Press Release Retail & Services

Hanwha Engineering & Construction Holds a Building Completion Ceremony for the World's Largest Precast Concrete Plant

April 23, 2014
  • Producing enough materials to build an apartment complex of 4,000 housing units covering 66 ha every two months

(From the fifth person from the right to the left) NIC Chairperson Dr. Sami R. Al-Araji, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamil Al-Maliki, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-chung, Ambassador Cho Jung-won and Hanwha Chief Operation Officer Moon Seok attend the completion ceremony for the PC plant in Bismayah New City in Iraq and pose for a photograph.

Hanwha Engineering & Construction held a completion ceremony for the world’s largest precast concrete (PC) plant, which marks the beginning of construction of 100,000 housing units for Bismayah New City in Iraq on April 16 (local time).

About 200 people visited the construction site for Bismayah New City, including Iraqi National Investment Commission Chairperson Dr. Sami R. Al-Araji, Korean Ambassador to Iraq Cho Jung-won, Hanwha Group Vice Chairman Kim Hyun-Chung, and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Kamil al-Maliki, who expressed great interest in the scale of the plant and automation facilities.

As the largest PC plant in the world (built over approximately 66 ha), it consists of three buildings where concrete materials such as slabs and walls are produced. The plant produces 6,400 tons of concrete per day, which equals the capacity of 430 ready-mixed concrete trucks. Further, if all the walls and slabs that will be produced over the next seven years were laid end to end, they would stretch for 13,000 km, the equivalent of a round trip between Seoul and Baghdad.

With the plant now complete, Hanwha Engineering & Construction is expected to play a pivotal role not only in leading the construction of housing in Bismayah New City, but also in carrying out a government-led project for building one million housing units. When construction is well under way, an apartment complex with 4,000 housing units will be provided every two months.

“The completion of the construction signals the beginning of the construction of Bismayah New City in Iraq,” said Hanwha Chief Operation Officer Moon Seok. “As you can see, the completion ceremony was brought forward by two months and the construction for the New City is proceeding very smoothly.”

The Prime Minister said: “I have considered how the government supports the success of Bismayah New City Project. But, as the PC plant has been successfully built, I am hugely impressed by the performance of Hanwha. The Iraqi government will proactively support the success of the project.”

The PC production method used at the plant is geared toward large-scale housing projects, where columns, walls, and slabs are mass-produced using standardized high-quality materials in short timeframes for assembly at construction sites. This same method was previously used by a Korean construction firm for a housing construction project in Libya with great results.

“In addition to Bismayah New City Project, our company expects to have a tangible outcome as we are negotiating about additional construction worth 1.5 billion dollars on infrastructures. This can be achieved because the Iraqi government has trust in Hanwha Group and highly appreciates the performance of Hanwha Engineering & Construction,” said a member of Hanwha Engineering & Construction.

Information on the Bismayah New City Project

Project Bismayah New City Project
Location Bismayah, approximately 10 km southeast of Baghdad, near the Interstate #7 and Baghdad-Kut Highway
Developer National Investment Commission (NIC)
Work Period Seven years
Construction Size 100,000 housing units built over 1,830 ha
Project Delivery System Design-build with design, procurement and construction

The precast concrete plant was built at the construction site of Bismayah New City in Iraq

The completion ceremony of the precast concrete plant at the construction site of Bismayah New City in Iraq

For more information:

Hanwha Engineering & Construction
MinSoo Jang
Tel: +82 (0)2 729 2329
Email: milleder7@hanwha.com

Hanwha Engineering & Construction

Hanwha E&C has quickly grown into a global player by leveraging its extensive experience in construction projects and by implementing its new technologies and long-term expertise across industrial, chemical, and power plants, civil engineering works, commercial buildings, and more. We have averaged an annual growth rate of 30 percent since 2002, and gained international recognition. We’ve been recognized as a top global contractor in Engineering News Record and our works are often referred to as the “bible of the construction industry.”


For more information, visit: www.hwenc.com

Hanwha Group

Founded in 1952, Hanwha has grown quickly by anticipating and responding to changing business environments with a balanced business portfolio that includes energy & materials, aerospace, finance and retail & services. Our expertise and synergy in key areas have catapulted us into the seventh-largest business in South Korea and a Fortune Global 500 company. Hanwha continues to grow rapidly as we strive to pursue global leadership in all of our businesses. We are building a robust foundation for sustainable development and a brighter future for everyone.

For more information, visit: www.hanwha.com