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by: Ben Smalley



  Having completed the Dh 540 million Sheikh Rashid Terminal Concourse at Dubai International Airport four years ago, the Joint Venture between Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and Murray & Roberts is still involved in a number of construction projects as the Middle East’s premier airport continues to grow and develop alongside the dynamic city it serves.

  Dubai International Airport is considered the Middle East’s premier and busiest airport, having won numerous awards since the new Sheikh Rashid Terminal and Concourse opened in 2000. The modern expansion has enabled an even greater number of passengers to arrive in the emirate as Dubai continues to evolve as a leading business city and tourist destination. But with a staggering 60 million visitors anticipated by the year 2010, the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation is continuing to plan for the future.

  The second phase of the airport’s expansion began in 2002 when construction began on a third terminal and two new concourses dedicated to Emirates airline, one of which has been designed to handle the new Airbus A380 Super Jumbo. Other aspects of the US$ 4.1 billion expansion programme include a giant cargo terminal, extending the existing Terminal One, and the construction of a Flower Centre to process imported flowers and other perishable commodities for redistribution.

  HH Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and Chairman of the Emirates Group, said: “With the opening of Sheikh Rashid Terminal, Dubai International Airport entered a new era. We now have a state-of-the-art facility complementing our high standards of service. However, passenger growth has been steadily increasing.”

  According to statistics released by Airports Council International (ACI), Dubai International Airport is one of the fastest growing airports in the world in terms of international passenger movement, recording 13 % growth in 2003. A new monthly record was set in August 2004 with passenger movement of 2.05 million people and, according to projections, 21 million people will pass through the airport in 2004, making the need for expansion ever pressing.

  “The Department of Civil Aviation is committed to ensuring that the next phase of the expansion programme is built to the most advanced specifications possible,” Sheikh Ahmed said. “With the help of the Government of Dubai, we aim to build the most advanced aviation hub, not just in the region, but in the world.”

  The pioneering Joint Venture between Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and South Africa-based Murray & Roberts played a major role in the construction of the Sheikh Rashid Terminal and Concourse and has since successfully tendered for a number of contracts worth Dh 350 million across the length and breadth of the airport in the current phase of expansion, including work on the Flower Centre, expanding the arrivals area of Terminal One, building new departure bus lounges, the creation of new business and first class lounges, and other ancillary works.

  The team is headed by Project Director Duncan Meredith, with Project Managers Stephen King, Murray Vetch, Barry Hand and Chris Prodehl overseeing different aspects of the operation. These production teams are ably supported by competent back up departments comprising Engineering, Planning, Quality, Commercial / Surveying, Administration and Safety.    

  “The Joint Venture began work on the Sheikh Rashid Concourse in 1998 and we have been involved in additional projects at the airport ever since,” Mr King explained. “A number of the contracts have already been completed, such as the fit-out of the new Emirates First and Business Class lounge and the construction of eight new departure bus lounges, while others are ongoing and due for completion by the middle of 2005.”

  Working at a busy, functioning airport creates unique challenges for the team, particularly as some of the projects are ‘air side’ and cannot disrupt the flow of passengers, or the workings of airport staff and officials. 

  “Most people’s port of entry into Dubai is the airport and it creates their first impression of the emirate, so it has to look smart, it has to look efficient and it can’t look like a building site,” Mr King said. “If you look around carefully, you will find us quietly working away behind hoardings, ever busy revamping, renewing and constructing anew.

  “Some of the projects are MEP (Mechanical, Electrical & Piping) intensive, others are of a temporary nature, there are those that need to address the sensitivity to passenger movement, some require strict and sensitive co-ordination with traffic control and the police, and others involve co-ordination with subcontractors and other direct contractors.”

  The Joint Venture’s work within the existing Terminal One building involves extending the arrivals area and creating new baggage areas, extending the offices above, and re-arranging some of the existing facilities like the arrivals duty free shop, while in the main concourse there is also the fit-out of the ‘foreign carriers lounge’.

