February 22 Road project to be ready by ’10-end

February 22 Road project to be ready by ’10-end
Web posted at: 10/4/2009 0:55:49
Source ::: The Peninsula

DOHA: The February 22 Road (D Ring Road linking Sudan roundabout to Al Shamal) project, which has been delayed, is likely to be completed by the end of next year as the work is being awarded to three new contractors, Al Sharq reported yesterday.

Legal action has been taken against the existing contractors and its outcome is being awaited after which new contracts will be awarded, the daily said.

This is cut from Bilfinger Berger homepage.

“ Legal dispute in Qatar / new earnings outlook
September 9, 2009
Bilfinger Berger: legal dispute in Qatar / new earnings outlook
Bilfinger Berger expects termination of the contract for a road construction project in Qatar. Despite interventions at the highest political level, the client is not willing to settle outstanding debts running into the triple digit million Euros.
For some time now the project has been suffering from significant disruptions and delays for which the client is responsible. For this reason, the construction period has more than doubled from the original 24 months. The client has already accepted responsibility for a 21- month extension of the construction period.

There is, however, substantial disagreement on the financial consequences, some of which are before the courts. The client is now attempting to avoid his financial obligations by terminating the contract.
Bilfinger Berger is expecting a lengthy legal dispute in the local courts, the outcome of which cannot be predicted with certainty. As a precaution, the Company will therefore make a provision in the amount of EUR80 million. This will lead to a burden on earnings in the third quarter.
The Company had previously expected an EBIT for the full-year 2009 in the amount of EUR250 million. This charge on earnings which can be partially offset by improvements in the Services segment will reduce the EBIT to an amount of EUR210 to EUR230 million.
In conformity with ad-hoc-announcement ”

Flaws in Salwa road pavement construction

Web posted at: 2/6/2007 3:46:28
Source ::: The Peninsula

Doha •

The Qatar General OrganiSation for Standards and Metrology (QGOSM) has said that there was clear evidence of a structural failure in the construction of the pavements of Salwa International Highway.

Attending a joint meeting of concerned officials, convened by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) to look into the massive cracks developed on Salwa International High way, the QGOSM nominees said that there was very clear evidence of extensive fatigue cracking. At the meeting they expressed their serious concern about the use of the Type 5 pavements utilising a specific crack-arrest- layer (GSB).

Top Ashghal officials, who attended the meeting, wanted the Parson International Ltd (PIL), the company responsible for the design work for phase 1 of Salwa International Highway, to clarify the details of the joint interface between Type 5 pavement and the full depth construction type 1 pavement. They also asked the company why a full-depth construction had not been adopted in accordance with Qatar Highway Design Manual (QHDM).

The PIL clarified that the pavement design was done according to the findings of a report prepared on behalf of Roads Department of Government of Qatar.

Henry Saville, currently Parsons Sector manager for Roads and Highways in Europe, said that though the PIL did not agree with the contents of the report, they had been required to base their design on the contents of the ERI report which stated that the structure of the existing road pavement was adequate for the traffic loading foreseen.

Saville, who said that he was responsible for the design works of the highway, added that the design thickness of the required granular sub base layer was increased by 20 per cent in order to accommodate any increase in traffic as well as to allow for then likelihood of overloaded trucks and tyre pressures in excess as anticipated by ERI report.

Responding to a query from Ashghal authorities, the PIL confirmed that a `crack arresting layer' was not included in the pavement type in the Qatar Highway Design Manual (QHDM). It said that a granular subbase crack arresting layer, which was used in Salwa Road project, had been used in road pavement rehabilitation in at least three other nations including Vietnam, Greece and Romania and it was performing satisfactorily in these countries.

The PIL pointed out that sections of the new road, where the Type 5 pavement had been constructed on Salwa Road, had been under traffic pressure for many months. But no pavement distress was recorded. The pavement developed cracks only after the heavy and incessant rains in the beginning of December 2006. “A series of tests had been carried out on materials taken from the failed areas, as well as on samples taken from other areas of type 5 pavements. The test results indicated that the materials used had fully complied with the specific standards", the PIL said.

PIL pointed out that in one or two of the areas where failures had occurred, some of the asphalt surfacing had not been laid in accordance with the specification and Non-Conformance Reports (NCR's) had been issued to the contractor.

