Emirates Neon erects Mid East's largest billboard next to Dubai Creek

The Dhs 1.2 million four-sided sign, on the approach to the Dubai Shopping Festival's new Creek side Global Village site, was put together in a record 14 days by the company's media division Emirates Outdoor.

Each of the longest 65 metres x 20 metres tensioned sides has 22 sections, printed on state of the art machines using special UV inks that are resistant to strong sunlight for up to two years.

"The biggest challenge with a project this big is the wind load on the billboard, which on any given day is very high near Dubai Creek," said Rehan Merchant, Executive Director, Emirates Neon.

"The safety of the workers putting up the banner was paramount and on several days, when the wind topped 20 knots, we had to suspend installation work. And to ensure the billboard is not shredded by the strong winds the banner's facia is made of a special mesh material that allows the wind to pass through it.

"Another challenge was to make sure all the colours matched and the overlaps were not visible, so that the complete billboard did not give the impression of being made from sections," said Merchant.

The billboard was ordered by Al Futtaim Investments who are developing the Festival City project. Al Futtaim Engineering and The Media House collaborated on the six month long project.

Fifty Emirates Outdoor staff worked around-the-clock to produce and erect the billboard, stitched together and seamed at the company's factory, in Sharjah's industrial area. The billboard is supported on scaffolding and concrete foundations covering an area of 3,240 square metres.