Canadian engineering and construction firm Dessau will carry out preliminary and final design for the construction of a 170km electrified double-track railway in Algeria.
The $38.8m contract has been awarded by a consortium of China Civil Engineering Construction and Turkish firm Ozgun Construction.
The mixed passenger and freight railway will link Bordj Bou Arréridj and Thénia in Algeria's northeast and will allow trains to run at a top speed of 160kmph.
Dessau said its team of 50 Canadian and Algerian engineers will mainly design a modern track to reduce travel time between Algiers and Constantine.
Work includes designing bridges, viaducts, underpasses and overpasses, signalling and telecommunications facilities, infrastructure for track electrification, and defining the features of tunnels and their equipment.
