Solid start for Bahrain World Trade Centre

Joint venture firm Nass-Murray & Roberts who have been appointed as the contractors for the BWTC undertook the Kingdom's construction milestone.

The BWTC, a 50-storey, twin tower commercial office development is currently under construction adjacent to the Sheraton Hotel in Manama and is due for completion in the summer of 2006.

The record, which was set in conjunction with Delmon Readymix Concrete, saw 4,000 m3 of concrete poured in one single operation within 20 hours, a record event for construction in Bahrain. This improved on a similar pour which was made into the West Tower 12 days prior which took 24 hours.

To complete the record pour Delmon Readymix had to handle 1,600 tons of cement, 7,400 tons of stone/sand and 16,000 litres of admixture. The volume of water required for mixing the concrete was equal to two years consumption for a large private villa. Prior to the concreting Nass-Murray & Roberts had to place 730 tons of steel reinforcement to this foundation.

Mr Samir A Nass, Managing Director of Nass Group on achieving this amazing record said: "Nass- Murray & Roberts is a top construction team which is currently handling some of the most ambitious construction projects in Bahrain. The team worked really hard to undertake create this record setting a difficult standard to improve on for our company. However, we will, of course, endeavour to better that time at the next opportunity."

Work is progressing on schedule for the BWTC to be completed by the deadlines set and over the next two weeks the two climbing tower cranes will be erected, followed by the main tower crane which will be erected 80 meters high on the first lift. The control cabin of this crane will be higher than the current office tower - the Bahrain Commercial Complex.

The vertical formwork for the West Tower is already assembled and anyone driving past the site on King Faisal Highway will soon notice the structure rising from behind the advertisement boards.

In Bahrain the World Trade Centre will dominate the Manama skyline and is a much-anticipated, prestigious business address. As well as the new twin tower commercial office building of over 50 storeys, the development will house an extended retail centre doubling the amount of stores in the existing Bahrain Commercial Complex mall as well as adding some top quality restaurants. The adjacent Sheraton Hotel will also undergo major renovations and will become an integral part of the new complex.

The BWTC will be part of the Word Trade Centre Association established in 1970, which boasts 284 members associations in 77 countries, all involved in the development or operation of World Trade Centres servicing more than 750,000 international trading corporations.