The Hindu Business Line : L&T to rebuild Kensington Oval in Barbados

LARSEN & Toubro (L&T) has won a Rs 211-crore order for rebuilding the famed Kensington Oval in Barbados, in the West Indies, from the World Cup Barbados Inc (WCB).

The company will have total responsibility of the construction and execution of the project and would ensure that the rigorous specifications of the International Cricket Council (ICC) are met before the first ball is bowled at the historic stadium, said a company news release.

L&T was initially selected by the WCB in February 2005 as the `Construction Management Consultant'. Its role was primarily to carry out project planning, formulate construction methods, evaluate tenders and finalise domestic sub-contractors during pre-construction period. This project consultancy was successfully completed at a value of Rs 1.3 crore. Soon after, the WCB also assigned the construction services to the company. In August 2005, WCB appointed it as `General Contractor'.

The entire project will be completed in 16 months (by January 31, 2007). For this purpose, the entire scope of work has been split into several packages, and domestic sub-contractors under the overall responsibility of L&T will execute these packages.

In addition, the company has volunteered to execute the George Challenor Stand, the biggest and the most critical stand, on their own with their resources, not only to reduce the risk but also to set an example for other sub-contractors to handle the fast-track project, said the release.

The project involves demolition of existing structures, and shifting and relaying of the cricket pitch and playing arena, renovation of two stands and construction of seven new permanent stands with a combined seating capacity of 11,500, including a temporary stand with a capacity of 15,500, players' pavilion, media centre, multi-purpose hall, administration office, cricket museum with shop, vendors' booth, external concourses, a ticket counter, and temporary hospitality and administration facilities as well as external façade and other works including landscaping and road networks.

The temporary stand will be removed and the redevelopment work on the permanent stand will continue after completion of the final match. This will be completed by October 2007 to provide a legacy (final) permanent seating capacity of 15,000. This will be executed at a cost of Rs 10 crore. The new stadium when completed in all respects will seat 26,500 persons.

L&T already has experience in the field. It had built the 40,000-seater Nehru Stadium in Chennai within 260 days, said the company.

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