Canada's SNC Lavalinhas started work on the first phase of an emergency water project in the eastern coastal city of Skikda. The client is national dams agency Agence National des Barrages.

SNC Lavalin will complete the $62 million contract in two stages. The first phase involves the design and construction of a system to collect brackish water from 10 industrial wells and the building of a 14,000-cubic-metre-a-day (cm/d) reverse osmosis treatment plant, buffer tank and uptake station.

During the second phase, the Canadian company will build a floating pumping station with capacity of 50,000-cm/d, a 120-metre transmission line, an uptake station and a gravity duct, which will enable the water to be lifted to a new 500-cubic-metre storage tank. The project is due for completion during the second quarter of 2003.

This is the second time that the Canadian firm has been selected to carry out an urgent project in Algeria's water sector. Last year, the company won a $91 million contract to build a water supply transfer system, diverting much-needed drinking water to Algiers (MEED 17:5:02).