The volume of traffic had increased over twenty per cent allowed for in the original design. It also suggested Ashghal to carry out a Benkelman Beam test (BBT).

However, Ashghal nominees in the committee pointed out that although the first failures were experienced on sections where only the 60mm asphalt base-course had been laid, there were now almost as many failures on sections of road where wearing course had also been laid. There were a number of pavement failures on sections where the road was constructed on high fill, they said.

Responding to a point that there is a clear evidence of structural failure on the crack arresting layer of the pavement, PIL replied:" The trial pit investigations carried out and the associated test results on the GSB layer had produced no evidence of structural failure to the crack arresting layer.

Expressway project hits roadblock

Web posted at: 9/12/2009 2:20:32
Source ::: The PENINSULA / BY SATISH KANADY

DOHA: Breaking its prolonged silence on reports of the suspension of Qatar’s prestigious Doha Expressway project and the consequent legal battle with its ‘client’, German construction major Bilfinger Berger on Wednesday said it was expecting the termination of the multi-million riyal contract for the highway.

“Despite interventions at the highest level, the client is not willing to settle outstanding debts running into the triple digit million euros,” Bilfinger said in its new earnings outlook posted on its website.

Bilfinger has put the blame on its ‘client’ for the undue delay in the completion of the prestigious project. Public Works Authority’s (Ashghal) two major road projects have run into trouble due to disputes with contracting companies.

The project has been suffering major disruptions and delays for which the client is responsible. For this reason, the construction period has more than doubled from the original 24 months. The client has already accepted responsibility for a 21-month extension of the construction period, Bilfinger said.

Bilfinger said that it has serious disputes with its ‘client’ about the payment and some of the disputes are before the courts.

“The client is now attempting to avoid the financial obligations by terminating the contract,”it said.

The German company is expecting a prolonged legal dispute in Qatari courts. The project uncertainty has hit Bilfinger so hard that it was forced to cut its full-year profit forecast by at least $145m. It reduced its forecast for earnings before interest and taxes this year to a range of ¤210m to ¤230m against the previous forecast of ¤250m, the company’s new earnings forecast said.

“Earlier Wednesday, Bilfinger Berger issued a full-year 2009 profit warning, citing the expected contract termination due to a legal dispute with the client. It lowered its earnings before interest and taxes forecast to between ¤210m and ¤230m from ¤250m previously,” reports in the international media said.

The Doha Expressway project is part of the road development programme which aims to connect north of Doha with the south and east with west.

Qatar’s another multi-million road project is also caught in a legal quagmire. Ashghal has reportedly slapped a lawsuit on a Malaysia-based company, an international consulting company and an insurance company in Qatar, seeking damages in connection with the Salwa road project.

While the construction company alleges that Ashghal has stopped payments to the tune of millions of riyals even after issuing the certificate of completion, an expert panel set up by Ashghal found that the construction quality was not up to the Qatari specification.

THE PENINSULA

Work on Expressway project ‘suspended’

A Doha Expressway project worksite. PICTURE: Nousahd Thekkayil

By Sarmad Qazi The contract of a major road developer working on the ambitious Doha Expressway project has been terminated by the Public Works Authority (Ashghal), sources said yesterday.

The source said work by Germany-based Bilfinger-Berger, the main contractor of the Doha Expressway/22 February Street has been halted as well.

While no one could be reached at the company, whose listed telephone lines are never picked up, an official at the Doha Expressway Project office at the Ashghal yesterday did not deny the news when requested for a confirmation.

Earlier, on August 12, reports in the Arabic press said that the work on the project had been suspended due to a dispute between Ashghal and Bilfinger-Berger. The reports attributed the dispute to payments.

The Doha Expressway project is part of the road development programme which aims to connect north of Doha with the south and east with west. The 22 February Interchange (Packages 1 & 2) is part of the overall QR8bn Doha Expressway project which includes 12 other packages.

The current status of the project can best be categorised as still under execution after it was supposed to be completed in Q2 of 2008. It was now expected to be completed in March 2010.

Phases I and II of the project, work on which was ongoing includes development of a main highway from the Immigration intersection to the Midmac intersection including service roads, infrastructure and landscaping works, construction of 4 main interchanges Omar bin Khatab, Al Rayyan (Jaida roundabout), Juaan and Al Sadd (an extension of the Al Sadd street).

