The US’ Hill International has been awarded a $4.4m, six-year contract, to provide project management and technical assistance to Egypt’s National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) for the construction of the third phase of Cairo Metro’s Line 3.

The contract was awarded by the European Investment Bank.

The $1.1bn main contract for phase 3 of Line 3, which Hill International will project manage, was awarded last year to a joint venture of France’s Vinci Construction Grand Projets and Bouygues Travaux Publics and their local partners Orascom Construction and Arab Contractors.

Phase three of the third metro line will extend from Attaba to Kitkat, via Rod el-Farag and on to Cairo University. It will be built in three parts, with the entire phase to be completed by 2018. The total length of the line will be 17.7km and will include 15 stations.

The electromechanical and systems contract for the project has been awarded to a consortium, led by Orascom Construction and including France’s Alstom, the UK’s Colas Rail and the local Arab Contractors. The signalling and telecoms system and infrastructure is being provided by Alstom. The total value of the signalling and telecoms deals is $204m.

Line 3, which has four phases, connects Attaba in east-central Cairo with Abbasia and Heliopolis to the northeast.

In July, South Korea’s Hyundai Rotem won  the $377.5m contract for the supply of 256 metro cars for Cairo Metro Line 3.

The contract includes an eight-year maintenance contract, with delivery of the trains expected to commence in early 2018.

The contract is to be financed by the Korean government through an agreement with the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF) and with export financing to be provided by the Ministry of Strategy and Finance and Export-Import Bank of Korea.