Nigeria: Imo River Dredging Contract Withdrawn
The House of Representatives Committee on Privatisation and Commercialisation, has recommended the withdrawal of the contract for the dredging of the Imo River from UK-RUSAL. The US$120 million meant for the project, which was the contract sum of the project with an accrued interest of 3 years to the federation account by the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE).
The contract in question was awarded at the cost of US$120 million to UK-RUSAL, a major investor in Aluminum Smelting Company of Nigeria (ALSCON) three years ago, but work is yet to begin at the site.
The committee also queried the rationale behind awarding a contract for the dredging of the Imo River to the Imo River Dredging Company which was set up by RUSAL when the company's strength is in aluminium smelting and not dredging.
The dredging of the channel of the Imo River was meant to create easier access for big vessels to navigate through the river to facilitate delivery of raw materials and removal of commercial products.
Mozambique: Nacala Airport Construction due Begin
The construction of an international airport at Nacala, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula is due to start in April this year, according to a government spokesperson.
The work is budgeted at US$112 million, and will be undertaken by the Brazilian company Odebrescht, in a period of 23 months, transforming the current Nacala military air base into an international airport.
The work involves the construction of passenger and cargo terminals, a new control tower, and repaving the runway, bringing the airport up to the standards demanded by international civil aviation.The runway will be 3,400 metres long and will be able to take large aircraft such as Boeings 757 and 767. The airport will be able to handle between 500,000 and 600,000 passengers a year
Ghana: Main One Submarine Cable Project near Completion
The Main One Cable Company has announced the commencement of the final laying of its high capacity fibre optic cable from Seixal, Portugal, through the coast of West Africa to Ghana, and Nigeria. 
The cable, which goes live in June 2010, is bringing the much-expected international capacity into a region whose explosive growth in technology growth has been hindered by lack of access facility.
Main One, in November 2009, successfully completed the installation of the shore ends of the cable in Lagos, Nigeria, Accra, Ghana, and Seixal, Portugal. This is the final stage of the project which began in Portugal. The trunk cable is 7, 000 kilometres and has taken 18 months to complete.
In addition to the submarine operations, Main One is building two landing stations in Accra and Lagos which will be complete next month. Equipment installation and end-to-end testing of the cable system will then follow, prior to service launch in June.
Main One will provide open access to 1.92 Terabits per second of capacity to the West African region at prices less than 50 percent of current wholesale capacity prices.
Ethiopia: Tigray, Southern Towns Get First Roads
The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) is awarding two road construction projects, worth US$100 million, to two local contractors. The first, a 76km segment from Dedebit to Adi Remets in Tigray, was awarded to Sur Construction which offered US$60 million to the one billion Br offered by Yenkomad, the only other contender for the project
This project is the third segment, two of which are already under construction. The 71km segment from Shire (Enda Selassie) to Dedebit Road is being constructed by Satcon Construction at a cost of US$40 million.
The other segment, a 98km road from Adi Remets to Dejena Densha is being handled by the Chinese Hunan Hunda Company at a cost of US$70 million.
A second project, which drew five local bidders, is the 60km road from Arba Minch to Belta in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples Regional State (SNNPR). The winning tender was offered by Brehane Hagos at US$40 million, while Sunshine Construction offered the largest at US$68 million.
These roads are part of the 2,046km of roads the authority intends to construct this fiscal year, with a total approved budget of US$840 million, way down from the US$1.1 billion it had proposed to the government.
ERA's plan for the fiscal year involves 25 projects in areas which previously were not served by roads, including the above projects in the Tigray Regional State and SNNPR State, which will be asphalt roads.
Tanzania: MCA-Tanzania to fund Tanga-Horohoro Road Project
A plan to upgrade a 65km Tanga-Horohoro road has been funded by Millennium Challenge Account (MCA Tanzania).
The road will be covered with bitumen. The work on the Tanga - Horohoro road is the first of six different road segments that will be rehabilitated and upgraded under the Mainland Trunk Roads project, which is part of the US$700 million MCC Compact.
According to the press release by the US Embassy, representatives from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), regional and local officials and representatives from the Tanzania Roads Authority (Tanroads) visited the site.
Last December, Sinohydro won the tender for construction works contract after an open international competition. The total value of the contract award was nearly US$ 53.8 million. The work will be conducted under the overall supervision of MCA-Tanzania and Tanroads, assisted by personnel from the International Consultants and Technocrats Pvt (ICT).
ICT was awarded its construction supervision contract by MCA-Tanzania in September 2009. Other roads being financed under the Compact includes Tunduma to Laela; Laela to Sumbawanga; Peramiho Junction to Mbinga; and Songea
Construction contracts for all these roads are in place and the procurement process for the remaining work contracts is now well underway.
