Business & Finance Club - Abu Dhabi : Abu Dhabi Ports Company (ADPC) has announced the award of a $280m contract for its flagship Khalifa Port & Industrial Zone (KPIZ) project, to a joint venture between ED Zublin AG and Al Jaber Transport & General Contracting.

The agreement is for the detailed design, construction, fit-out, testing and commissioning of the offshore port’s civil and structural building works, ADPC said in a statement. Work is due to begin immediately and is scheduled for completion in August 2012, it added.

The project will include the construction of 23 buildings and associated structures, including the Terminal Operations Building, a six-storey construction which will become the port’s centre of operations.

Other significant buildings include an offshore clinic, fire station; harbour master building, worker services building, four 11kV substations and maintenance and repair workshops.

More than 1000m of quay wall and associated marine fenders and bollards will be constructed, along with a 5.4km-long dual carriageway linking the offshore port to the mainland with associated service roads, street lighting and two helipads.

The contract also includes the provision of site-wide utilities including electrical, drainage, sewerage, potable water, and telecoms.

According to ADPC, Phase 1 of Khalifa Port will open in 2012, replacing Abu Dhabi’s existing main port of Mina Zayed. The new port will have an initial capacity of 2 million TEUs (Twenty Foot Equivalent Units), of containers and 9 million tonnes of general cargo.

KPIZ will commence operations in 2012 and over the long term to 2030 will cover 420 square kilometres. When all phases are completed, it will have a capacity of 15 million TEUs of containers and 35 million tonnes of general cargo.