  “To complete the enlargement of Terminal One we have to demolish a building which is used to house utilities like air-conditioning and electrics,” Mr King explained. “In order to do this we have to upgrade another utilities building to take all that equipment, and this all has to be done while keeping everything operational, so it is logistically demanding.”

  The US$ 50million Flower Centre is being constructed at a prominent location within the airport, with its 300 metre long principal elevation facing directly onto the busy Sharjah-Dubai highway. When fully developed and automated, it will have a floor area of about 100,000 square metres comprising export chambers, offices and automated sorting areas. The handling capacity of the centre is anticipated to exceed 300,000 metric tones of product throughput per year, with much of the building being refrigerated to maintain an ambient temperature of 2-4 degrees Centigrade.

  “Initially the flower centre was only going to process flowers, but will now also process other goods as well,” explained Mr King, who previously worked for Murray & Roberts in South Africa before moving to Dubai two years ago to work with the Al Habtoor / Murray & Roberts JV. “The produce will arrive at the flower centre by either air or road and will be X-rayed and checked by Customs before being processed, wrapped and sent out again – either for distribution in the local market or forwarded on to other markets.

  “One of the unique aspects of its construction is that it comprises seven separate contracts, which is fairly unique here. Normally you would have a main contractor and a number of subcontractors, but each contract is independent and we have to co-ordinate between ourselves and the other contractors. Our contract initially involved two mezzanine decks and an X-ray pod, but we have successfully tended for the fit-out contract as well, which includes the ceilings, floors, tiles, bathrooms and all the finishes to the building, as well as the MEP (Mechanical, Electrical, Piping) work.”

  With between 600 and 800 people working on site at any one time - the number varies as individual contracts finish and start - safety is of paramount importance and regular safety co-ordination meetings are held between the Joint Venture, the Department of Civil Aviation, consultants and contractor teams.

  “Needless to say, the staff involved on the various airport projects need to be of the highest calibre, with the ability to manage the many varied facets of airport life,” Mr King said. In this regard, we have developed an excellent atmosphere of support, interaction and team work as the Joint Venture between Al Habtoor Engineering Enterprises and Murray & Roberts continues to grow from strength to strength.”

  The current airport projects successfully acquired by the Joint Venture are due to be completed by the middle of 2005, and the team is keen to continue its successful association with the Dubai Department of Civil Aviation and is currently awaiting the outcome of a tender submitted for the fit-out contract for the new Terminal Three concourse.

  Habtoor Engineering – Murray& Roberts JV (HMR) won the tender and has just been awarded by the DCA the biggest construction contract so far in the UAE for completing Terminal 3 and Concourse 2 of  the Dubai International Airport.

  Terminal 3 and the Car Park are a wholly underground structure, approximately 532,000 sq. m in area, composed of 2 major public levels in addition to 3 other services/administrative levels. It is connected on the landside to the Car Park by 2 separate curbside levels, each about 300 m long. The Car Park is an open-air structure, appx 257,000 sq.m in area, on 3 levels. On the Airside, the Terminal 3 levels directly interface with corresponding underground levels in the Concourse 2.

  The Concourse 2 is partially a continuation of the Terminal 3underground structure that extends above ground under a metal shell to accommodate 27 Aircrafts Stands out of which 5 are A-380s and 14 remote stands. It will be positioned in line with the present Concourse 1 and connected to Terminal 3 by means of a special vertical transportation system that acts as a focal point feature in a central atrium.

  The building shell, which is being tendered under a different package, has an elliptical profile with tapering ends. Its footprint is 90.8m wide and 924m long. The built-up area is approximately 670,000 sq. m and its comprises in addition to the arrival floor and departure floor that includes a Duty Free area, a dedicated floor for First & Business Cass passengers and hotel area divided into 4 & 5 star hotels.

   

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