Consulting firms to execute navigability study Myanmar

A consortium of Dutch consulting firms has won a contract for an Ayeyarwady navigability study in Myanmar. The firms have been appointed by the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs as part of the strategic co-operation between Myanmar and the Netherlands. The study will result in an updated Ayeyarwady River Training Master Plan and river training works for two pilot areas to be taken forward by the World Bank program.

The Ayeyarwady River in Myanmar connects the 2 most important cities of the country, Yangon (with 5 million inhabitants) and Mandalay (with 1 million inhabitants) with the surrounding area. As such, the river forms the most important transportation route for the many resources which the hinterland has to offer, such as agricultural products, wood, gas, oil, coal and gold.

The country has set out to improve and intensify the navigability of the Ayeyarwady River, a project that will greatly benefit the country’s economy. To do so, the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (part of the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs) has contracted engineering and project management consulting firm Royal HaskoningDHV for a feasibility study on improvement of the navigability of the river. The Dutch study is carried out in the framework of the strategic co-operation between the Governments of Myanmar and the Netherlands in the field of water management and the on-going IWRM Project*.

Royal HaskoningDHV will carry out the assignment in cooperation with consulting firm Rebel group and natural and built asset design and consultancy firm Arcadis. As part of the feasibility study, the consortium will review the current river training works, update the River Training Master Plan dating from 1988 and assess the technical and economic feasibility of the measurements proposed in the Master Plan, identify the optimal river training works in 2 pilot areas through river modelling and develop designs of the river training works for the two pilot locations, and develop a plan for improved aids to navigation.

* The objective of the IWRM (Integrated Water Resources Management) Project is to look for solutions for challenges Myanmar in facing, such as dry feet, clean water and sustainable development.