Per reporter: Wei Guanhong Per editor: Yang Xia
Spending $229 billion, building the new city of Lussell, adding 7 stadiums, air-conditioning in open spaces, and setting new World Cup prizes... For Qatar, the host country of this World Cup, many people have the impression that it is rich.
Behind the investment in the trenches, Qatar in the Middle East has a harsh natural environment - located in a tropical desert, drought and little rainfall, extremely scarce fresh water resources, and completely dependent on desalination. It is precisely because of the scarcity of underground water sources that it is not a curiosity that gasoline is cheaper than water.
On May 17, in Doha, the capital of Qatar, roads were shrouded in sand and dust. Image source: Xinhua News Agency
In order to solve the water supply problem, in 2015, the construction of the Qatar water supply project officially began, which will meet the water consumption of Qatar for 7 days and supply water for the 2022 World Cup. The water supply project was divided into five lots, and China Energy Construction Gezhouba Group (hereinafter referred to as Gezhouba Group), as the only Chinese enterprise involved, undertook the construction of the E lot.
"As the core subsidiary of the world's top 500 China Energy Construction company, Gezhouba Group has rich experience in international large-scale engineering construction, and also attaches great importance to the development of the Middle East market, and has set up professional market development institutions such as Qatar branch, Dubai branch and Saudi branch, and has a clear understanding of the market specifications and technical standards in the Middle East." On November 22, Wang Shaohua, project manager of the Qatar water supply project E standard of China Energy Construction Gezhouba Group, told the "Daily Economic News" reporter.
In fact, in addition to water supply projects, in terms of transportation, power security, and venue construction, Chinese companies have also shown the speed and power of China's infrastructure.
Chinese enterprises participated in the construction of Qatar's water supply project
The 22nd FIFA World Cup is in full swing, putting Qatar in the global spotlight. And beyond the fierce competition and big investment, what kind of country is Qatar?
On November 20, the emblem of the Qatar 2022 World Cup appeared at the opening ceremony. Image source: Xinhua News Agency
Qatar is located on the Qatar Peninsula on the southwest coast of the Persian Gulf, with a length of 160 kilometers from north to south, a width of 55 kilometers ~ 58 kilometers from east to west, and a land area of 11,520 square kilometers. Qatar has a typical tropical desert climate, with an average annual precipitation of only 75.2 mm.
According to National Geographic, not only is there a lack of natural surface water, but groundwater resources are also very scarce. The lack of fresh water resources is extremely detrimental to Qatar's industrial and agricultural development, and almost all of the country's water needs come from desalination.
As an important strategic livelihood project in Qatar, in 2015, Qatar's water supply project officially began construction, including seawater desalination, storage, transportation and other system projects. The water supply project is divided into five lots, and Gezhouba Group is the only Chinese enterprise involved in the construction of Lot E.
According to the information provided by Gezhouba Group to the "Daily Economic News" reporter, the construction tasks include two pools, a pressurized pumping station and bypass pipeline projects. Each pool floor is 305 meters long and 150 meters wide, equivalent to the size of seven football fields, and has a capacity of 500,000 cubic meters, making it the world's largest single cistern certified by Guinness World Records. On May 12, 2015, the groundbreaking ceremony of the Qatar Water Supply Project was held; On July 10, 2019, the Qatar Water Supply E Standard Project successfully realized the integration of water into the Qatar pipe network; On February 20, 2020, the No. 1 pool was put into operation; On July 27, 2020, the No. 2 pool was put into operation as a whole; On October 18, 2021, the transfer certificate of the two reservoirs was officially obtained.
Panorama of Qatar's water supply project. Image source: Courtesy of the interviewed company
China plans to build the world's largest single pool
Located in the Middle East, Qatar is characterized by high temperature, dryness, strong wind and sand, and strong sunshine. In such a natural environment, it is difficult for many traditional construction techniques to achieve results, and for Gezhouba Group, it is an all-round test for the company's large-scale pool construction technology.
