A consortium led by Austria’s Porr has submitted the lowest bid for the main tunnel package on the planned Jebel Ali stormwater network project in Dubai.

The Porr consortium submitted a bid of AED1.3bn ($356m) for the construction contract. This was almost 13 per cent lower than the AED1.5bn proposal submitted by the second lowest bidder, Italy’s Salini Impregilo.

The full list of bidders (lead contractor listed) and prices is:

• Porr, AED1.308bn
• Salini Impregilo, AED1.510bn
• Strabag (Austria), AED1.518bn
• L&T (India), AED1.868bn
• Samsung C&T (South Korea), AED1.884bn
• Bouygues (France), AED1.897bn

 The 12km-long section of tunnel is also referred to as package 2. It is understood that Dubai Municipality plans to award the contract over the summer.

The municipality is also tendering a main pumping station.

The stormwater tunnel network has been identified as a key project to prevent any future flooding of Al-Maktoum International airport and the surrounding area, which will include the Expo 2020 site.

The network is one of three major deep-tunnel projects Dubai Municipality is planning to undertake.

The project owner is preparing to develop two major deep-tunnel sewer networks in the Deira and Bur Dubai areas of the emirate, which will be similar to the strategic tunnel enhancement programme (STEP) project in neighbouring Abu Dhabi. MEED recently reported that the municipality had hired a consultant to prepare to press ahead with the project as a public-private partnership (PPP) scheme.