AGLP wins AED 500,000 Emirates Crew Training Centre project

Leigh's Paints high performance Firetex Intumescent coating is being used to shield the 22,000-square-metre expansive steel structure for Emirates Airlines. Leigh's Paints team was awarded the project due to its technical skills and ability to provide high-performance, cost-effective passive fire protection and coatings solutions.

Philip Mathew, General Manager, Al Gurg Leigh's Paints, said:

"Firetex was selected because of its recently introduced 'value engineering' services. The new service identifies structures that can be fireproofed for best performance under fire, and only then are the protective coatings applied to ensure optimum economy and effectiveness. Intumescent coatings also help control the spread of fire through buildings."

The project, scheduled for completion by the end of this year, will use roughly 15,000 litres of Leigh's Intumescent Firetex paints. The Firetex range includes both solvent and water-based systems offering up to 2 hours fire protection to internal and externally exposed structural steelwork.

"In the past few years, especially after September 11, awareness about fire protection has increased in several parts of Europe, Americas and the Middle East, where consumers recognise it as an important step to reduce the threat to people and property in the event of a fire," added Mathew.

Only Leigh's Firetex division employs qualified structural engineers on their protection team to qualify details of economy and effectiveness. In addition, Leigh's is approved by Warrington Fire Research in the UK and is the first company in the UAE to manufacture protective coatings.

Leigh's Paints has been present in the UAE market for around 40 years. Dubai's well-known landmark, Maktoum Bridge, was painted with its Epoxy protective coatings 15 years ago and is simultaneously undergoing limited maintenance work. Other projects in the pipeline include Intercon at Festival City and Etisalat, which are estimated to be worth more than AED1 million.

AGLP has supplied Leigh's Paints products to protect a number of prominent bridges in the UAE, including Maqta Bridge (Abu Dhabi) and Al Majaz Canal Bridges (Sharjah). All products used on these projects are certified by the Department of Transport, UK.