international
construction
Türkiye
Ekim
2013
14
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
ICT
T
he World Bank has reached a settlement agreement
with engineering contractor Sinclair Knight Merz
(SKM) after the company self-reported corrupt
misconduct relating to Bank-financed projects in the East
Asia and Pacific region.
SKM and its parent companies and subsidiaries have
been sanctioned with conditional non-debarment for two
and a half years. This means that, as long as the companies
fulfil certain conditions such as the implementation of a
more robust integrity compliance programme and further
co-operation with the World Bank, they will remain
eligible to bid for Bank-financed projects.
“In the event that SKM fails to fulfil any of its obligations,
the company will be immediately debarred,” the World Bank
said, adding that the nature of the sanction reflected SKM’s
voluntary acknowledgment of corrupt misconduct.
SKM also dismissed key individuals including senior
managers connected with the illegitimate payments. The
company initiated an internal appropriate-business-practices
policy, and took steps to improve its governance and
compliance procedures.
Leonard McCarthy, World Bank vice president of
integrity, said, “The World Bank took into account SKM’s
co-operation and willingness to provide evidence in support of
further investigations.”
As a result of the co-operation received from SKM, the
World Bank said it was able to take steps to safeguard its funds
and also identify other potential targets for investigation.
T
echnip has won a contract from Shell to
lay the world’s deepest gas pipeline in the
US Gulf of Mexico. The pipeline is part
of the sub-sea infrastructure for the Stones field
in the Walker Ridge area of the Gulf, where the
water is some 2,900 m deep.
Technip will be in charge of installation
of the subsea gas production system and
gas pipeline, including associated project
management, engineering and stalk fabrication.
The scheme will be overseen from Technip’s
operating centre in Houston, Texas, USA, with
fabrication taking place it its facility in Mobile,
Alabama. The offshore installation is expected to
be performed in the second half of 2014 by the
Deep Blue, Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel.
David Dickson, Technip’s senior vice
president for the North America region, said,
“With greater depths come greater challenges
for our clients and we are delighted to help
Shell push back subsea frontiers by laying
the deepest gas pipeline worldwide. With the
award of this high-profile project, Technip
confirms its subsea leadership and keeps
differentiating itself through innovation to
remain at the forefront of frontier projects.”
C
urrency fluctuations
were the dominant
factor in driving relative
construction costs over the
last 12 months, according
to the findings of a study of
building costs in 47 countries by
consultant EC Harris. It found
that the ten most expensive
countries to build in are Hong
Kong, Switzerland, Denmark,
Sweden, Macau, Australia, Japan,
France, Singapore and Belgium.
In Hong Kong, the most
expensive of all, construction
costs are 1.42 to 1.68 times
what they are in the UK – the
benchmark that EC Harris uses.
The cheapest countries are
India, Indonesia, Vietnam,
Morocco and Malaysia. In India,
the cheapest of all, costs are just
0.29 t0 0.34 what they are in the
UK. EC Harris said the fall of the
Japanese Yen and Australian Dollar
along with the appreciation of the
Chinese Yuan has had a significant
impact on costs.
Simon Rawlinson, head of
strategic research and insight
at EC Harris, said, “The
appreciation of the Chinese
Yuan not only makes Chinese
imported materials to other
countries more expensive, but
has also contributed to China
moving nearly half way up the
global (cost) rankings.”
On the other hand, the
consultant said the fall in
demand commodities in many
emerging markets had seen
other costs drop, particularly
those for metallic building
materials. Mr Rawlinson added,
“With new sources of supply
coming on stream, investment
houses moving away from
the commodity markets and
a substantial reduction in the
growth rates of the BRICS it is
not surprising that prices have
fallen in the short term.”
The Arriyadh Development
Authority has awarded three
contracts totalling US$22.5
billion for the construction
of a 176 km, six-line metro
network in the Saudi
Arabian capital, Riyadh. At
US$9.5 billion, the largest
contract was awarded to
the BACS consortium led
by US contractor Bechtel
to design and build lines
one and two, covering 63.3
km. The consortium partners also include Almabani General Contractors, Consolidated Contractors
Company and Siemens.
Meanwhile, Spain’s FCC leads the FAST consortium which was awarded a US$7.8 billion contract
to deliver lines four, five and six – covering 72.5 km. The consortium includes Samsung, Alstom,
Strukton, Freyssinet Saudi Arabia, Typsa and Setec. A further US$5.2 billion contract was awarded
to the Arriyadh New Mobility consortium, which consists of Salini Impregilo, Ansaldo, Bombardier,
Larsen & Toubro and Nesma. These companies will build the longest line of the new underground
network, the 40.7 km line three.
The network will feature 85 stations, and operate with driverless electric trains. Construction is
scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2014. Ibrahim Bin Muhammad Al Sultan, ADA president and
Member of the High Commission for the Development of Arriyadh said the metro system was the biggest
infrastructure project that Saudi Arabia had ever undertaken.
Corruption
settlement
Record
pipeline
Currency
changes hit
construction
costs
