Dawnus secures £10m haul road project contract in Liberia

DAWNUS International has added to its growing portfolio of projects in Africa by securing a £10m contract to build a haul road in Liberia for the world’s largest steel manufacturer.

The seven-month programme will see up to 200 workers employed in constructing 13km of road through heavy bush, along with a 50m bridge, bat tunnels and restoration works including replanting 85 hectares of trees and grasses.

Swansea-based Dawnus has been awarded the Gangra Haul Road contract by ArcelorMittal, which is developing three iron ore deposits and a concentrator in the mountains of Nimba County, 300km north east of Liberia’s capital, Monrovia.

Since carrying out its first project in Africa – a major rail refurbishment project in Sierra Leone in 2010 – Dawnus has completed more than £300m of work in Sierra Leone, Senegal and Liberia.

The company is currently reconstructing the disused Mount Coffee Hydroelectric Power Plant to generate electricity to Monrovia and surrounding areas.

Dawnus International managing director Mike Condon said the 30-strong haul road management team had operated in West Africa for more than five years on schemes including mining, infrastructure and building and had extensive earthworks experience and a proven performance track record.

“The national workforce will peak at 200 and consist of machine operatives, general labour, trades and professionals,” he added.

“Skills transfer, training and development of our national workforce is a key element of our business model.”

Since 2010 Dawnus has employed over 2,000 West African nationals and provide training in a variety of construction disciplines to European standards, which will continue on the Gangra scheme.

The road construction will involve major earthworks with cut and fill quantities exceeding 1,000,000m3 of soil and rock to form the cuttings and embankments. The wearing course pavement will be constructed using over 40,000m3 of material quarried locally by Dawnus.

There will be 1km of culverts installed beneath the embankments with extensive associated drainage and rock check dams, a 50m bridge across the Dayea River and a 100m tunnel for the relocation of a bat community.

Dawnus, which also has offices in London and Birmingham, is aiming to increase its share of clients in the transport and power sectors of the infrastructure market and looks set to record a turnover of around £250m this year.