Press Release

Housing Ministry signed BD18million deal to implement the first stage of East Hidd City, a project that envisages the construction of 4,523 public housing units.

The work of the project, which is being funded by the Kuwait Government, will be carried out in several phases and the first phase will start within a month, it was learnt. The multi-million deal was signed with Kuwait’s Khalid Al Kharafi and Brothers and Kingdom’s Nass Group (Nass Contracting).

At the behest of the Housing Ministry, Minister Basim Alhamer signed the deal with Sameer Nass of Nass Group and Al Kharafi Brothers Chairman Walid Al Kharafi. The first phase intends to complete 483 housing units within a period of 18 months, while the second phase will witness the construction of 400 units, for which the work is expected to start within the next two months. Speaking to Media, Mr. Alhamer said, “The implementation of the project is just a starting point in the history of the Kingdom’s housing sector.” He highlighted that it was for the first time four major housing projects were being implemented simultaneously.“

Five hundred and thirty units are being established in the Northern City, in addition to the reclamation operations being carried out in Eastern Sitra, apart from the ongoing works at East Hidd and Salmabad,” he pointed out. Thanking the brotherly nation of Kuwait for the generous support towards establishing the project, Mr. Alhamer hailed the support of His Majesty King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, Prime Minister HRH Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa and Crown Prince, Deputy Supreme Commander and First Deputy Prime Minister HRH Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa towards public housing projects.

A multi-milliondollar Chinese-themed retail development within the Diyar Al Muharraq master-planned project will get underway shortly with the award of the construction contract. Urban developer Diyar Al Muharraq has appointed Nass Contracting for the construction of phase one of Dragon City, which will take 14 months for completion.

The signing ceremony was held at Diyar’s stand on the first day of the Gulf Property Show yesterday.

The project is being developed by Dragon City, a subsidiary of Diyar Al Muharraq, and the mall will be operated by Chinamex Middle East. It is expected to open in June next year.

“Set in the southwest corner of Diyar Al Muharraq, spread over 115,000 sqm, Dragon City is a first-of-its kind development in Bahrain,” Diyar Al Muharraq chairman Abdulhakim Alkhayyat said.

“It has a gross floor area of circa 51,000 sqm, approximately 700 individual retail store spaces, warehousing of 5,000 sqm, a dining street of 6,000 sqm and car parking for 1,500 vehicles.

“Dragon City will offer discount and retail opportunities to local consumers, trade customers and tourists, and cater to both wholesale and retail consumers as well,” he said.

Offering a variety of Chinese products such as home appliances, household items, building materials, furniture, toys, machinery, garments, textiles, footwear and general merchandise, the mall is targeting between one and two million visitors a year.

Nass Contracting chief executive Ghazi Nass said the company was confident of delivering as scheduled.

“We guarantee that we will comply with the highest standards of construction which reflect the values of Diyar Al Muharraq,” he added.

“Dragon City is strategically aligned with our mission to offer huge potential for growth and innovation in retail sector,” Diyar Al Muharraq chief executive Dr Maher Al Shaer said.

“Using the show as a platform, we will display to the world how competitive we can be, as Dragon City is a highly strategic development within the Diyar Al Muharraq masterplan that offers opportunities yet to be equalled in the uniqueness of its vision and theme,” he said.

Manama: Installation of the U.S. Navy Flyover Bridge on Thursday 30th January night and Friday, 31st January morning, forcing the closure of the highway, went smoothly, according to the Main Contractor.

Contrack NASS J.V., the main contractor at the Waterfront Development Project was leading the unique bridge construction effort. Its approach was one of the most cutting edge which included: “build, lift, move and install” and is unlike any bridge installation undertaken in the Middle East.

“The flyover bridge is approximately 122.5m long, 16m wide and 21.4m tall (from ground 27.5m), and is a tied arch cable suspension bridge with a roadway and pedestrian walkway. The 16 meter wide bridge deck is a concrete post tensioned construction. The entire bridge was constructed at an offsite facility about 250 meters away from the permanent location across Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Highway and was moved to be placed at two end piers with highway completely open. ”says Mr. Ghazi Nass, Supervisory Board Member of Contrack Nass J.V. and Director of Nass Corporation B.S.C.

