Nass Contracting was the flagship company of the Nass Corporation, and has been part of the fabric of the construction sector of Bahrain for more than 40 years.

David Anthony calls it a civil engineering company, with a vast array of project areas, including industrial structures, infrastructure, towers, jetties and quay walls – including that of the Khalifa Port – drainage pipelines, land reclamation and offshore works such as piling, and jetty constructions and dredging, among other areas.

The company has a long history of participating in joint ventures and as consortium partners with major international contracting companies to undertake turnkey projects.

It has also completed a number of projects for government ministries. For Bahrain projects, Anthony says it is Nass that is often approached for joint ventures; for projects abroad, and it is Nass that needs to prove itself as the international partner.

Work on the Durrat Al Bahrain would only have bolstered the company’s standing for delivery. Both the bridges and the land reclamation on the Durrat Marina were completed ahead of schedule with its respective joint ventures. More than 5 million m³ of material was reclaimed in 24 months for the latter task.

“The Durrat project was split up into several packages, though maybe together you could say it was the biggest project we have worked on, though it is difficult to judge,” he says.

The company has a modest presence abroad. “We have a presence in Qatar and Saudi. We have also done work in Kuwait,” he says. He points out there are 40 companies in the Nass Group, including business lines in heavy machinery and scaffolding.

The project fully launched construction in 2004, following a dredging contract awarded by client Durrat Khaleej Al Bahrain to a JV between Nass Contracting and US firm Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company.

Nass Contracting has played a significant part in the project so far, and also worked with Great Lakes for additional reclamation on the golf course and marina reclamation in 2007. Dredging began on 1 November 2004 and was completed 31 July 2007, according to David Anthony, general manager of Nass Contracting. “Great Lakes was chosen [as a JV partner] because of its skill; the company did the dredging and Nass did the rockwork, the civil aspect,” he says.

Anthony explains that the dredged sand would not have been able to maintain the angle needed up to the dry land. Thus Nass Contracting placed an underlying bed of rocks on top of the sand, with the geotextile positioned on top. Then there was a layer of smaller rocks, followed by larger rocks.

The company formed a JV with South Africa’s Murray & Roberts to construct the bridges and, with Kuwait’s Burhan International Construction Company for the project’s infrastructure. It continued a strong relationship between the Bahrain firm and Murray & Roberts; the two companies worked together on the Khalifa Port, among other projects.

The JV was able to utilise Murray & Roberts’ expertise in bridge building gleaned from South Africa, says Anthony of the 50-50 deal, though the majority of the workers on-site were from Nass Contracting.

The infrastructure was contracted in five parts: Phase 1, which saw work on the first petal and two atolls; phase 2, which covered petals 2 to 3 and atolls 3 to 4; two sections of mainland infrastructure; and a final third phase.

David Anthony says the bridges were able to be completed between 14 September 2005 and 13 June 2008 – 14 months earlier than planned. He said the speedy work was helped by using the temporary causeways as a base to install the piles, and then constructing the bridge on top of the piles.

Source: ConstructionWeek Issue 352