Global firms in bid for $12bn Limitless contracts
Limitless, the global real estate arm of Dubai World, said it has received bids from 10 construction companies to develop the first phase of the major earthworks on its $11 billion Arabian Canal project, said a company official.
The proposals from both local and international firms are currently being assessed, and contracts will be awarded by the end of August, said a company official.
Ian Raine, project director for the Arabian Canal pointed out that the construction of the canal involves one of the biggest excavations ever undertaken in the region.
The sheer size of the project means that it will be split into around 10 different packages in total, he noted.
“This first package involves the excavation of an 8 kilometre stretch of the waterway at the northern end of the inland section of the canal. It will run 2.5 kilometre to the west of the Dubai bypass and 5.5 kilometre to the east,” Raine added.
Earlier this month, Limitless announced that pilot excavation work on the 75 kilometre canal has shifted more than 1.5 million cubic metres of earth – enough to fill 600 Olympic-size swimming pools.
"Our test excavation has left a huge hole 700 metres long, 200 metres wide and up to 45 metres deep. Yet this is less than a quarter of a per cent of the total amount of earth to be moved," Raine added.
"Overall, more than a billion cubic metres will be excavated – and re-used to form new landscapes along the waterway."-
