According to Reuters, Qatar, host of the 2022 soccer World Cup, plans to offer the first tender for its railway and metro system in the next three months. Preliminary designs had already been prepared, said Abdullah al-Subaie, managing director of the Qatar Railways Company. Subaie said the total cost of the Qatar railway project will reach US$ 35.7 billion and that more than 1.2 million tonnes of iron would be required for the project. There will be a total of 100 stations in the project. He did not give details about the size of the contracts, but said they would include a tender for digging tunnels and setting up stations for the network. Subaie said work on the system would start with the metro and its first phase will be ready by 2021, one year before the soccer World Cup. The entire project would be completed by 2026. Qatar's copious natural gas reserves have turned it into an economic powerhouse and the world's richest country per-capita, and driven its bold ambitions. The tiny Gulf Arab state has allocated 40 percent of its budget between now and 2016 to infrastructure projects. These include $11 billion on a new international airport, $5.5 billion on a deep-water seaport and $1 billion for a transport corridor in the capital, Doha. It will spend $20 billion on roads. The world's top liquefied natural gas exporter, spared by popular unrest sweeping the Arab world, plans to spend over $125 billion in the next five years on construction and energy projects. Subaie said he urged Qatari companies to build partnerships with international firms to work on the construction of the project.

As Inhabitat.com reported, the world's first floating golf course is planned to be built in the Maldives. "If you build it - they will come" is credo for developers. Located five minutes from the Maldives airport, the 18-hole golf course will include luxurious accommodations, which overlook the green fairways and the surrounding reef. The golf course is doubly groundbreaking as it will be built on floating platforms, making it the first floating golf course, and it is also designed to minimize its impact on the surrounding ecosystem. The artificial floating islands will incorporate technologies such as water cooling, water desalination, and the use of floating solar blanket fields. Underwater tunnels will connect the holes and facilities together, while allowing golfers to experience the reef. Koen Olthuis-led Waterstudio.NL is in charge of the conceptual design of the golf course, while the developer Dutch Docklands is working on the engineering to make the floating golf course possible. Troon Golf, leading developer of golf courses, is working as a technical adviser to the project, which is expected to cost $500 million. The state-of-the-art golf courses are expected to bring new wealth, investment and tourism to the country. Building such a novel tourist attraction will also likely help spur on new floating developments, which they country will likely need as sea levels rise.

The last piece of turf was laid on Tuesday at the Olympic Stadium, symbolising the completion of building work on the 80 000-seat flagship venue for the 2012 London Games. Former Olympic sprinter Frank Fredericks used a shovel to lay down the symbolic last piece of grass on the infield, 16 months before next year's games. London organisers and International Olympic Committee officials visited the stadium to mark the milestone. Fredericks was among the members of the IOC coordination commission taking part in the ceremony at the Olympic Park in east London. The IOC panel is making its eighth visit to London to check on preparations for the games. Construction on the $777-million stadium began in May 2008. "The Olympic Stadium has been finished on time and under budget," Olympic Delivery Authority chairperson John Armitt said. A total of 360 rolls of turf were needed to cover the 9 000-square metre infield. The surface of the running track will be laid later this year. "We wouldn't want anyone to run away with the idea that this stadium is ready to stage an Olympic track and field championship tomorrow," organising committee chairperson Sebastian Coe said. "With one year and a few months to go, this is a great place to be."

Recently Government approved the concept represented by the Ministry of Economy on the establishment of international highland sports center on Lake Sevan shore, near the village Tsovagyuh, which, by the ministry's assumption, will be a unique in the world, and will be equipped with ultramodern sports equipment. The complex is going to occupy 3 km long shore area and will consist of both indoor and outdoor sports facilities, including water sports. It is planned to build a golf course with 18 holes, 4 tennis courts, covered football field, basketball and volleyball courts, a swimming pool ... In general, the list includes almost all summer sports, including even such as Geocaching (a treasure hunting game where you use a GPS navigation). The feature of the complex will be its total power supply by solar energy. In the concept was noted an agreement with German 'Ersam & Gottwald GbR' company on writing a preliminary business plan, which has requested 32.75 million drams($91000) for this, of which 19.2 million drams ($53300) will be paid immediately, regardless of the fate of the project, and the residue, 13.47 million drams($37400), will be paid only after finding an investor for the next stage of the project. The project will be implemented by the National Competitiveness Fund, which recently successfully completed Tatev monastery restoration project, including the longest Ropeway in the World. Maybe we can find investments for this ambitious project, but however, it will be very hard to achieve the status of the unique international high-end sports center.

As Building.co.uk reports, work on Roman Abramovich's £20m secret nightclub underneath Chelsea's Stamford Bridge football stadium may be delayed after cleaners inadvertently drenched the venue's high-tech stage and sound system. Nightclub's £500,000 speaker system and hydraulic stage were flooded by water that leaked into the venue from the stadium during weekend cleaning of the football club's east stand. Work on the club, which includes a 4m high waterfall as well as the hydraulically operated stage, was scheduled to be completed in late November but sources said the finish date is now likely to slip into late December. Stadium cleaners used jet-powered hoses to wash down the seating area in the east stand directly above the club's stage and toilet area. To prevent any future water ingress, stadium authorities going to use a mop and bucket when they're cleaning the stand, rather than jet-powered hoses."