ALL was not well for the building industry in Bahrain during the last two years. Contractors and consultants were laying off staff, accepting almost any bid invitation and offering bargain prices. Many only kept afloat by pursuing opportunities in Saudi Arabia.

Today, the mood could not be more different. 'We are under a lot of pressure now - we have a lot of work,' says K. Bangera, projects director at Mohamed Salahuddin Consulting Engineering Bureau (MSCEB). Contractors are happier too, as more work means less of a cut-throat atmosphere. 'Prices are going up and we are actually able to pick and choose what we bid for,' says one.

The project which seems to have revived activity is the power and water plant being built at Hidd. Contracts have been awarded locally by the engineering, procurement and construction contractors, ABB Asea Brown Boveri and Fisia Italimpianti, and by the government for associated infrastructure.

The state is also spending elsewhere. The Works & Agriculture Ministry is to lay out $80 million for the revamp of sewage treatment systems, $35 million is to be spent on a new road and the Ministry of Electricity & Water (MEW) has plans to upgrade desalination plants. Work on a new port and industrial zone at Hidd is expected to go to tender in 1998. To make up for any shortfall in available industrial space, before the Hidd project materialises, the South Alba industrial zone is to be expanded (see page 33). The government also continues to invest in the airport which is the base of Bahrain's biggest employer, Gulf Air.

It is not only government spending which has stimulated the construction sector. Banks are building new offices, new hotels are being planned, and work has at last started on the long-awaited golf course. Upcoming industrial projects include a calcinating plant for Aluminium Bahrain, which could be worth up to $400 million, a sponge iron plant and the introduction of an automatic blending system at the Bahrain Petroleum Company (Bapco) refinery.

Major projects include:

Hidd power and water plant

The local AA Nass Contracting is carrying out about $40 million worth of civil works for the main plant contractors, ABB SAE Sadelmi. The work is onshore and offshore and includes the seawater uptake and discharge system, and foundations for the plant.

In October, Bahrain National Oil Company awarded a $22 million contract to Nass and the UK's Christiani & Nielsen for the supply and installation of gas pipelines. The lines will supply gas to the new power station.

MEW awarded a BD 14 million ($37.1 million) contract to Japan's Mitsubishi Cables Industries Company for the supply and installation of 220-kV cables to link the new station to the existing electricity network. The company is expected to appoint a local contractor for land-based work. Nass and Kooheji Contractors are understood to be frontrunners.

MEW have appointed the Anglo/French GEC Alsthom to build a new substation at a cost of about BD 15 million ($39.7 million). A local company is expected to be appointed subcontractor.

The UK's Binnie & Partners is preparing tender documents for the required water infrastructure for the power and desalination plant. Contractors are expected to be appointed to build reservoirs, a treatment and blending plant, pumps and transmission lines.

Consultants, understood to include COWI-Almoayyed Gulf, MSCEB and Parsons Brinckerhoff, are expected to bid for work in 1998 on a 400-metre bridge which will form part of a link between Hidd, on Muharraq island, and Manama. The Royal Boskalis Westminster Group of the Netherlands has been awarded a $13.5 million contract for land reclamation and land armouring for the crossing.

Infrastructure

MEW plans to spend $19 million on the reverse osmosis desalination plant at Al-Dur. Production is to be expanded from the current 3 million gallons a day (g/d) to the original design capacity of 10 million g/d. Tenders are scheduled to be issued in December by the consultant, Sweco of Sweden. A further $40 million is to be spent over the next two-and-a-half years on the Sitra power and water plant. Tenders for rehabilitation of the 50-MW and 25 million-g/d plant are being prepared by Germany's Fichtner for issue in March 1998.

South Alba. The Oil & Industry Ministry is planning to expand the South Alba industrial area. The project will include a road network, sewerage system, and power and water facilities. MSCEB has been appointed consultant.

Tenders are expected to be issued in early 1998 for work on the Tubli sewerage plant. The existing system is to be upgraded to produce 200,000 cubic metres a day of secondary effluent. The Works & Agriculture Ministry intends the treated effluent to be used in irrigation in order to relieve the acute strain on the island's aquifer. The local/Lebanese ACE Almoayed Consulting Engineers is the consultant. The project could cost about BD 30 million ($79.5 million).

Funding has now been formally allocated to a $34 million road project. The Works & Agriculture Ministry is expected to issue tenders in early 1998 for 11 kilometres of dual carriageway along the eastern side of Hamad town, including a flyover and three major intersections.

Airport development. Gibb of the UK and MSCEB are consultants for the BD 5 million ($13.2 million) project to resurface the runway; Netherlands Airport Consultants and MSCEB are preparing tenders for the construction of a new control tower; and MSCEB is also working on tenders for infrastructure to serve new administrative buildings.

Contractors are due to submit bids in December for accommodation, associated facilities and warehousing for a National Guard camp. The client is the Bahrain Defence Force and the work could be worth about $10 million.

Bids are due to be submitted in January to the US Army Corps of Engineers for new buildings, water, power and sewerage systems at the US Navy Administrative Support Unit. The work is valued at about $10 million.

Private sector

Bank headquarters. The UK/local Jalal Costain is already working on the National Bank of Bahrain building, which will be more than twice as tall as any existing building in Manama. Citibank has appointed MSCEB to work on designs for a regional headquarters in the Al-Seef area. Arab Bank is to locate its new headquarters in the diplomatic area. MSCEB has completed preliminary designs and expects to issue tender documents before the end of the year. British Bank of the Middle East is also planning a new headquarters in Al-Seef. Industry sources say MSCEB has been appointed consultant, but the contract has not been officially confirmed.

India's Oberoi group is planning to build a five-star hotel for $35 million.

Nass has started work on the golf course and bids were submitted in late November for the construction of a $4 million clubhouse.

The government strategy of spending its way out of an economic slump is now well under way. It has been made possible by an improved fiscal position and the extra support received from Saudi Arabia and regional development funds. The private sector is more cautious in its spending, but activity is starting to pick up. Many of the projects are at an early stage but contractors are counting on most of them going ahead as planned. If they do, then 1998 looks set to be one of the busiest years of the 1990s.