O c t o b e r - D e c e m b er 1 9 9 8 |
EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
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h i l d r e n i n t h e B C D |
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Schoolchildren from the Lycée Franco-Libanais in Beirut came to explore the city center in November. Escorted by their teachers, the 8-and9-year olds were taught how to use maps to orient themselves. They looked for various streets, sites, public and religious monuments, and noted them on their maps. The children found the BCD model in Foch-Allenby a helpful reference. At Nejmeh square, they counted the number of streets leading to the square, and learned to read the Roman numbers on the tower clock, as part of their homework. |
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R e a l
E s t a t e |
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Government buildings Construction of the new Ministry of Finance started in November, following the contract award to A.R. Hourie. The building, to be delivered by the start of the year 2000, will have a 49,000 sq m floor space consisting of 14 upper-level and 6 underground floors including a conference room seating 580 people and 4,400 sq m for archives. Shoring and excavation for the Ministry of Interior are finished, and the construction contract award is expected by the beginning of 1999. Works on the three SOLIDERE Serail hill buildings are advancing, with completion
targeted for end 1999. |
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R e s t o r a t i o n | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
With the on-going restoration of more than 182 buildings, BCD neighborhoods
are regaining their oroginal character. In Saifi and Wadi Abou Jamil, residential project
designs ally modern features with preserved Lebanese or Levantine architecture. The rich
variety of architectural expressions in the BCD is also illustrated by French mandate
portals and arcaded streets in the Foch-Allenby and Maarad areas. After the delivery in 1998 of the Ottoman Grand Serail, restoration of the Beirut Municipality, another architectural landmark in the city, will start in 1999, with delivery due by the middle of the year 2000. |
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SOLIDERE is undertaking the formidable project of developing a modern extension to the traditional BCD on 61 hectares of reclaimed land. This land will form the city center's new waterfront and will accomodate a modern financial and business district and a luxury residential area, with two marinas, a waterside park, a corniche promenade and leisure activities. Heavy engineering works are under way, involving treatment, reclamation, sea defense and marina construction. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Marine works Facing the planned western marina, 'accropodes' (concrete blocks purpose-designed for the protection of coastal areas) and rocks are gradually being placed on the western breakwater, with more than 70% of the works completed. Dredging works were over in December, opening the way for construction of the first defense line protecting the land: a submerged reef comprising a core of sand protected by two filter layers with a top layer of natural rocks. Construction of the second defense line continues, with 20 caissons already positioned and filled with sandand concrete. Marine works are due for delivery in April 2000, with the western marina civil works scheduled for completion in June 1999. Marina design Land treatment and reclamation New Seafront exhibition A non-smoking workplace |
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O t h e r
S OL I D E R E s t a f f n e w s |
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The SOLIDERE standard
construction contract, based on FIDIC (Fédération Internationale des
Ingénieurs-Conseils) conditions, was updated at the issue of a four-day training session
held in November. The amendments introduced espacially concerned claims handling
procedures. Land development project managers, lawyers and risk management staff attended
the session . Chairing it was Dr. Nael Bunni, an acclaimed Irish expert acting as
international arbitrator in litigation involving engineering issues. Property and services management staff attended a three-day maintenance audit wokshop, conducted by teh PricewaterhouseCoopers' International Center of Excellence in Maintenance Management in Canada. In a move towards increasing efficiently, especially in communications, the Company provided its employees with new software and appropriate training enabling them to use, among other things, internal and external electronic mail On November 27, the SOLIDERE football team won second place in the Independence Round organized by the Burj Hammoud municipality. |
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The BCD in
the world Waterfront 98 conference The BCD was one of five international case studies presented at the 'Waterfront 98' conference held in October 1998 in Cardiff (UK). The conference, which addresses waterfront development challenges and issues, was attended by 24 delegates from 7 countries. Angus Gavin, planning advisor to the Company chairman, presented a lecture entitled the 'Rebirth of Beirut - the making of a new urban waterfront'. Mr. Gavin stressed the private institutional framework for BCD development and highlighted SOLIDERE's role, approach and achievements in the creation of a whole new downtown waterfront district in Beirut. IMA exhibition in Paris Archeology in the BCD is an important element of the six-month exhibition, Liban, l'autre rive, currently held at the Institut du Monde Arabe (IMA) in Paris. Inaugurated on October 26, the exhibition features a display of BCD excavations and major findings. SOLIDERE archeology consultant Hareth Boustany will participate in one of the seminars organized around the exhibition. Arthaud Lebanon book Written by Hareth Boustany, the recently published Arthaud guide-book includes a section on BCD reconstruction and development, with a special emphasis on its rich archeological heritage.
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