DOHA: Tenders for the biggest drainage project in the country -- Inner Doha Re-sewerage Implementation Strategy (IDRIS) -- will be invited by the second quarter of this year, the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) said yesterday.
The project aims a major overhaul of the drainage system in the southern parts of Doha city. Work is expected to begin by the end of the year and is scheduled to complete by 2019.
The project includes construction of a major wastewater treatment plant to the south of Doha, as well as a deep-trunk sewer tunnel and pumping stations to meet the requirements in southern districts of Doha for the next 50 years.
Projects on this scale are implemented in the UAE, the US and Singapore, said Engineer Nasser Ghaith Al Kuwari, Director of Drainage Projects Department at Ashghal in a press conference yesterday.
The drainage system in the southern parts of Doha is very old and it cannot keep pace with the fast growing population there that is expected to reach 3,000,000 by 2050.
Therefore, drainage network in key areas like Muntaza, Umm Ghuwailina, Al Hilal, Airport, Al Nuaijah are being re-planed to add more services, said Al Kuwari.
A huge pumping station will be built at the end of the drainage tunnel to get rid of 45 existing small pumping stations and hydraulic load.
Ashghal is preparing tender documents and tenders will be invited by the second quarter of this year, he added.
The strategic study of the project has been completed in collaboration with the authorities concerned. The study includes details of the projects, its maintenance and estimated costs, said Al Kuwari.
He, however, refused to disclose the estimated cost of the project saying the prices of the materials as well as the machines to be used for the project and services are fluctuating. Ashghal had earlier put the estimated capital cost of the project between QR8bn and QR10bn.
Ashghal will hold a meeting with contractors, experts and international consultation service providers tomorrow to present the details of the project.
Asked about the share of local companies in the project, Al Kuwari said that since this project required most advanced techniques, it will be offered to international companies. However, local companies can play their role in the form of partnerships with international companies.
© The Peninsula 2013
