{"data":{"news":{"items":[{"title":"Clean energy compressors help build Suki Kinari dam in Pakistan","date":"2022-08-03 05:59:00","id":3965,"author":"","blurb":"","blurb_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2022/08/1659485068502_atlas-copco-equipment.jpg","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"\n\t\n\n\n

More than 60 years in the planning, the US$1.9 billion Suki Kinari Hydropower project on the Kunhar River is the centrepiece of an ambitious plan to boost renewable power generation in electricity-starved Pakistan. It is located in the northwestern region of the country, along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border and close to the Chinese border.

\n\n

When completed, the dam will be 55 m high and 336 m wide – holding back a 3 km long reservoir containing a gigantic 9 mil cu m of water. It is expected to deliver 3 GW of renewable power to Pakistan’s electrical capacity.

\n\n

As the damn nears completion late this year or early in 2023, this hydropower plant will help power Pakistan’s industrial development and economic recovery, giving a much-needed socio-economic boost to the local people.

\n\n

Main contractor on the project, China Geshoubha Group Company (CGGC), is using Atlas Copco electric compressors – known as E-Air – in its work boring the almost 20 km of tunnels and shafts the project requires.

\n\n

The 45 electric units make the excavations more user-friendly since they do not emit noxious gases and are extremely quiet during operation. As such, these mobile units can be used safely underground, right at the location of use, ensuring the works proceed efficiently.

\n\n

“We are very satisfied with the portable range of electric compressors from Atlas Copco,” said Mr. Maa from the Equipment & Material Department of CGGC. “We have been successfully using products from Atlas Copco several years, and in its new electric range we have discovered interesting advantages to improve our ways of working. The E-air range offers us more freedom on difficult terrains, higher reliability – all delivered with a low operating cost.”

\n\n

Besides the electric compressors, a range of units powered by traditional energy from Atlas Copco are also at work, used in applications such as breaking, drilling and tunnelling at the site. Because the terrain is difficult, with many locations difficult to reach, the go-anywhere ability of smaller portable compressors is a perfect match for this assignment.

\n\n\n","article_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2022/08/1659485073042_atlas-copco-equipment.jpg","article_expanded_image_uid":null,"article_image_caption":"Atlas Copco E-Air XAMS 850E.","publications":"7","tags":"Pakistan,industrial,dam,hydropower,Atlas Copco","category":"Case Studies"},{"title":"Pakistan’s major infrastructure project completed","date":"2021-01-08 05:54:09","id":2611,"author":"","blurb":"","blurb_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2021/01/1610092681706_Powerchina-Pakistan3.jpg","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"\n\t\n\n\n

The Sukkur-Multan section of the Peshawar-Karachi Motorway (PKM) in Pakistan has opened to traffic on 16 December 2020. It is reportedly the largest project undertaken so far within the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

\n\n

Work on the Sukkur-Multan section started in August 2016, with a construction period of 36 months. It has a total length of 392 km, a design speed of 120 km per hour, a road width of 31.5 m and six lanes in a two-way direction.

\n\n

Sinohydro Bureau 7 Co, a subsidiary of Powerchina, was one of the main contractors on the project. The company carried out the construction of 117.8 km length, as well as 26 bridges, 177 passages, 320 culverts, five interchanges, two service areas, two rest areas, 10 toll stations and the installation of a green traffic and smart transportation system.

\n\n

“The project department provided nearly 20,000 jobs during the construction period in Pakistan and dispatched more than 200 survey workers, more than 100 formwork workers, and more than 300 management personnel to the local area,” said Powerchina.

\n\n

“The PKM project aims to open up the north-south traffic arteries in central Pakistan, improve local transport conditions, and create a good traffic environment for the social and economic development of various areas along the route. It will also inject new vitality into the sustainable development of China and Pakistan under the Belt and Road Initiative.”

\n\n

Images: Powerchina

\n\n\n","article_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2021/01/1610092743914_Powerchina-Pakistan3.jpg","article_expanded_image_uid":null,"article_image_caption":"The Sukkur-Multan section is now open.","publications":"7","tags":"Pakistan,highway,road construction","category":"Projects"},{"title":"ADB approves loan for new bus rapid transit project in Karachi","date":"2019-07-08 12:23:55","id":1687,"author":"","blurb":"","blurb_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2019/07/1562559845772_45756-karachi-brt-final.jpg","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"\n\t\n\n\n

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a US$235 million loan to help develop a bus rapid transit (BRT) system with innovative energy and climate resilience features in Karachi, Pakistan.

\n\n

The new project will build a 26.6-km BRT Red Line corridor and associated facilities benefiting as many as 1.5 million people, about 10% of Karachi’s population, who live within a kilometer of a Red Line BRT station. More than 300,000 passengers per day are expected on the Red Line BRT routes.

\n\n

ADB will partially administer two US$100 million loans from the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank and the Agence Française de Développement to jointly finance the project’s civil works and equipment costs.

