Oman confirms October start for $408m Muscat Expressway expansion

Oman’s Ministry of Transport has confirmed that construction of the Muscat Expressway expansion is expected to begin in October or November, moving the major highway programme from award into mobilisation.

The contractor has received the notice to proceed, according to Transport Minister Said bin Hamoud Al Maawali. Authorities are also preparing a traffic-management plan to deal with disruption during construction.

The underlying contract is worth OMR157.2m (about $408m) and covers expansion of the expressway between the Qurum Natural Park and Halban interchanges. The award was completed earlier this year.

This therefore should not be presented as a new award. The news is that a firm construction start has now been identified and the contractor has received its commencement notice.

For suppliers and subcontractors, mobilisation makes the project more immediately relevant for road materials, structures, drainage, traffic management, lighting, utilities and specialist civil works.

Sources: Ministry of Transport, Communications and Information Technology, Projects Tenders & Local Content Authority, The Arabian Stories.