with the existing Mohammed bin Khalifa Cardiac Centre at the BDF Hospital in Riffa and will feature 150 beds, operating theatres, an emergency unit and laboratories, among other facilities.

A new set of construction specifications for Qatar has been issued and will take effect three months after its publication in the official gazette, a report said.

SSH ranked among the top 100 SSH, a leading master-planning, infrastructure, building design, construction supervision and project management firm in the Middle East, said it has been ranked amongst the top 100 architecture companies in the world for the fifth year in a row.

Doha Port and French-based communication and security provider Thales have signed a contract under which the latter will construct the infrastructure of the communication and security systems for the New Port project in Qatar, a report said.

Bahrain-based Façade Design & Services Company (FDS) has signed an agreement with United Enterprises to fully operate its testing laboratory, providing complete independent building materials and system testing at the Laboratory Centre being developed in Bahrain.

Joannou & Parakskevaides (J&P), one of the region’s leading construction enterprises, has secured more than QR1 billion ($274 million) financing from Commercial Bank to cover the ambitious West Corridor project in Doha, Qatar.

Oman will soon start work on the first line of its ambitious railway project connecting Buraimi to Sohar and also award contracts for key road projects as part of its plans to boost the sultanate’s transport sector, said a report.

Bahrain’s Housing Ministry said the construction work on 755 residential units in the Sitra area of the Capital Governorate has begun. The project, to be developed at a total cost of more than BD3.5 million ($9.3 million), is part of the 40,000 housing units under the four-year national growth blueprint.

The Dukhan Highway Central project in western Qatar has achieved 30 million man hours without loss time injury (LTI), building on its last year’s record of 25 million man hours without LTI, said its developer Qatar’s Public Works Authority Ashghal.

Front-end engineering design (Feed) of Oman’s state-of-the-art Liwa Plastics Industries Complex (LPIC) is likely to be finalised in April and the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) work packages are likely to be awarded in the last quarter of this year.

A joint venture of Louis Berger, a US-based architectural and engineering design firm, has won a $79-million contract from Qatar Railways Company to provide project management consultancy (PMC) services for all elevated and at-grade sections of the Doha Metro project.