“Known as the ‘SPMT (Self-propelled Modular Transporter) Bridge Move’, a team of experts from Contrack Nass J.V. and Sarens Nass Middle East moved this off-site manufactured bridge weighing 2650 metric tons (with lifting beam 2850 metric tons) from the assembly location to the Prince Khalifa Bin Salman Highway The use of self-propelled modular transporter technology provides the ultimate flexibility and speed in moving and installing bridge structures and reducing construction related impacts to the traveling public as a major priority for the nation’s highway program”, says Mr. Ayman El Gayar, Regional Manager of Contrack International.

“Construction on the bridge began in September 2012, and the actual movement of the bridge to the highway started on Thursday, 30th January 2014 from 12:30p.m. till Friday at 8:30a.m.”, says Project Manager, Mr. Ali Chahine.
He added, “Our subcontractor Sarens Nass M.E. provided 96 axles of self-propelled modular trailers for transporting the 3000 ton bridge and jacking it to the bearing points on the highway. Bahrain’s Ministry of Works had ordered the closure of the highway to carry out this ambitious operation, a first in the Middle East. Off-site construction of the bridge, results in safer working conditions and shortened road closures.”

Mr Sami Nass, Managing Director of Sarens Nass Middle East and Nass Corporation B.S.C. says Sarens Nass is one of the few Middle East heavy lifting companies that has established itself as a prime specialist in the past ten years, working to meet a seemingly insatiable demand for heavy lift operations. Even though we have 1000 axles working every day in the Sarens Nass fleet, this project was unique and challenging because of the engineering aspects involved in the movement and jacking process. Every millimeter of precision on the move is important to ensure safety of the bridge, Our team of experts worked three days to move the bridge from its actual location to fixing position and six hours of carefully planned and programmed movement to ensure precision, maneuverability and stability while moving the bridge along the main highway.”
He also added that Nass Mechanical Contracting Company which is also a Nass Corporation company served as the subcontractor to fabricate and erect the 2850 metric tons lifting beams to carry the bridge, and also erected all steel structures including the bridge arch.

Other subcontractors are:

• Tony Gee and Partners – third party bridge designer for bridge modeling and design of temporary works played a key role;
• Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Middle East (Private) Limited – fabrication and installation Structural Steel Arch Rib;
• Mekano4 MK4 for installing and tensioning the hangers – Hangers supplied by Redealli thru Contrack Nass JV;
• VSL Middle East LLC for bridge deck post tensioning, jacking of the bridge and stressing of PT bars between lifting beams and bridge deck;
• Sarens Nass Middle East W.L.L. for bridge movement;
• Nass Mechanical Contracting Co W.L.L. for fabrication and installation of lifting beams and for installation of Arch ribs under Cleveland Bridge and Engineering Middle East (Private) Limited;
• RMD Kiwiform (Almoayyed) Bahrain W.L.L. as formwork supplier.

Mr. Wahid Hakki, CEO of Contrack International said that “This will remain a landmark design-build project in the history of bridge construction in Middle East, and we are proud to have lent our experience with accelerated bridge construction techniques to help set a new standard of efficiency for transportation projects in Bahrain. In future, conventional bridge construction methods could be replaced with the SPMT technology to reduce traffic interruptions from months to few hours at bridge construction projects.” He thanked all subcontractors for their sincere effort to make this unique project a resounding success.

Click here to view the Time Lapse Video

Appearing in the Image (Left-Right)
Mr. Andrew Collinson-Chairman of ECITB, Mr. Abdulnabi Marhoon-HSE Manager, Nass Contracting, Mr. David Anthony-General Manager, Nass Contracting, Mr. Jason Riley Business- Development. Manager ECITB, Mr. Saurav Sen- QA/QC Manager Nass Contracting, Dr. Tony Featherstone- ECITB International Operations and Commercial Director.