\n\n

The project will restructure the entire width of the Red Line BRT corridor, including the construction of 29 stations and dedicated lanes along the 26.6 km stretch; improvement of the mixed-traffic roadway with up to six lanes in each direction; inclusion of on-street parking and landscaped green areas in various locations; improvement of the drainage system to climate-proof the corridor; and installation of non-motorised transport infrastructure such as bicycle lanes, improved sidewalks, and energy-efficient street lights.

\n\n

The project will also establish sustainable BRT operations in Karachi by improving the capacity of relevant transport authorities; designing the BRT business model and subsidy-free operations; implementing a bus industry transition programme, including a fleet scrapping programme and compensation mechanism; developing an effective public communications campaign; and delivering the BRT fleet, feeder e-vehicles, intelligent transport system, and a biogas plant.

\n\n

ADB will also administer a US$37.2 million loan and an US$11.8 million grant from the Green Climate Fund (GCF). The GCF grant will finance climate change adaptation measures, including innovative drainage features such as bioswales (landscape elements designed to concentrate or remove debris and pollution out of surface runoff water); post-project emissions’ monitoring activities; and feeder e-vehicles. The GCF loan, meanwhile, will finance the biogas plant and the incremental cost of the transition from basic diesel bus technology to compressed natural gas hybrid bus technology, with the biomethane extracted from cattle waste.

\n\n\n","article_image_uid":"https://dxfpracgmlczp.cloudfront.net/2019/07/1562559935750_45756-karachi-brt-final.jpg","article_expanded_image_uid":null,"article_image_caption":"The project will build a 26.6-km BRT Red Line corridor and associated facilities. (Image: ADB)","publications":"7","tags":"Pakistan,public transport,bus","category":"Projects"},{"title":"Pakistan opens Gojra–Shorkot Motorway ","date":"2019-02-04 16:22:00","id":1470,"author":"","blurb":"

The Gojra–Shorkot section of the National Motorway M4 in Pakistan has been officially opened. It is part of the Pakistan Economic Corridor Program to upgrade highway networks connecting the country’s southern and northern parts, helping to improve road links with its neighbouring Central Asian countries and China.

","blurb_image_uid":"2019/02/13/16/24/29/468/Template_website.jpg","blurb_expanded_image_uid":null,"article":"

The Gojra–Shorkot section of the National Motorway M4 in Pakistan has been officially opened. It was built with the support of the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Department for International Development (DFID) of the UK under the Pakistan Economic Corridors Program to promote regional trade, tourism and economic growth in the country.

\r\n

ADB provided US$178 million in financing for the four-lane, access-controlled 61-km motorway, while DFID provided US$92 million in grant financing. The project is part of the Pakistan Economic Corridor Program to upgrade highway networks connecting the country’s southern and northern parts, helping to improve road links between Pakistan and the neighbouring Central Asian countries as well as China.

\r\n

“The new road will unlock trade and agribusiness potential for millions of people in the Gojra, Shorkot and adjoining area that will bring many smaller cities and towns in a more efficient transportation loop. It will also provide people better access to basic facilities including health and education,” said Xiaohong Yang, ADB country director for Pakistan. “The new section of the motorway is a step forward in Pakistan’s expanding high quality roads to facilitate improved north-south connectivity and to help position the country as trade, tourism and industry hubs.”

\r\n

“The new motorway will provide safe and faster transport to people and ease heavy traffic on the existing roads in thickly populated areas around Shorkot,” said Joanna Reid, head of DFID Pakistan. “UKAid is pleased to be part of this important road project and we hope this will help farmers to transport their produce from farm to market faster and cheaper, improving their productivity and prosperity.”

\r\n

The Faisalabad–Gojra’s 58.2 km section, which has also been completed with ADB support, is now open for traffic. The opening of the Gojra–Shorkot section will further shorten travel costs and time for people and goods moving from and towards southern Punjab. Meanwhile, the 65.28 km Shorkot–Khanewal road section, which is co-financed by ADB, DFID and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank, is now under construction.

\r\n

Once completed, the M4 will connect Faisalabad with Multan and ultimately will provide an efficient transport corridor link between the northern part of the country with the port cities of Karachi and Gwadar. It will also link up these cities with the existing networks of national motorways M1, M2 and M3, shortening the distance between South Punjab with central and northern urban and business centres including Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar.

","article_image_uid":"2019/02/13/16/24/29/741/32796_gojra_shorkot_motorway_inauguration_final_Upload.jpg","article_expanded_image_uid":null,"article_image_caption":"The opening of the new motorway is part of the national programme to upgrade highway networks connecting Pakistan’s southern and northern parts. (Image: ADB)","publications":"7","tags":"Pakistan,highway,road construction,ADB","category":"Projects"}],"pageInfo":{"hasNextPage":false,"hasPreviousPage":false,"totalCount":4,"totalPages":0,"currentIndex":0}}}}