Feb 4 2010
Dessau, one of the largest engineering-construction firms in Canada, today announced that it obtained a contract of $38.8 million in Algeria's rail sector. The firm will conduct the preliminary and final design for the design and construction of a new 170 km electrified double track between the cities of Bordj Bou Arréridj and Thénia in Algeria's northeast. This contract is part of a project totalling $2.3 billion tabled by the National Agency of Studies and of Follow-up of the Realization of the Railway Investment (ANESRIF).
"This mandate strengthens our presence in Algeria, where we have already successfully completed major engineering-construction projects," stated Jean-Pierre Sauriol, president and chief executive officer of Dessau. "We are honoured that our solid expertise in the rail sector as well as our approach to services are internationally recognized in this way."
The consortium comprising China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and Turkish partner Ozgun Construction was awarded the mandate and chose Dessau to conduct the studies into the operation of a mixed service (passenger and freight), with trains reaching speeds of up to 160 km/h. "Our project team, based in Algiers, will primarily be mandated to define and design a modern track in order to reduce the time it takes to travel between Algiers and Constantine," emphasized Jean-Stéphane Bédard, vice-president of Dessau's Transportation Division. "Dessau, which will benefit from the talent of about 50 Canadian and Algerian engineers, demonstrates its tremendous ability to adapt and its international positioning by participating in this project, led by the Chinese in partnership with the Turks, in Maghreb."
Furthermore, Dessau will be responsible for designing engineering works (bridges, viaducts, underpasses and overpasses), drainage structures, reconstruction of roads and railways, signalling and telecommunications facilities, and infrastructure and equipment for electrifying the track, and defining the features of tunnels and their equipment.
Source: http://www.dessau.com/eng/main/main.cfm