The China State Construction Engineering
Corporation (CSCEC) has successfully finished the construction work of US $1bn
Great Mosque of Algiers which is set to break new global records.
The Great Mosque of Algiers also represents the new
peak of the many accomplishments made by CSCEC’s Algerian branch. In 2011, the
company won the bid for the project of the Great Mosque, which was the largest
among the companies’ overseas projects in its history.
According to CSCEC general manager, Zhou Sheng it
was a great challenge for the company to manage the cost. “You cannot finish
the design and engineering at the beginning; the engineering work will be done
along with the execution of the construction,” he said.
As a carrier of Islamic culture, the mosque is
decorated with complicated stone carvings, wood carvings and plaster carvings
of Islamic style. For example, there is a prayer wall of 300 m2 with
vast details on the east side of the prayer hall.
The project will be the world’s third-largest
mosque by area, after the pilgrimage mosques in Mecca and Medina in Saudi
Arabia, and the largest in Africa. Its 265-m minaret will, however, be the
tallest in the world, overlooking the Bay of Algiers. The grand mosque, which will
include a one-million book library, a Koranic school and a museum of Islamic
art and history, would be a “one-of-a-kind.”
The project employed about 2,300 construction workers, engineers and managers. An additional 17,000 people were employed indirectly as subcontractors.
