Egypt's Orascom Construction (OCI) posted a 15 per cent rise in second-quarter net profits and said it expected orders to grow this year as governments in the Middle East try to create more jobs by boosting infrastructure spending.

The market for construction machinery in the Africa/Middle East region totaled US$6.9 billion in 2010, representing six per cent of global demand, according to a new report from Freedonia Group.

Caterpillar saw global retail sales of its construction machinery jump by 35 per cent in the three months to the end of July, though the pace of growth weakened in most regions

Bauer International is working on building a tunnel at Nation Towers, in Abu Dhabi, which will go under the existing Corniche Road and will link the shopping complex and other components to a purpose built beach club.

Sezai Turkes-Feyzi Akkaya (STFA), a Turkish construction company, was awarded a major road construction contract worth US$305mn in Oman.