MTD Walkers contracted to build A32 and five-star hotel

MTD Walkers, Sri Lanka’s only listed, fully fledged engineering and infrastructure development company, continues to affirm its role in the country’s infrastructure development drive through its subsidiary CML MTD Construction Ltd contracting to construct the A32, which is an important conduit between the North and South.

Meanwhile, the group’s other subsidiary, Walkers Pilling has won the Piling contract for the new Five-star international hotel which is proposed to be built by Softlogic in partnership with Movenpick.

According to Viraj de Silva, Chief Financial Officer, MTD Walkers PLC, these projects are two of the largest contracts to be undertaken by any engineering company in 2011. “We have successfully won these contracts and both these projects are slated for completion within the next two years,” de Silva said.

As one of the best rated general contractors in the country specializing in road construction, railway and road bridges, the company will undertake the construction of 36 kilometers of A32 roadway which is expected to be completed by 2013.

After completion, the A32 road will connect the North with the South and will be the shortest route from Colombo to Jaffna. De Silva added that the cost of the road construction is Rs.1.7 billion. CML-MTD Construction has also received a letter of acceptance for the reconstruction of the Giriulla –Narammala highway at a value of Rs 1.4 billion.

The Company has received the highest CI grading in three construction sectors, namely highways, bridges and land reclamation.

The Company also has received ISO9001:2008 Quality Standard certification from BVQI for its management systems in connection with earth moving and land grading, roads, road bridges, railway bridges, industrial parks, irrigation systems, storm water drainage, port construction & building of revetments, sheet piling, concrete pile driving, pre-cast concrete products, industrial mining, quarrying and crushing. In continuation of its policy of being extremely sensitive to environmental impacts caused by construction activities and considering the steps taken to minimize such impacts the company recently obtained ISO 14001-2004 certification for Environmental Management Systems from SGS.

The company has already successfully completed the construction of substantial components of the new Southern Expressway and is in the process of contributing specialist construction capacity for constructing the Colombo-katunayaka Expressway.

Meanwhile, Walkers’ Piling (Pvt) Ltd, a fully owned subsidiary of MTD Walkers and one of the largest piling contractors in Sri Lanka has secured the contract to carry out piling work on the world renowned Movenpick Hotel, commissioned by Softlogic. Walkers Piling will commence work this month using specialized ‘secant’ piling technique which is frequently used overseas for deep excavation. The Softlogic Movenpick Hotel is one of several international hotels slated to commence operations in Sri Lanka following the post-war nation development drive.

The Chief Operating Officer of MTD Walkers Piling, Lal Perera said, “Winning this contract is an endorsement of our strength and confidence as one of the most reliable companies to handle such large projects. We have previously carried out numerous large projects successfully and are now in the forefront of this industry.”

For the past 30 years, Walkers Piling (Pvt) Ltd., the pioneer Pile Foundation company in Sri Lanka, has been specializing in pile foundations. The Company was incorporated in the year 1981 along with Voltas International Limited of India as a joint venture with approvals from Foreign Investment Advisory Committee of Sri Lanka. In 2008, the Company was acquired by MTD Walkers PLC, the only fully fledged multi disciplinary Engineering Company in the country.