Getting down to business

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An artist's impression of Bay Square that is due to be handed over in July 2009.

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The contractors are using slipform technology in a bid to complete the project on time.

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Slipform allows workers to pour concrete continuously and is used on site to speed up the construction process.

The Bay Square project has shrugged off obstacles such as interference from infrastructure work and rising costs of raw materials, and is bang on target to become Business Bay's most sophisticated place to live and work, reports Shikha Mishra.

It is almost hidden behind the crowd of cranes, high-rises and the perpetual haze on Sheikh Zayed Road, but Business Bay is slowly developing a personality of its own.

Located along the area where the Dubai Creek will be dredged and extended (parallel to Al Khail and Sheikh Zayed roads) Business Bay is slated to become the commercial hub of Dubai.

Bay Square is one of the many projects coming up in the Business Bay area, and will be spread over 464,515m² with 500,000m² of built up area.

The project once complete will have 13 towers (one of which is a boutique hotel), with five common basements spread over 50,000m² each. Currently 4,000 people are working on site to ensure that the project meets its July 17, 2009, handover deadline.

Apart from the manpower, the Bay Square site has 15 tower cranes, each with its own placing boom for pouring concrete.

One of the technologies is slipform, that the contractors on the Bay Square project, Al Shafar Group Contracting (ASGC), are using to deliver the project on time.

Slipform refers to the moving form the concrete is poured into, which moves along the project as the previously poured concrete hardens behind it. This allows workers to pour concrete continuously and is used on site to speed up the construction process.

"We try to use the most advanced technologies during the technical aspects of the construction process. For the core, such as the common areas and the stairs, we are using slipform. This enables us to be always ahead of the slab we are casting by 5/6/7 levels. We also use the best formwork which tends to accelerate the construction job," says project director, Sami Pierre Deek of ASGC.

Despite at the speed at which Bay Square is going up, there are factors that have been hindering its progress.

"What is decelerating the construction process is the simultaneous development of infrastructure in the area. This is not making our job any easier. As a contractor it is a challenge for us," says Deek.

According to Deek, there are "rumours" that the infrastructure work in the Business Bay area will be complete by the end of 2009.

"Usually the infrastructure has to be in place before the actual construction on buildings begins. In this case, it seems that the infrastructure will be complete at a later stage than the actual construction itself. One of our projects in the Business Bay, Citadel Tower, will be handed over next month, but facilities are not ready yet," says Deek.

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Dewa
Posted by Ra Puriri, St George, USA on Sunday 7 September 2008 at 19:11 UAE time


Dewa currently has hundreds of staff openings.

Is the difficulty of finding qualified personal, contributing to these infrastructure problems?

What are options for a solution?

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