International geotechnical contractors Keller Grundbau has completed 1,000 jobs in Bahrain over the past 35 years in the kingdom.

Eighty per cent of the jobs were related to piling, and the company's businesses in Bahrain are not affected despite the global recession, said general manager - Bahrain Imtiaz Ahmed Syed.

"We completed projects worth BD10 million last year," he told the Gulf Daily News, our sister newspaper.

"These include the BD3.3 million Reef Island work and the BD200,000 piling work done for a 20-storey building in Amwaj.

"Currently, we are involved in the BD500,000 first phase apron work at Bahrain International Airport. The second phase work is expected to start shortly.

"The ground improvement work is undertaken using vibrocat equipment."

Syed said the company has always been active in Bahrain's construction industry since its inception here in 1973.

"From its origin in 1860 to the present day, Keller has above all been built on two principles - engineering excellence and a commitment to continual innovation," he said.

"Keller's business is the solution of soil and foundation problems for the construction industry. We have operating centres in all five continents.

"Our services are used across the entire construction spectrum from industrial, commercial and housing projects to infrastructure construction for dams, tunnel, transportation and water treatment."

Keller is also a specialist in rehabilitation works and the protection of soils and ground water from environmental damage, said Syed.

"The geotechnical solutions we provide are backed by extensive experience gained by technology transfer from operations in Europe, North America and Australia."

Syed, who has been with Keller for 27 years in Bahrain, said the company has introduced the bottom feed (dry) method for ground improvement by Vibro techniques .

"A purpose-built 'vibrocat' is equipped with automatic recording units, which produce computer records of the installation process in a continuous graphical mode, " he said.

"The dry method system for ground improvement is widely used in many projects in Bahrain such as Bahrain International Airport extension, Zallaq Resort Hotel, Khalifa Bin Salman Port and Al-Ezzel Power Plant in Hidd.

German expert Tammo Koehler has joined the company as construction manager.

Keller's design team in Bahrain, headed by Jayaprakash Elango, has over 25 years' experience. -TradeArabia News Service