Hill International selected as project manager for major irrigation program in Al Ain

The five-year contract has an estimated value to Hill of approximately Dhs23.5m ($6.4m).

The signing took place in Al Ain, in the presence of Mr. Awad Khalifa Bin Hasoom Al Darmaky, Al Ain Municipality General Manager, and Mr. Mohamed Al Rais, Senior Vice President with Hill International.

The new irrigation networks will serve the municipality's and the surrounding region's proposed reservoirs until the year 2020. The current pumping and irrigation zones are to be re-grouped in such a way that Al Ain will be divided into eighteen zones, and the region outside the city will have eleven zones.

Each of these zones will be equipped with a reservoir which can store at least a day's supply of water, a pumping station and a central irrigation control system. With the construction of 21 new reservoirs, the Al Ain region will have a total of 30 main reservoirs and pumping stations. The remaining small pumping system and irrigation tanks will be demolished as the project progresses, but the supply of water will continue from alternative sources. Construction is expected to begin in January 2009 and conclude by January 2013.

"This irrigation program is a critical improvement to Al Ain's water infrastructure," said Raouf S. Ghali, President of Hill's Project Management Group (International). "We look forward to helping our client complete this important program," Ghali added.