Vinci wins $200m contract for Cambodian water treatment plant

Construction engineering firm Vinci Construction has won a $200m contract to build a drinking water treatment plant in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

As per the contract with the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority, Vinci Construction Grands Projets will design and build the Bakheng water treatment plant in the northern outskirts of the Cambodian capital.

Under the $155m initial phase of the project, Vinci will build a first treatment line with a capacity of 195,000m³ per day and the intake in the Mekong River with a capacity of 390,000m³ per day.

The construction firm will also build two 1.4m diameter pipelines with a length of 1.5km to carry water from the Mekong to the treatment facility.

A 2m diameter pipeline with a length of 7.8km, including a 630m river crossing to be constructed using a microtunneling machine will bring drinking water to over 500,000 inhabitants of the capital city.

The $45m second conditional works phase is designed to double the plant’s treatment capacity to 390,000m3 per day.

Upon completion, the project will provide drinking water for a population of nearly one million people.

The French Development Agency, the European Investment Bank and the Phnom Penh Water Supply Authority are providing finance for the construction of the Bakheng water treatment plant, which will use solar panels for some of its electricity needs for minimising carbon footprint.

Vinci Construction Grands Projets said the new project confirms its commitment to extending drinking water access in Cambodia.

The company handed over the Niroth drinking water plant in 2017 on the outskirts of Phnom Penh and the wastewater treatment facilities at the Phnom Penh and Siem Reap airports.

In 2019, hydraulic engineering teams of Vinci Construction Grands Projets also delivered two drinking water facilities in Siem Reap and Chamkar Mon (in the centre of the Cambodian capital).