At the same time, the Middle East construction market has always been known for its high standards and strict requirements, how did Gezhouba Group successfully win the bid?
"In addition to the market development agency with sufficient strength, the company has rich experience in large-scale pool construction in the Middle East, and participated in the construction of the Kuwait Subiya Water Distribution Project in Kuwait, which is currently the largest and most advanced water supply project in Kuwait. The accumulation of experience in the implementation of similar projects provides the company with certain advantages when bidding for strategic pool projects in Qatar. Wang Shaohua shared with the "Daily Economic News" reporter.
In fact, the current international research on the construction of large pool floor is not mature, in order to solve this problem, Gezhouba Group quickly set up a pool construction research team, according to the international technical terms and current specifications to optimize the size of the block, with the support of the internationally renowned consulting company AECOM (AECOM), finally passed the acceptance of Qatar National Water and Power Corporation, for the world's large-scale pool floor construction accumulation of valuable experience.
Pool floor construction. Image source: Courtesy of the interviewed company
In terms of walls, in order to optimize the design of the mixing ratio of ultra-high thin-walled concrete (concrete), the company organized a technical research team, adhered to the construction site, and carried out 6 simulation tests before and after, overcoming the adverse climate effects such as high temperature and drying in the desert by optimizing the mixing ratio of concrete, and improving the workability and surface finish of concrete (concrete).
"Qatar strategic water supply project has a total of five tenders, started at the same time, but E bid with a delay of nearly two months in the handover of the site, through technological innovation, the first to complete the project milestone target in the five tenders, three months ahead of schedule, the use of card slot town pier construction technology has been highly promoted and praised by Qatar Hydropower Corporation. In the construction of the project pool, we overcame the problem of concrete construction in the tropical desert area and the problem of large pool floor slab, which not only effectively accelerated the pace of construction, in the subsequent test stage of the project, the pool and pipeline basically ensured that the dripping water did not leak, the engineering quality was the best in the five tenders, and Chinese technology made a name for itself in the Qatari market. Chen Wangwen from China Energy Construction Gezhouba Group's Qatar Water Supply Project E Standard Project introduced.
China's infrastructure did not miss the World Cup
On the evening of November 20, the 2022 World Cup officially opened, and according to media reports, the host country Qatar lavishly threw $229 billion for it. Some netizens ridiculed that "this World Cup is the most expensive in history", "Qatar's 'trench' is inhumane"...
Although the Chinese football team failed to participate in this World Cup, the Chinese elements were shining. In addition to the water supply project in which Gezhouba Group participates, the Lusail Stadium, the World Cup final venue contracted by China Railway Construction to witness the final ownership of the Hercules Cup, the Qatar Alcazar 800 MW photovoltaic power station contracted by PowerChina EPC, more than 1,000 new energy buses manufactured by Golden Dragon Automobile, Yutong Bus and other enterprises, the LED scoring screen created by Zhouming Technology for the Qatar World Cup final venue, and the largest LED studio screen in Qatar created by Lianjian Optoelectronics for Arabi TV... In this World Cup, China's infrastructure construction has not been absent, and even created the best result of "built in China" in the history of the World Cup.
In December last year, 741 Yutong pure electric buses were sent to Qatar and delivered to the Qatar National Transport Company. Image source: Xinhua News Agency
"The Qatar Water Supply E Standard Project was put into operation on July 10, 2019, that is, since this time to achieve external water supply, it has been running smoothly for more than three years, effectively ensuring the water security and stability of Doha, the capital of Qatar, and the industrial town of um Saeed. The project involves multiple subsystems such as medium and low pressure pump sets, automatic control, chlorination, air conditioning, and cold water, which are extremely complex and the degree of automation is also very high. During the World Cup, the project owner, Qatar Hydropower Corporation, has arranged an operation team and maintenance personnel to be on duty around the clock to ensure the stability of water use during the World Cup. Chen Wangwen said.
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