A map showing the key positions along the Doha Link Project from the Entertainment City Interchange to Shuwaikh Port in Kuwait.

GS Engineering and Construction Co. (GS E&C) clinched the Doha Link Project in Kuwait in 2014, involving the construction of a bridge over sea and land, the first infrastructure project that the company won in Kuwait and the second in the Middle East.

The $585 million contract was completed in four years as agreed, despite enormous difficulties along the way.

The Doha Link Project in Kuwait and the Doha Metro Project in Qatar showed that GS Engineering is successfully increasing its presence in the Middle Eastern infrastructure construction market.

The Doha Link bridge, which connects Shuwaikh to the port village of Doha in the Jahra region of Kuwait, is about 16 km long, and contains three traffic lanes and an emergency lane in each direction. It is connected with the 37.5 km-long Subiya Causeway, crossing Kuwait Bay, linking Kuwait City with the Subiya promontory and Bubiyan Island, where various major projects are proposed.

GS E&C officials recalled that the toughest problems they had included the short construction period for the project and the low depth of the Shlaibikaht Bay to bring the equipment, in particular, for reclamation of the area to build the foundations for the bridge with so many ships coming in and out of the bay and the area designation as the environmental protection.

 The construction company therefore, built a temporary bridge over the bay to overcome the problems and was able to complete the project in time, taking care of such tough hurdles as bad weather, securing licenses, and difficulty getting supplies on time, among others.

The problems they had in the early stages of the project include local laws on the construction and expansion of interchanges (IC) as the design for the project had to be satisfactory to the local laws and the soft earth foundation. The company had to change the designs through Project Management Consultant and the project owner as often as they needed.

GS E&C won a construction deal in Yangon, the biggest city and former capital of Myanmar, the firm said recently.

The project involves building the Korea-Myanmar Friendship Bridge, which is financed by the Economic Development Cooperation Fund. The fund was set up to promote economic cooperation between South Korea and developing countries.

According to GS E&C, it received a letter of acceptance from Myanmar’s Construction Ministry last week for the project worth 174 billion won ($154.8 million). A 4.3-kilometer-long bridge will be built to connect the central business district in Yangon with the Dala area, the company said. Construction will begin in the first half of next year and is to be completed by 2022.

After the bridge is completed, it will take around 30 minutes for residents of the Dala area to reach the CBD area, compared to the current two hours.

A bird’s eye-view of the Korea-Myanmar Friendship Bridge in Yangon, Myanmar, to be built by GS E&C. (Photos: GS E&C)