MONTREAL, Feb. 20 /CNW Telbec/ - SNC-Lavalin is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a US$597 million contract by Venezuela's Instituto Nacional de Desarrollo Rural (INDER) to design and build an integrated irrigation system, supporting infrastructure and three small towns in the Tiznados district of the State of Guarico, about 300 km south of Caracas.

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The project is multi-faceted and includes the design and construction of a 12.8 km extension to an existing irrigation canal.

"We are also responsible for the design and construction of 14 km of secondary and 18 km of tertiary conduits or branches from the canal, associated infrastructure such as gates, farm intakes, all other water distribution systems required to serve 32,200 hectares of the Tiznados valley, and the installation of 10,000 hectares of in-farm irrigation with dripping and micro aspersion equipment," said Marzio Lorenzini, the Project's Manager.

As part of the contract, SNC-Lavalin will construct warehouses, silos and other infrastructure to complement existing agro-industrial facilities in the area; design and construct the new towns of Guaitoco, San Francisco and San José de Tiznados, including 2,000 homes and education, health and sport facilites; and build 80 km of paved and dirt roads for the internal transportation network.

"We are very proud to be associated with INDER, and with this opportunity to put our technical expertise and experience in rural development to work for the direct benefit of local communities living in this region," said Riadh Ben Aissa, Executive Vice-President, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. in charge of worldwide construction operations.

"This project is going to improve the quality of life for approximately 16,000 people by providing 2,000 new homes, as well as schools, medical facilities and the basis for regular employment. Since we are also responsible for setting up agricultural training courses and support for local farmers and agro-industrial workers - we feel we are an integral part of this new rural development, and this is important to us."

Work begins immediately, and is expected to be completed in three years time.