ISLAMABAD: At the 9th annual Engineering News-Record (ENR)’s Global Best Projects competition, Karakoram Highway Phase-II (Havelian-Thakot), a major connecting project under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), has been awarded Bridge/Tunnel Award for its outstanding design and quality construction.
Among the 30 winning projects, Chinese companies with their qualified engineers and architects executed five projects located in China, Pakistan, Ghana, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Nong Rong, in a Twitter message, said, “CPEC boasts of the best bridges and tunnels in the world. Hard efforts paid off with honor”. Thakot-Havelian, a 118 kilometers connectivity project falls in the early harvest project category. The commercial contract of this mega project was signed on December 22, 2015, between National Highways Authority (NHA) and China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC).
China Communications Construction Company Ltd. has executed the $1315 million worth project. The project includes 105 bridges (including 60 large, 42 medium, and three small bridges) and six tunnels with two on the expressway and four are in the Class-II highway. Besides Bridge/Tunnel award, Chinese engineers have won awards in the categories of Retail/Mixed-Use Development, Road/Highway, and Airport/Port.
The Retail/Mixed-Use Development Award went to Guangzhou Yayue Landscape Engineering Co. Ltd for the Guangzhou Jianhua Center, located in Guangzhou, China. China Road and Bridge Corporation won the Road/Highway Award for executing the Kigali Urban Roads Upgrading Project (54.56-km), located in Kigali, Rwanda.
Similarly, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) received an award for the Rehabilitation of Bububu-Mahonda-Mkokotoni Road and Upgrading of Matemwe-Muyuni Road, Fuoni-Kombeni Road, and Pale-Kiongele Road Zanzibar, located in Unguja Island, Tanzania.
