Finland-based Outokumpu Long Products has won a contract to provide 350 metric tonnes of smooth round stainless steel dowel bar for Qatar’s Mega Reservoirs PRPS-3 at Rawdat Rashed.

Habtoor Leighton Group (HLG), contractor for PRPS 3 and Big Blue has made a supplier agreement to use stainless steel dowel bars manufactured by Outokumpu. The bars will be supplied in grade Supra 316L/4404 to be used in the expansion joints for rafts and walls of the reservoirs.

The new mega reservoirs projects will include five primary reservoir and pumping station (PRPS) packages with a capacity of 100 million gallons each, making them the largest reinforced concrete reservoirs in the world. The objective of the project is to provide seven days’ potable water storage in new reservoirs, combined with the existing and future secondary reservoirs, to preserve Qatar’s water quality.

Outokumpu stainless steel dowel bars are used in expansion joints for the movement of lateral loads and manage stress within the joint. The dowels are debonded and movements allowed by specially designed sleeves by Big Blue which includes uPVC pipe, compressible filler and end cap. The one half of the dowel is embedded into concrete, while the other half is debonded to allow the movement at the expansion joints.

Waseem Ameen, director at Big Blue said: “We have selected Outokumpu to be our associates to supply stainless steel rebar and dowel bar for infrastructure projects in the GCC region. We have got good technical and commercial support from Outokumpu. Our customer appreciates the fact that we work together as a team and solve problems and provide value engineering.”

John Stansfield at Outokumpu Long Products said: “Outokumpu has a full stainless steel rebar offering, including lengths, coils, bent shapes, mesh and dowel bars. We have production sites in the UK and US as well as strategically located stainless steel rebar stock to ensure high availability and short lead times. Stainless steel is an ideal material for infrastructure projects such as the Rawdat Rashed in the Qatar Mega Reservoir projects due to its high corrosion resistance and low life-cycle costs.” – TradeArabia News Service