San Fransisco: US$171 Million Loan for Transbay Transit Center Project
The Transbay Joint Powers Authority's US$ 4 billion Transbay Transit Center Project in San Francisco has received a US$ 171 million loan under the country's Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA).
The loan will fund about 14 percent of the project's US$ 1.2 billion Phase I capital costs. The new Transbay Transit Center Project is funded through local, state, and federal funding sources.
The US$ 171 million TIFIA loan paves the way for the next stage of funding for the train box, according to a statement by the Transbay Joint Powers Authority (TJPA). The TJPA has applied for US$ 400 million in federal economic stimulus funds to construct the below grade train levels of the Transit Center as a part of the first phase of construction, saving the project US$ 100 million.
The Transbay Transit Center Project will replace the current Transbay Terminal with a new, multi-modal transportation centre and centralize the San Francisco metropolitan area's transportation network by accommodating nine transportation systems under one roof.
The three components of the project - replacing the outdated Transbay Terminal, extending the Caltrain rail line 1.3 miles into the city's Financial District and redeveloping the area surrounding the Transbay Transit Center with 2600 new homes, parks and new retail outlets - is designed to stimulate use of the city's mass transit system, thereby reducing congestion and pollution
USA: Saitowitz completes Tampa Museum of Art
The Tampa Museum of Art opened its doors in February to a new 60,000 sq ft museum designed by the San Francisco architect Stanley Saitowitz. It was a happy occasion for the 31-year old arts institution, which spent ten long years trying to get a museum built before settling on a location, an architect and a budget it could live with. 
While these struggles could have easily led to a less than spectacular result, what the museum got instead was a clever, modern building worthy of its contents. “A jewel box”, said Stanley Saitowitz.
The big idea behind Saitowitz’s design was to make the museum itself a frame for art. Wrapped with 3,000 panels of perforated aluminum embedded with programmable LED lights, the building’s façade shimmers in the light of the day and at night it becomes a canvas for a public art installation by digital light artist Leo Villareal (NY). Inside, a floating staircase leads to the second floor galleries.
These galleries provide the museum with dramatically expanded exhibition space, allowing it to display more of its permanent collection and to attract larger, more prominent exhibitions
ASSOCIATION NEWS
Concrete Manufacturers Association
The Concrete Manufacturers Association’s (CMA) Awards for Excellence competition entry forms are now available on the CMA website www.cma.org.za.
The entry forms give precise guidance and the rules for entering the competition and can be either downloaded or printed off the website.
CMA director, John Cairns, says that as the judging of this prestigious event is based on photographic images, good quality prints should be submitted with the completed entry forms, portraying the competition projects to their best advantage.
“Details on print size, format and mounting, and tips on how to achieve good images can be found in the entry form. Budgets allowing, it is recommended that entrants use professional photographers for their images as entries submitted with poor quality images stand very little chance of winning an award. Moreover, the project descriptions which accompany the photography should be clear and concise. This will also enhance the chances of winning an award,” say Cairns.
The competition deadline is May 31st, and once all entries have been received, they will be published in a special awards entry book in which a photograph of the project and all the submitted members of the professional team will be listed.
Cairns say the competition is not confined to CMA members and there is no limit to the number of projects which can be entered. These can be submitted by individuals, partnerships or companies.
New Products
The Titan Boom 46-ft (14 m)
The Titan Boom 40-S combines the capacity of a telehandler, deck of a scissor lift and reach and rotation of a boom, the company says.
The unit features a 4,000-pound capacity, 22-foot, 90-inch deck and working height of 46 feet.
The Titan can hold up to four workers plus tools and is designed to have sliding guardrails that allow for loads to be placed in loading zones on the platform deck. Once the guardrails are closed, the boom can then be raised.
The unit features three steering modes - two wheel, four wheel and crab steer, and has an automatic platform leveling system, smooth proportional controls and its platform can rotate 180 degrees. It has a 3,000-pound material load with up to four workers and tools to make for a total combined load of 4,000 pounds.
Powered by Kubota turbo diesel engine, the Titan Boom 40-S has 12 lanyard attachments and on-board diagnostics.
Website: www.mecAWP.comEvents
Event: ITWeb Security Summit
Date: May 11-13, 2010
Venue: Sandton Convention Centre
Description: Examine the latest developments in information security and get first hand facts from leading experts from around the world. This high profile, three-day conference and business exhibition will bring together business executives, directors, local and international IT and security professionals, practitioners, experts and analysts. The industry will share their experiences as well as the latest tools and techniques available for safeguarding information.
Contact info: 011 807 3294
Website: http://ww2.itweb.co.za/events/securitysummit/2010/