The scope of work included for the contractor included construction of a 6km highway including 3 lane dual carriageway, crossovers, underpasses and 4 grade separated interchanges.

Salwa Road project

Firm accuses Ashghal of not clearing project dues

GULF TIMES
Latest Update: Wednesday12/8/2009August, 2009, 12:22 AM Doha Time

Firm accuses Ashghal of not clearing project dues
By Sarmad QaziA contractor to Public Works Authority (Ashghal) Salwa Road project has accused the authority of stopping payments to the tune of millions of riyals even after issuing the certificate of completion. Malaysia-based UEM, the major contractor for the 81km project, work on which started in 2003, said it was in a precarious situation as non-payment of dues by Ashghal meant that it was unable to pay its own sub-contractors for months.The four-lane (on each side) Salwa International Highway, which was completed in December, 2008, includes 15 intersections with facilities for emergency parking and service lanes. “We were issued a certificate of completion of work by Ashghal in January 2009, after we completed the work in December 2008. Despite this, the authority has not released hundreds of millions of riyals to us in payments. Ashghal has in fact filed a court case,” an official said on condition of anonymity. Ashghal filed a lawsuit seeking damages, reportedly about QR878.3mn, against design consulting engineer Parson International Ltd, UEM and Qatar Insurance Company over the project. “UEM has been named the second defendant in the case, even though we simply carried out work as per the design. The legal recourse is essentially against the design consultant, yet our assets were frozen,” the official said. According to sources close to the project, at least 55km (in separate stretches) of the southbound part of the highway developed rutting soon after work was finished in 2006, leading to friction between Ashghal and UEM.The contractor maintained that there was a design discrepancy and it was just carrying out the design given to it by the design consultant. “Basically you had a four-lane highway, where you wanted to keep the last two lanes with just some new coating. This caused damages and the folly in the idea was exposed,” the source said. The damage only occurred to the lane 3 and lane 4 which was filled with rocks and covered by new asphalt, as opposed to the complete building of lane 1 and lane 2. Ostensibly, fearing delays Ashghal renegotiated the remaining project, as well as fixing of the bad stretch with UEM who maintains it resumed work “in good faith and to move forward”.“When the client calls you and tells you lets move forward from here after renegotiating, you continue work in good faith. But soon after you finish the project, you are told that you are being sued for the previous dispute. And that too a dispute not directly caused by us. That’s bizarre,” the source said.Ashghal’s own March 2007 newsletter (Volume 6, page 3) article on the project notes: “The beautification works on the highway, which was started in 2001, turned out to be a failure – a matter that needed urgent interference. An international company responsible for designing the highway undertook the project. However, the designing was not properly reviewed by the concerned authority of that period. After winning tender, the Malaysian company started executing the contract in 2003. For the next nine months, the project did not record any considerable progress. During the rainfall last December, some gutters and pits appeared on all the three lanes of the road along 55km proceeding from Doha towards Abu Samra (the border).“…the Ashghal committee report has clearly pointed out the faults and problems in the design of the project. The consultant has designed the project based on measurements beyond the standards and specifications of Qatar,” the article added. Efforts to solicit a response from Ashghal were unsuccessful.

Dispute halts February 22 road project

Dispute halts February 22 road project Web posted at: 8/7/2009 2:25:15Source ::: THE PENINSULA
February 22 road project which is part of the new Doha Expressway venture.

DOHA: A financial dispute between the Public Works Authority (Ashghal) and a German contracting company has led to the halt in the ongoing February 22 road project which is part of the new Doha Expressway venture.
According to Al Sharq, the German company (Bilfinger Berger) left the work midway in March this year claiming QR600m from Ashghal.

The stretch of road involved in the dispute is between the Immigration roundabout and Al Assiri near the Midmac flyover on the D-Ring Road. Ironically, the road work was abandoned after 80 percent of it was already over.
The daily said that due to halt in the road work, the German contractors have laid off at least 1,000 workers and are left only with another 1,000. “They had a total of 2,000 workers.”

The company has also not paid dues to its sub-contractors and suppliers and owe them something like QR47m in arrears. Ashghal said earlier it owed only QR350m to the German company and later reduced this amount to QR200m, triggering a dispute. According to the daily, there does not seem to be an end to the dispute so the chances of the road work resuming are remote as of now.