HSE Manager of Nass Contracting Mr Abdulnabi Marhoon was recently presented with a recognition plaque for his contribution to the ECITB training program wherein he introduced a new module of ‘Environmental Awareness’ to the course.
The Environmental Awareness course covers; environmental legislation, environmental management, environmental protection and the environmental audit processes that form an integral part of the CONTINUAL IMPROVEMENT techniques that are at the heart of a sustainable environmental management system
This impressive initiative was proposed and developed by Mr Abdulnabi Marhoon in conjunction with the ECITB. The ECITB has now incorporated the Environmental Awareness course into its suite of core world-wide training programmes.
Mr Collinson said at the ceremony when the plaque was awarded that; “The ECITB is extremely pleased with Mr. Marhoon’s ideas and commitment to the subjects of Environment, Health and Safety training and is delighted to present the plaque in recognition of Mr Marhoon’s hard work, knowledge of the subject matter and enthusiastic support for the training initiative.”
Mr Collinson added; “this was a great initiative not only for Nass Contracting and Bahrain, but also for all those that work within the Engineering Construction Industry world-wide to increase Environmental Awareness.”
The new Environmental Awareness course is included within the ECITB International Health and Safety passport scheme.
The ECITB International Health and Safety Passport scheme ensures that all site personnel have reached a recognized level of Health and Safety knowledge and awareness to assist them in working on site more safely with reduced risk to themselves and others. The ECITB scheme consists of three training courses specifically designed for the engineering – construction industry; Foundation, Advanced and Supervisor.

Nass Contracting is the only Contractor to be recognized as an Approved Centre to deliver the ECITB International Health and Safety Passport courses in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Nass Contracting has trained over 1275 employees in the ECITB International Health and Safety Passport Foundation course and 160 employees in the ECITB International Health and Safety Passport Advance course since obtaining their ECITB accreditation in 2011.

MANAMA: Nass Contracting has confirmed that the BD13 million Applied Science University Campus in Sitra is set for completion by the end of this month.

“We are working hard in co-ordination with Ismail Khonji Associates (IKA) to complete the project on schedule, and plan to hand it over to the university administration by the end of June,” said Nass Contracting Chief Executive Officer Ghazi Nass.

“We are extremely proud of the state-of-the-art project that has been constructed as per international standards followed in European and American universities in terms of architecture and facilities.

“Despite the hindrances we faced during the execution of the project, we made sure that all work was competed as targeted, ensuring that all standards of quality were met.

“Currently we are working on the completion of parking lots and green areas around the campus,” he added.

“We have designed the university according to the highest international standards used in education facilities,” said IKA general manager Ismail Khonji.

“We have ensured that all academic and security standards have been complied with.

“Both internally and externally, the new building possesses a combination of modern and classic designs that is reflected in the university’s vision of linking academics with modern technology and innovation,” he added.

“The campus incorporates the use of latest electronic means in classroom design, lecture halls, computer labs, language and specialised laboratories, as well as a new electronic system in the library,” said IKA project director Mohamed Abdulaziz.

“This can also be used for seminars and hosting cultural activities.

“Apart from that the university campus has the latest courts for tennis, handball, volleyball, basketball and badminton,” he said.

“A system of wireless Internet covers all the buildings in the campus that occupies an area of 24,000 sqm.

“The new campus can accommodate up to 2,100 students at a single time and up to 6,300 during the day where batches are distributed on a morning, evening and weekend basis,” he added.

Nass Corporation’s flagship company, Nass Contracting, was recently presented with the Tamkeen Safety Award in recognition for their efforts in training candidates on the different aspects of occupational health and safety.

The presentation took place at the graduation ceremony of Tamkeen’s Training and Employment programme in Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) which was held at the Regency Intercontinental earlier in January this year. Mr. David Anthony, General Manager of Nass Contracting received the award from Mrs. Amal Kooheji, Tamkeen’s acting Vice-President Human Capital Development.

Nass Contracting provided 6 candidates with on-the-job training in collaboration with Arabian East Training Center (ATEC). They were placed in several projects undertaken by Nass Contracting such as private villa developments, the Isa town Gate and Arad Bay assignments.

“Nass contracting is extremely proud to be a part of this initiative. This award motivates us to further strive towards empowering the youth and building the future of Bahrain. One of our corporate social responsibility objectives has always been to utilize market insights and student reviews to provide the best and most hands-on training possible and we regard this endeavor as a stepping stone towards achieving this goal “said Mr. David Anthony upon receiving the award.

“Nass aspires to fulfill their role as a socially responsible corporate entity in the kingdom of Bahrain by looking forward to supporting such programmes developed by Tamkeen in the future, which are aimed at enhancing the careers of young Bahrainis” he concluded.