Abu Dhabi’s Tourism Development & Investment Company (TDIC) has received bids for the substructure construction contract on its estimated $1bn Louvre Abu Dhabi museum project.

Contractors submitted offers for the deal in mid-April, according to sources close to the project.

At least 14 groups prequalified for the substructure deal. They are:

• The local Alec
• The local/Australian Al-Habtoor Leighton Group with South Africa’s Murray & Roberts Contractors (Middle East)
• The local Amana Contracting Company
• The local/Lebanese Arabian Construction Company (ACC)
• The local Dubai Contracting Company
• The local Al-Faraa General Contracting Company
• Germany’s Ed Zueblin
• France’s Vinci Construction Grand Projets
• Athens-based Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC)
• The local Commodore Contracting Company
• Italy’s Pizzarotti
• The local Darwish bin Ahmed & Sons
• Australia’s Multiplex
• The local/Belgian Six Construct Abu Dhabi

TDIC is building the museum using a series of fixed-price lump sum construction contracts. In December, it sent letters to contractors that had prequalified to build the museum on a design and build basis that had changed its procurement strategy.

The concrete substructure package follows the award of a piling contract to Germany’s Bauer.

The substructure package precedes a larger main construction contract which is currently being tendered. TDIC has invited contractors to bid for that package by 1 July.

• The local/UK Aldar Laing O’Rourke
• Al-Habtoor Leighton/Murray & Roberts
• A French joint venture of Bouygues and Vinci Grand Projets
• CCC
• Zueblin
• Multiplex with the UK/local Mivan Depa
• Brazil’s Odebrecht
• Oger Abu Dhabi, the local affiliate of Saudi Oger
• South Korea’s Samsung Corporation
• The local/Belgian Six Construct Abu Dhabi
• A South Korean contingent of Ssangyong Corporation, Daewoo Engineering & Construction, Posco Engineering & Construction and Hanmi Parsons
• Japan’s Taisei Corporation

Designed by French architect Jean Nouvel, the Louvre Abu Dhabi is part of the capital’s 18-square-kilometre Saadiyat Island Cultural District, which will also include the new Sheikh Zayed National Museum (MEED 31:3:10).