Contractors submitted bids in late November for the construction of the central Al-Wasl Plaza at the Dubai Expo 2020 site.

The works involve the construction of two main buildings. The first will be a leadership pavilion that will be used by dignitaries visiting the Expo site, while the other main building will be a media pavilion. It is understood that the buildings will be used as hotels after the Expo event has been held.

Construction work on Al-Wasl Plaza is expected to start in early 2018.

In addition to the construction contract for the main buildings, Cimolai Rimond Middle East General Contracting has been awarded the steel work contract for the dome trellis of the Al-Wasl Plaza.

Steel work produced by the local/Italian joint venture will provide the trellis structure for the 67.5-metre tall, 130-metre wide dome. When finished, the structure will include 13,600 metres of steel work and will weigh 2,265 tonnes, with an enclosed space of 724,000 cubic metres.

Another contract for the construction of a truck tunnel connecting the Al-Wasl Plaza with the Co-Ex Campus is also being tendered.

Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC) has received bids from contractors for the construction of the Co-Ex Campus.

Elsewhere on the Expo site, local developer Emaar Properties has received bids from contractors for the Mobility pavilion construction contract. Emaar is also tendering the contract to build the Sustainability pavilion at the site.

The UK’s Laing O’Rourke is providing pre-construction services for both pavilions. Emaar is the development manager.

Architects won design competitions for the two pavilions in 2016. The UK’s Foster + Partners won the competition for the deal to design the Mobility pavilion, while Grimshaw Architects, also of the UK, submitted the winning entry for the Sustainability pavilion.

In early July, the local Arabtec Construction was awarded the deal to build and operate the UAE pavilion at the Expo 2020 site. Abu Dhabi’s Masdar is the development manager for the scheme.

DWTC and its joint venture partner Emaar awarded Arabtec the AED363m deal for the construction of the Project Star retail centre.

Earlier this year, the local/UK Al-Futtaim Carillion was awarded an AED2.2bn ($599m) contract for the construction of the Thematic Districts at the Expo site.