ABU DHABI, UAE, July 30, 2008 -- Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) has appointed CH2M Hill, a global full-service program management, engineering, construction and operations firm, as the program manager for the US$1.09 billion Abu Dhabi sewerage network, the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program or STEP.
CH2M Hill will oversee the delivery of a 40- kilometer long sewer tunnel leading from the northern part of Abu Dhabi Island to the Mainland. Other elements of STEP include approximately 40km of new link sewers up to 3 meters in diameter and two large new pumping stations each of 30m3/second capacity. The entire program is expected to take six years to complete.
"The program is not only focused on optimized investment delivery, but has been crafted to support the strategic objectives of the business as a whole," says ADSSC Managing Director Alan Thomson. "In CH2M Hill, I am positive that we have found the right partner to deliver this program and to utilize their worldwide expertise to help supplement the efforts of ADSSC to be the best-practice wastewater company in the region."
STEP is needed because population growth is putting increased pressure on the existing system serving Abu Dhabi Island and the adjacent Mainland. The gravity tunnel and the link sewers feeding into the tunnel will enable ADSSC to eventually decommission existing pumping stations, thereby reducing operating and maintenance costs. ADSSC currently treats nearly 450,000 cubic meters of wastewater a day. As the population on the Island and Mainland is expected to double in the next 5-7 years, significant additional capacity will be needed.
"With Abu Dhabi's significant population growth over the past 20 years, STEP will enable ADSSC to prepare for future expansion and continue to protect the environment and improve the quality of life for Abu Dhabi residents, says CH2M Hill's Managing Director Omur Akay. "We're pleased to partner with ADSSC to deliver this innovative sewerage program to support the city's sustainable development plans into the future."
As program manager, CH2M Hill will assist ADSSC in assuring the successful implementation of STEP through all phases, including planning consents, conceptual and preliminary design, administration and supervision of Design and Build construction contracts, stakeholder communication, commissioning and start-up of new facilities.
CH2M Hill has been working in the UAE for more than a decade and currently has over 400 professionals in six offices throughout UAE. Program Manager Bob Marshall successfully completed a seven-year assignment in Singapore and transferred to Abu Dhabi to lead the Strategic Tunnel Enhancement Program.
STEP is the latest in a collection of major sewer tunnel programs managed by CH2M Hill. Recently, the firm was awarded program management for a similar effort in London: The Thames Tideway Tunnel Program, a combined sewer overflow system including a 32-kilometer-long storage tunnel that will be the deepest ever built beneath London. The firm also has completed a comparable project in Singapore, where it provided program management for one of the world's largest wastewater reclamation and sewer tunnel projects, and in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the first large, successful combined sewer overflow deep-tunnel system completed in the U.S.
Abu Dhabi Sewerage Services Company (ADSSC) is one of the eight fully owned subsidiary companies under Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA). Currently, ADSSC is the only licensed entity engaged in sewerage, treatment and disposal of wastewater across the Emirate of Abu Dhabi.
Headquartered in Denver, Colo., employee-owned CH2M Hill is a global leader in engineering, procurement, construction, management and operations for government, civil, industrial and energy clients.
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