2008 brings in laurels for the Metro Project

The RTA organized a tour for all media representatives and outlined the Metro Project's sites and accomplishments.

The Metro Project currently comprises of two lines; the Red and the Green. Construction commenced in 2005 and 2006 respectively.

The Red Line project, at 52 kilometres in length, is the longer of the two lines. It will snake its way from the Rashidiya through central Dubai and along the Sheikh Zayed highway - passing numerous landmarks - until it reaches Jebel Ali on the outskirts of the city.

Some of the Red Line's 29 stations will service as destinations including Internet City, Burj Dubai, Dubai International Financial City, Emirates Towers, the World Trade Centre and Al Ittihad Square.

The Green Line is shorter (22 kilometres) with a more localised route that focuses on two of Dubai's most densely populated areas - Deira and Bur Dubai.

It is planned that the Green Line will run from Al Ittihad Square through Deira and Bur Dubai to Burjuman, through Health Care City to Jadaff in the South, and from Al Ittihad Square through Salahuddin Road to Al Qiyadah intersection toward Al-Qusais Area.

The construction on the Red Line started in August 2005 and the foundation stone was laid by H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President and Prime Minister of UAE, and Ruler of Dubai in March 2006.

Tunneling:
The first major milestone thereafter was the arrival of the first tunnel boring machine, Al Wugeisha 1 which was shipped into Dubai in November 2006.

The TBM1 was to tunnel its way from Union Square to Burjuman across the creek. This enormous 1000 tone TBM broke through the wall at Union Square in February 2007 and made its way under the creek to breakthrough the wall at Burjuman in September 2007.

The second TBM, Al Wugeisha 2 was brought in to tunnel from Union Square to Al Rigga and then from there to City Center. It commenced tunneling in April that year breaking through the Al Rigga wall in August 2007 by completing a 948 meter tunnel from Union Square.

This was the first breakthrough to ever happen on this project and an incredible milestone. As Al Wugeisha 2 continued its tunneling towards City Center from Al Rigga the third TBM was bought in that month to commence tunneling on the Green Line in December 2007. Al Wugeisha 2 broke through at City Center in early January 2008 completing the tunneling on the Red Line.

Al Wugeisha 3 was the first TBM machine for the Green Line. The first tunnel of this green line was completed by breaking the diaphragm walls in Salahuddin Station completing a 729 meter tunnel from Union Square to Salahuddin. The tunneling began on the first of December 2007 advancing to Salahuddin in 60 days and making a break through towards the end of January 2008.

Viaducts: While all these milestones were being achieved underground, a long stretch of viaduct which ultimately will carry the elevated railway, station, and platform was being constructed on the landside of Sheikh Zayed Road.

The concrete segments of the viaduct spans are erected by using special type of Launching Girders supported by the piers of Dubai Metro. Around 90% of viaduct pre-cast segments have been produced till date at the Jebel Ali Casting Yard which is currently one of the largest casting yards in the world.

With over 11,000 pre-cast segments produced out of 12,300 for the Red Line at the Jebel Ali Casting Yard, and 70% of the viaduct spans erected for the Red Line till date the elevated structures for the Metro project are slowly but surely snaking their way with ease all over the city.

Currently 2500 pre-cast segments are ready for delivery in the casting yard which has a storage capacity of 3000 segments.

The project will call for 1700 spans in total to be constructed for both the lines with a total of 16500 segments, nine tower cranes, and 11 gantry cranes.

Launching gantries are used for the majority of the viaduct construction providing a fast-track installation process enabling the erection of a complete viaduct span in two days

Rolling Stock: The first two trains arrived from Japan in early March 2008. Before being shipped various tests were carried out which included the driverless operation and climatic testing.

These tests were able to determine if the trains could run dynamically and safely in driverless operation and ensure the passengers' high level of comfort when the trains operate in Dubai climatic conditions.

The tests were witnessed by experts, being accompanied by project Consultants and the Operation Consultant, to ensure the train's compliance to the Project contractual and safety requirements.

About the same time, the first Main Power Supply station at Jebel Ali was energized. The MPS is fully automated and equipped with advanced protection and monitoring systems in addition to fire fighting systems.

The most important milestone to date is the first test run of the Rolling Stock in Dubai. This 4 km test run took place in May this year happened between Jebel Ali Industrial Station and Ibn Batuta and was witnessed by senior RTA Officials and passers by. The MPS supplied power to the Traction Power supply station which powered the rail for the run.

Abdulmajid Al Khaja, CEO of Rail Agency, said,

"As I look back at all that we have achieved in such a short time-frame, I will not hesitate to acknowledge the efforts of every team player in the Rail Agency.

I am proud of our achievements and it is an honour bringing in a railway for the UAE in general and the Emirate of Dubai in particular.

We have still a long journey ahead and I look forward to each day."

"I am grateful to DURL for their continuous cooperation and support as building a Railway amidst a busy and crowded city is a major challenge. Safety is a key priority during construction as it will be during operation.

The Metro is not only being built to be safe and reliable but while building every conscious effort is being made to make areas in and around construction sites safe.

The necessary precautions are taken to protect the environment during construction and the Quality Health Safety and Environment (QHSE) of the Rail Agency closely monitors and studies the effect of these activities on the environment on short and long term basis," he added.

Environmental audits to determine the level of environmental performance attained by the construction contractor, and sub-contractors, across the range of facilities currently under construction including rail stations, sections of track, and depots are conducted regularly.

Currently the progress of the Red Line is according to schedule with 70% of the construction completed. Most of the milestones on the project were achieved way before the prescribed time frame while 27% of construction on the Green Line is completed.