The grandiose project includes the removal of 140 million cubic meters of earth at a cost of up to $1 billion.
Work is about to begin on the new Eilat port. Next week, Israel Ports Development & Assets Company Ltd. will begin digging on the site north of the town designated for the new port. The digging is to examine whether the earh can be used for agriculture or other purposes.
The construction work includes digging 140 million cubic meters of earth - an unprecedented amount in Israel - at a cost of up to $1 billion. The Ministry of Transport hopes that the contractor will be able to sell the earth to lower the project's cost.
The soil tests are the first step on a long journey to building the new port, after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Minister of Transport ordered implementation of the grandiose project in July 2011.
The new port is a key component of the Southern Gate Plan prepared by economist Yaakov Sheinin, which will extend the Bay of Eilat northward five kilometers into the Arava Desert. The new port is essential for Eilat's economic development, partly because there is no realistic way to build a high-speed railway line to the present port located south of the town.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on January 18, 2012
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