Saadiyat Island infrastructure packages to be awarded in Q1
Sunday, 08 Nov 2009
A senior official from the developer, Tourism Development and Investment Company said that the 2 main infrastructure packages for Cultural District and Marina District on Saadiyat Island in Abu Dhabi will be announced by first quarter of 2010.
Mr Andrew Seymour director of Infrastructure at Saadiyat Island said that "As a client, we are anxious to see what prices we get since it is a competitive market. The contractors are hungry now unlike 2 years ago. We are taking full advantage of the fact those competitive pricing needs to be brought into every single element of the work that we are doing."
He said that "Our initial focus was on the Saadiyat Beach area where we have luxury resorts and golf courses and all infrastructures around the area. It also included Saadiyat Bridge, Khalifa Bridge and expressway. It will all be completed in the next 3 to 6 months. The next focus is primarily on Cultural District to support the museums and their construction. At the same time, we will be looking at Marina district. It is a considerable amount of work considering the sizes of the project components."
Mr Seymour said that "In very broad terms, we are looking at continuing the infrastructure work on Saadiyat Island over the next 10 years and are tying in with that. As areas get completed, the verticals of the building and the development above ground will start to occur. We are looking at 2020 for the completion."
He said that "The transmission supplier built at 400 KV grid station and all the cables are nearing completion. Of the four substations, two are nearing completion and the other 2 will be completed by mid 2010. We are in the Phase I of finishing off the huge ground storage tank, which will distribute water across the island. That will finish in 2010. One sewage treatment plant will be completed this month, and the design build contract on the second one has been awarded to Kharafi National."
Mr Seymour said that "We have a concrete crushing and waste management disposal system on the island. We are also looking at ways to control waste on the island so that sub contractors on the island would deliver to one central location, which will minimize the logistical issues and traffic. We also have environmental services through TDICTDIC and our lead consultant Parson to make sure our and third party developers are complying with our environmental mitigation plans. Sustainability will remain our priority along with reuse of construction waste, if possible."
He said that the developer was working closely with the Department of Transport in Abu Dhabi in terms of transportation issues and the Urban Planning Council to make sure the entire project was in coordination with the greater vision for Abu Dhabi.
Mr Seymour said that "It is very difficult on an island which had nothing to begin with. Once you have infrastructure and vertical buildings going up at the same time, you have to make sure that everyone can get to and from their job. When we started, we had a small road coming out of Saadiyat. Recently, we have opened a bridge and expressway and it has been a challenge to make sure that we managed the process well. We have worked very closely with all our partners on the island."
He said that "The bigger challenge is yet to come as we will have soon had more developers and contractors coming into Saadiyat Island and not just TDIC."
